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Topics related to Mons (No.15)
April 22nd, 2013
Half a year has passed so fast in my post in Belgium. During this time, it felt like a never-ending winter and every day felt like being cooped up. According to the news, this winter (especially March) was the coldest in half a century and we had a lot of snow, rain and cloudy days. On the other hand, as the weather was so bad, I devoted myself to work, met many people and also made friends. I was particularly happy to deepen the interaction with Belgian politicians, the economic and academic world and the news media. Though I initially started to write this Ambassador’s Chat every two weeks, I have so many things to share that nowadays I update it on the Embassy’s homepage every 10 days. As readers already know, I frequently make regional visits and each time I also visit Japanese or Belgian local companies. So far I have visited 22 companies (including 14 Japanese companies) and I would like to continue these activities in the future. As I read many books about Belgium these days, I would like to tell you about the interesting stories I find in these books. Don’t miss it.
< Official Visit to Japan by NATO Secretary General, Mr. Anders Fogh Rasmussen >
 Mr. Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Secretary General of NATO, which is headquartered in Brussels, officially visited Japan last week, so I returned to Japan to welcome him. It was the fifth time that a NATO Secretary General visited Japan and the last time was five and a half years ago. Mr. Rasmussen himself visited Japan twice when he was Prime Minister of Denmark. However, as this visit included a weekend for the first time, a visit to the Kinkakuji and Kiyomizudera Temple in Kyoto was organized on Sunday morning. Blessed with fine weather, it seems that he enjoyed spring at its height in Kyoto. The next day, Mr. Rasmussen had meetings with Prime Minister Abe and Defence Minister Onodera and also had a meeting with Foreign Minister Kishida, followed by a dinner. After the meeting with Prime Minister Abe, Mr. Rasmussen signed a Joint Political Declaration with him. In a greatly changing international security environment, I think it is meaningful to deepen the partnership between Japan and NATO. Moreover, on this occasion, I was appointed as Representative of the Government of Japan to NATO. In addition to my daily work as Ambassador in Belgium, I would also like to work hard in my new function as Representative of the Government of Japan to NATO.
< Fight Against Malaria Campaign and Princess Astrid >
At present, Princess Astrid from the Belgian royal family is visiting Japan. Princess Astrid is the eldest daughter of the current king, King Albert II and thus Crown Prince Philip’s younger sister. This time she is visiting Japan as a Special Representative of the Roll Back Malaria Partnership (RBM) to request aid for the fight against malaria, being very active herself to put an end to the disease. According to a report from the World Health Organisation (WHO), every year, mainly in Africa, more than 200 million people become ill with malaria and about 600.000 to 700.000 people die of malaria (of which 86% children aged less than 5 years). Although international aid of nearly 2 billion dollar is given every year to improve this situation, the reality is that it amounts to less than half of the necessary funds. Princess Astrid, who formerly was Chairwoman of the Belgian Red Cross, is making every effort all over the world to draw attention to the problem of malaria and to collect the funds needed. Japan as well is facing a severe financial situation, but international expectations for Japanese financial cooperation seem to increase more and more.
< Angerer Exhibition and the Mayor of Uccle >
The other day, an art exhibition by Ms Eve-Marie Angerer, a female painter, was held in a public facility in Uccle (80.000 inhabitants), a commune located in the south of Brussels and I was invited to the vernissage as a guest. The nearly 30 works on exhibition named “Colour of Stars” are all abstract paintings, inspired by the beauty of a starry night sky and characterized by vivid colours. Her father being a diplomat with a long career in Africa, Ms Angerer herself spent her youth there and I felt that the influence of her life in Africa is reflected in the colours of her paintings. These works are sold on the spot and part of the sale proceeds will be donated to children in Fukushima affected by the nuclear accident. By the way, the co-organizer of this vernissage, the Mayor of Uccle, Mr Armand De Decker, is also a senator and belongs to the Committee of Foreign Relations and Defence. Typical for Belgian politics is the fact that such a heavyweight politician, formerly serving as President of the Senate, is the mayor of a commune.
< Mons and Ste-Waudru >
 Mons (91.500 inhabitants), the capital of Hainaut, is located 65 km southwest of Brussels. In ancient Roman literature, Mons is recorded as one of the towns in northern Gaul, but to the Belgians it is known as the town in which Ste-Waudru built a convent in the 7th century and which developed in the Middle Ages as a fortified city under the rule of the Count of Hainaut. However, looking back on history after that, Mons met a tragic fate. Being close to the border with France, the town was invaded by Louis XIV at the end of the 17th century, 200 years later Mons was governed by the French revolutionary army and, in addition, military forces were deployed to Mons by the UK and Canada to fight the German army in the First World War. The Ste-Waudru Collegiate Church (built from the 15th to 17th century) in the centre of town has been severely damaged several times as well. In the church, the “Golden Coach”, made at the end of the 18th century, is on display in the immediate vicinity of the painting of Sainte Waudru. Every year in May, on the first Sunday after Pentecost, a big procession is held using this coach for the decorative portable shrine. What I found interesting is the story about Ste-Waudru. She was born from a noble family in the 7th century, married and even had 4 children. After her children were grown up, her husband became a monk and she founded her own convent where she spent her days praying to God. It is said that she met St-Ghislain who was an attractive man and fell into an adulterous relationship, having secret dates in an underground passage. For an outsider like me, it is difficult to understand that a man and woman who committed adultery are afterwards both worshipped as saints. Somehow it feels incomprehensible. Furthermore, Mons seems to have another patron saint, called Saint Georges. Why does one city have two patron saints? My visit to Mons was full of mystery.
< Mons and New York >
 I will tell you another interesting story that I heard about Mons. It is well known that New York was called New Amsterdam in the 17th century and, in general, the Dutch are considered to be the first settlers in this land. As a matter of fact, in May 1624 (4 years after the Pilgrim Fathers arrived with the Mayflower in New Plymouth), the “Nieuw Nederland”, a ship belonging to the Dutch West India Company, arrived in Manhattan, so of course a misunderstanding can occur. Also, until the beginning of the 17th century, the current Netherlands and Belgium were Spanish territory, forming one “lowland”. Therefore, it was pointless to make a distinction. Then why are the first settlers in New York identified as Belgians and not Dutch in the history from the 19th century onwards? The reason is that Belgium became independent in 1830, thus it became possible to clearly distinct that all 32 families that arrived in Manhattan with the ship “Nieuw Nederland” were coming from Belgian territory once it had become an independent country. Most of the settlers came from Mons, after they had converted from Catholicism to Calvinism during the Reformation at the time. The 300 years anniversary of the settlement was celebrated in New York in 1924 in a big way and in paragraph 3 of the commemorative resolution that was adopted by the New York State Council on that occasion is clearly stipulated that “the settlers in New Netherland were composed of 32 Belgian families, of which most were Walloons”. The Walloon region is, of course, the French-speaking area, covering the southern part of Belgium in which Mons is also located. Well, how will the 400 years anniversary be celebrated in 11 years…?
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