Top �� What's up around the Prime Minister �� February, 2004

Prime Minister Meets with Honorary Chairman of the Special Olympics Friday, February 27, 2004 Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi held talks with Ms. Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the Honorary Chairman of Special Olympics, at the Prime Minister's Official Residence. The Special Olympics are founded by Honorary Chairman Shriver, the younger sister of the late Mr. John Fitzgerald Kennedy, former President of the United States of America, and aim for the independence of persons with intellectual disabilities and their participation in society through daily training and competition. There are approximately 160 member countries worldwide, and 1.25 million persons with intellectual disabilities and more than one million volunteers participate in the activities. The Special Olympics are held every four years with world games in the summer and winter as the Olympics, and the Winter World Games are scheduled to be held in Nagano Prefecture in February, 2005. At the meeting, Prime Minister Koizumi said, "I understand that the Special Olympics are an important tournament to deepen the understanding of persons with disabilities." He also had talks in a friendly atmosphere with Ms. Masako Hirata, a Japanese medalist in bowling who was also present at the meeting, by remarking, "I used to do well in bowling and have scored above 200 in the past, but when I recently played, I threw a gutter ball."