Speach by HRH The Prince of Wales at the Miraikan Museum on “Innovation and Conservation”, Tokyo, Japan, 28th October 2008.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Konnichi-wa.
It is a great pleasure to return to Japan, almost exactly eighteen years since my last visit, in 1990, for the Enthronement of Their Majesties The Emperor and Empress. On this occasion I am able to bring my wife for her first visit to this remarkable country and for another highly auspicious celebration – the 150th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Japan and Britain.
In 1858 our two island nations were in a state of transition. Here, Japan was entering the modern era. In Victorian Britain, the full effects of the Industrial Revolution were beginning to be felt: technological and economic progress were gaining momentum with the development of steam-powered ships and railways. The extraordinary technological and economic advances that marked that period of Britain’s history were, in many ways, similar to those which marked Japan’s rapid growth in the second half of the twentieth century – and saw your economy become the second largest in the World. These common experiences, albeit at different times in our history, provide the basis for our modern partnership.
Since the tentative beginnings of trade between our two countries 150 years ago, we have developed close links in almost all walks of life. Trade continues to be hugely important. But it is no longer the whole story. Japanese investment in the UK is, in many ways, the huge success of the past forty years. A staggering 1,400 Japanese companies now invest in Britain, employing an equally staggering 95,000 people. Educational ties have also grown exponentially and there are, of course, close links between my own family and the Imperial Family, including many visits. Indeed, I myself first came to Japan in, would you believe it, 1970 for Expo – well before the majority of visitors to the splendid Miraikan Museum were born!
These exchanges, at all levels, have improved our understanding of each other and, crucially, strengthened our common values. Through our membership of the G8, to name but one group in which we both play a leading role, we are now truly partners in all areas of international concern, from tackling environmental issues to tackling poverty and combatting conflict and instability around the world.
The British Embassy, together with the British Council, of which I have been Vice-Patron for twenty-four years, have organized a year-long programme of events called “UK-Japan 2008” to mark this important 150th anniversary. It highlights a balance between pioneering innovation and preserving the best of what we have been bequeathed in the creative industries, science and the arts. When my wife and I visit some of the splendours of Nara tomorrow, we shall see for ourselves how timeless principles have informed Japanese building – and, indeed, Japanese consciousness – from the eighth century. We shall also see how the conservation of these magnificent buildings and the traditional wisdom they represent is as precious to you today as it was more than a thousand years ago.
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