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Preface
6th October 2014
 I am Masafumi Ishii, the newly appointed Ambassador as of 12 September—nice to meet you.
My predecessor, Ambassador Sakaba, has written 61 “Chat of the Ambassador” reports in the nearly two years of his appointment to Belgium. To tell you the truth, the most indispensable source of information has been these reports from “the Chat of the Ambassador” when I started learning about Belgium. Since the proclamation of my appointment, I have heard from many people I met that they were well-received and that they wished for it to be continued.
I am not as erudite and not as good with numbers as Ambassador Sakaba, who thought of himself a bit of a “statistics geek”. However, thatbeing said, I will succeed a “blog corner” in my own style. Although it might not always be as long or as frequent, I aim to address both Japanese—to explain the state of Belgium—and Belgians alike—to talk about events in Japan—and hope to publish this in a timely manner.
From now on, I would like to name this blog corner “Love Letters from Brussels”, and I hope that it will bring amiability to both Japanese and Belgians in Japan-Belgium relations. Responses encourage a writer. I would love to hear your opinions, not only comments on the content, but I would also like to hear your ideas for great topics. You may send your ideas to the Embassy's e-mail at info@bx.mofa.go.jp.
So, on to number one!
Celebrating Sister Cities (No.1)
 Besides eight sister cities*, Japan and Belgium also have already been connected through several friendship cities and friendship ports. The other day a ceremony was held signing the cooperation of the three partnering shopping districts: Sakae-machi in Nagoya, Louise Avenue in Brussels and Montaigne Avenue in Paris. The idea for this twinning had been years in the making, but now it has finally become reality.
  Prior to the ceremony, the delegates and guests, both Japanese and Belgian/French, were invited to my residence where I hosted the first reception since my appointment of Ambassador to Belgium. The reception felt truly Japanese: we held a toast with the Japanese sake served in square wooden cups the delegates from Sakae-machi had brought from Nagoya; the Ikebana-guests wore charming kimono; and a Belgian Japanese tea master performed for us a Japanese tea ceremony. I did not have the time to go and have a look, but that same day the famous image of Brussels ‘Manneken Pis’ was dressed in a Japanese ‘fire brigade’ happi.
 The signing ceremony was held at the Egmont Palace—it was a splendid ceremony with typical Belgian chocolates and cuberdons. The main stores of the Louise shopping district were given a Japanese image: stores were decorated by artists with paper cranes and Japanese flower arrangements, and Japanese drums and tea ceremony performances were held for this Brussels Japan Night. It was unfortunate it only lasted for the evening, but I think passers-by also enjoyed it. The works by the artists were marvellous and also I was surprised to hear that the Ikebana-guests managed to decorate more than 90 stores in just one day.
I believe there is no such thing as ‘a relationship between two countries’ in fact, but that everything is made possible through the connections between people and the decomposition into exchanges. In that sense, I am glad to have been involved in the start of such exchange projects with new people just shortly after my appointment here. As for the Embassy, as well as myself, I would like to support the continuation of such cooperation between sister cities.
 As many probably already are aware of, in two years’ time, 2016 will mark the 150th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Japan and Belgium. Both countries have a long history, as well as having supported close exchanges of people dating back to 1866. Though there have been many varying states of relationships between the sister cities—there have been very active periods, but also toned-down periods—it would be wonderful for this 150th anniversary celebration to usher in a renewed boost in the relationships so far.
 By the way, additionally, together with the ladies who stood central in the twinning partnership between Sakae-machi and Louise, I received the honour of being published on the cover photo of a special edition of the magazine Paris Match. I think my smile is a bit stiff…. Don’t you think so? The photo in which I walk on the red carpet surrounded by these ladies kind of makes me feel like I were a big star, although I was rather nervous.
*For more details on these Sister Cities, please check out the “Japan-Belgium Relations” and “Sister Cities” pages on the website of the Embassy.
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