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Awards Ceremony to Present the Prime Minister's Commendations on Contributors to Public Safety Monday July 3, 2006 JAPANESE Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi hosted an annual ceremony at the Prime Minister's Official Residence to commend individuals and organizations who have significantly contributed to public safety. The commendations for contributors to public safety are presented to recognize their great achievements in preventing the outbreak of disasters that could threaten daily life such as industrial disasters, traffic accidents, and fires. The awards ceremony is held every year as a tribute to National Public Safety Day, which is July 1. At this year's awards ceremony, 25 individuals and organizations were presented the commendations on their achievements in such areas as traffic safety, school safety, industrial safety, fire prevention, nuclear safety, and mountaineering safety. After conferring the awards, Prime Minister Koizumi offered his words of congratulations by saying, "I was informed that traffic and unforeseeable accidents cost the lives of about 380,000 people every year. Giving thought to the lives of the bereaved families as well as those who lost their lives, we are concerned about how to prevent these events and reduce the number of victims as an issue of national interest. I hope that each one of you will make good use of your experiences and achievements to support the campaign to raise peoples' awareness about the terror of accidents and the need for daily caution in order to create a society that is safe and free of accidents. I expect each of you to further endeavor toward this end." At the end of the ceremony, Mr. Nobuyoshi Kimoto, the Deputy Director of the Traffic Safety Association of the Ise Region, delivered an address of gratitude on behalf of the awardees by stating, "With our hearts filled with the inspiration that touched us today, we promise to make further efforts to ensure the safety of our local communities."