Top �� What's up around the Prime Minister �� April, 2003

Prime Minister Hosts Cherry Blossom Viewing Party Saturday, April 19, 2003 Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi hosted the annual cherry blossom viewing party at Tokyo's Shinjuku Gyoen. The event was lively with guests from political and business circles, cultural and sporting figures, as well as international aid and volunteer activities. In his welcoming address, Prime Minister Koizumi quoted a waka poem composed by Tachibana no Akemi, a scholar of Japanese classical studies in the last days of Tokugawa Shogunate regime: "It is a pleasure when, rising in the morning, I go outside and find a flower that has bloomed that was not there yesterday." and extended greetings to say, "The Japanese find delight in even the smallest things in everyday life," and "We will neither give in difficult situations, nor feel hesitant to such adversity. I hope to build a better Japan in conjunction with the support of the people."