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Remarks by Consul General Kamo at the Welcome Reception 

at his Official Residence for the Japanese Delegation to the Trilateral Strategic Talks of 

Japan, the U.S. and Australia on Terrorism and Security in Honolulu

February 8, 2012

Good Evening. 今晩は。I don’t want to spoil the joyous party mood, but I have to tell you that until I get done my remarks, the buffet room door would not open. Welcome to our party. I am your host today. As we have a large Japanese delegation, I am wondering whether I should be speaking in Japanese or English. In any case, it is great to have you here. We have four ambassadors here this evening. I have never attended social functions before with so many ambassadors. Ambassadors, welcome here! We have Ambassador Charlie Salmon here. We have Ambassador Lauren Moriaty here. We have Ambassador Shinozuka, Japan’s former Ambassador to Bangladesh, and we have Ambassador Ogawa from Japan. Ambassadors are not usually welcomed by consuls general. But today is special. I am much honored to have them all.

I would also like to recognize General and Mrs. Leaf, new director of APCSS. Perhaps relatively unknown to the public, but APCSS has been firmly established as a local hub of researchers, educators and military and civic officers. Currently they are hosting a very important international conference in which many of you here are participating. I am most grateful to APCSS for the role they play to make the Tri-lateral Strategic Talks of Japan, the U.S. and Australia a success. Since I came here two and a half years ago, APCSS has been very helpful and instrumental in having young officers and researchers engaged in meetings and workshops of various issues. But the more I’ve got to know them, the more I have grown my frustration. Please don’t get me wrong. I am not saying that APCSS is not working hard enough. My frustration comes from the fact that Japan is under represented at their meetings and workshops. The Japanese government has missed out on many opportunities offered to them by APCSS, by failing to respond positively to the numerous invitations in the past.

To my pleasant surprise, this time, the Japanese government is sending a high-powered and large delegation to this Trilateral Talks at APCSS. This is what I really would like to see. And so I decided to throw a party in honor of the Japanese delegation and APCSS to express our appreciation and in the hope that this tendency of visible Japanese presence will continue. We are most delighted to have other local resource persons are joining us here this evening. It would be great if this party serves as a mixer of the Japanese delegation and their Hawaii counterparts and if they get a good impression about Japan from them. Have a pleasant evening!