Real Ambassador

This evening Japan's Ambassador to the United States of America had a lecture and talk at Yale. He began with "One of the biggest characteristics in Japan's foreign policy is our 'passive diplomacy'". His brave confession brought laughter in the audience. In other words, his remarks revealed Japan has not had aggressive foreign policy ever... However, there were many interesting questions and lively interactions afterwards.

今日は駐米日本大使がYaleで講演をされるということで聴きに行った。冒頭、「日本外交の最大の特徴は『受身外交』であることです」という発言に、会場は笑いに包まれた。ただ、とらえ方によっては日本は能動外交をしてこなかった、という誤解を与えかねないのでちょっと心配だったが、Q&Aセッションでは興味深い質問や活発な議論が聴けて非常に参考になった。