Love Letter from Brussels
<< Back List Next >>
Solidarity Matters! (No.27)
December 7, 2015
SHIWASU (December)
December at last. Having entered the twelfth month, this year will be over in less than a month. This means that we also have less than one month to go until 2016, the year of the 150th anniversary of friendship between Japan and Belgium.
As a matter of fact, the celebration of the 150th anniversary has already started. On the occasion of this 150th anniversary of friendship, the 150 Years of Friendship Executive Committee was formally inaugurated on 1st December. From the same day on, His Majesty the Emperor of Japan and His Majesty Philippe, King of Belgians, will act as Honorary Presidents of the 150th anniversary. The first Belgian diplomat set foot in Yokohama in Japan on 16th December 1865. On 15th December, one day before the 150th anniversary of this event, an opening ceremony will be held at the Belgian Embassy in Tokyo. This is in fact the actual beginning of the celebrations.
Solidarity
One day in December, once a year, to celebrate Japan’s national holiday, we organize a reception for the Emperor’s Birthday. While keeping in mind that the terrorist threat level is at 3, we took the necessary safety precautions and went ahead with the event as planned. Over 350 of Belgian friends and diplomatic corps made time to come over, making the reception a great success.
During my short welcome speech at the reception, I talked about solidarity.
“The fact that so many of you took the time to come to us to celebrate the birthday of the Emperor, is proof of your solidarity with the country of Japan. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
At the same time, the fact that we decided to host this large event in these difficult times, is proof of the Japanese solidarity with Belgium and the Belgian people.
We have absolute trust that the Belgian government is making all possible efforts to ensure the safety of the people as well as diplomatic corps and institutions in Belgium and to contribute to the international fight against terrorism.”
My praise for the Belgian police and military personnel, who are working day and night was welcomed with a big applause from the attendees.
“Washoku” Cool!
After that, I gave a little introduction about the Japanese food we served at the reception. It’s a public secret that you can have delicious Japanese food at the Japanese Embassy’s receptions and that makes our reception very popular. This one being no exception, we endeavored to bolster our “Japanese Food Promotion Campaign” by serving a variety of Japanese food!
This year, as every year, we served sushi, but what was new this time is that the sushi rice was Japanese shinmai (newly harvested rice), imported directly from Japan. Sushi is already very “cool” but this time, it was “cooler” than ever.
This year’s new protagonist, however, was the WAGYU (Japanese beef). The beef was freshly roasted and then cut up in pieces on the spot. The line for the Wagyu table was longer than the line for the main dishes. As this table was set up in a tent facing the garden, it was actually a bit colder than inside the residence but everyone was lured by the Wagyu’s savory smell and it seems many people stopped by for a second helping as well.
Additionally, there were also several kinds of Japanese sake offered in the tent. Considering the cold season, we offered hot sake as well. Especially the Japanese sparkling sake was fairly popular, thanks to its rarity. The Japanese red and white wines were also exceptionally well received, I think. And to my big surprise, the Japanese whisky bottles were emptied steadily. I didn’t know Belgians drank this much whiskey but even here Japanese whisky is quite popular.
By the way, the very popular Wagyu originated from Kagoshima in the south of Japan but the importer is a company in Ghent in the north of Belgium. Would this not be a proof of Japanese-Belgian solidarity as well?
