NPO法人 アジア留学生サポートセンター｜アジアから日本に集まる留学生・実習生のサポート

I would first like to express my most sincere thanks to the APLFD head office for inviting me to the Manila Conference. Also as the representative of the Japan chapter, I feel it is a great honour for me to have been given the chance to speak in front of famous guests from 15 countries. Especially since this year – 2016 – is the 60th anniversary of the normalization of relations between the Philippines and Japan, the opportunity to make this speech in this most important year is deeply moving to me as a Japanese. This January on the invitation of your former President, the Emperor and Empress of Japan visited the Philippines and were most cordially welcomed. I will now introduce part of what His Majesty the Emperor said at a state banquet on that occasion:

“Relations between Japan and the Philippines began in the middle of the 16th century through trade, and a Japanese settlement was established. After that Japan pursued the policy of seclusion (sakoku) and the relations between the two countries were interrupted. Japan opened up in the middle of the 19th century, and again relations with the Philippines were deepened. At that time the Philippines were under the control of Spain, but an independence movement rose up, led by the great and respected national hero José Rizal. He believed that the pen is mightier than the sword, and did not seek independence through armed revolution but through the enlightenment of his writings.

He also stayed for one month and a half in Japan, and wrote that in the future there would be various kinds of intercourse between Japan and the Philippines, and that relations between them would probably strengthen. He was both a hero of Philippine independence and a pioneer of the friendship between Japan and the Philippines.

In addition to this episode, His Majesty the Emperor spoke with great sorrow of the fierce fighting in the streets of Manila during the last war, in which vast numbers of citizens perished, and he attended a memorial service for the unknown soldiers before the end of his visit, which he had so earnestly desired. Now, just as José Rizal had predicted, both countries are on the friendliest possible terms, and more than 60,000 Philippine citizens are living in Japan.

In Catholic churches in various parts of Tokyo, the mass is heard in English by several hundred people. And every year 30,000 Japanese are studying English in Sebu island. Of course Japanese companies are increasing by more than 20% each year, and about 1500 are now in the Philippines. The cause of this is not just that there are many Japanophiles, but also that top class growth in GDP is continuing compared to the rest of Asia. There is furthermore the bonus that the average age of the populace is 22.6 years, and this has been guaranteed for 55 years, the fact that business is conducted in English which means there is no barrier to understanding and so on, and so the general assessment is that there is potential.

Japan also, since the Abe government began, has begun the policies of Abenomics to allow Japan to escape from its long-running deflation. Bold financial policies have been realised by monetary easing of a whole new dimension and volume, and to give a stimulus to business public investment has been mobilized. Over a period of about three and a half years, GDP has grown from minus 3.6 to plus 4.5%, share prices have doubled, employment has increased by 1.1 million and tax revenues have increased by 20 trillion yen and so on. These figures indicate a success story. But on the other hand there are still problems: real wages have not increased, regular employment has gone down, and domestic demand has not increased.

For growth strategies, there are several points where we can learn from the countries of ASEAN. In the past Japan was the model and the watchword was ‘Look East’, but Japan also has to learn from various countries. As for one growth strategy, namely the advance of women in society, there is no better example to follow than the Philippines. The number of women in management comprises 46%, which for Japanese is an astonishing figure. There are also many things which Japan can learn from the countries of Asia in regard to labour productivity, nurturing of globally talented people and speed of decision-making. To sustain lasting growth it is necessary to innovate further in fields which have until now been our strengths: robotics, IP cells and other medical techniques, self-driving cars using AI, linear motors, regional jets developed by Honda and Mitsubishi to be twice as fast as Concorde, carbon fibres etc. But with our ageing society, there is a serious shortage of care workers, and receiving immigrants from overseas and foreign workers and trainees has become unavoidable. Also I think the creation of an environment favourable to long term residence, and legal preparations for this have become matters of urgency. Personally I hope that many overseas students, trainees and workers will be able to live permanently in Japan, and by international marriages many hybrid children can be produced.

This is the true meaning of ‘borderless’, transcending race and nation, and the essence of globalism. It is “One Family under the God or Buddah”. Thank you for your attention.