On a mission of trust, respect and honest dialogue
From Kyoto to Copenhagen: Ambassador Kondo says Japan is ready for a COP15 agreement.Japan’s ambassador looks at how both countries have managed to learn from recessions, recover and recoup
By Claire Clausen
Japan sent their secret weapon to Denmark 14 months ago when Ambassador Seiichi Kondo arrived. A convinced public diplomat, he brings 37 years of international experience to Copenhagen, and beautiful his wife, Yoko.
Kondo has also worked with trade and economy and had several postings to Paris working for the OECD and later as Japan’s Unesco ambassador. Trade and economy have loomed large in his life after he was ‘on loan’ to the Ministry of Trade and Industry in his early carreeer. His 18 years abroad have been enriching and valuable, he says.
The international experience opened his eyes to the value of public diplomacy and of how cultural exchanges have powerful long-term benefits.
‘Once you are aware of how other nations react, what their religion and culture is all about, you can build bridges of understanding that can benefit everyone. Mutual trust and respect is the best way on which to base business and trade, and trade has a knock-on effect which can improve both societies.’
In his posting to Washington, Kondo was able to put his theories into practice and most recently he was director general of the Public Diplomacy Department in Tokyo promoting cultural exchanges worldwide and developing public diplomacy in Japan and its missions abroad.
‘The world is now very competitive so we have to attract attention in new ways,’ he says.
These days, with massive media focus on global economies and the BRIC nations, particularly China and India, Kondo acknowledges the need to be vigilant to prevent the image of Japan being overshadowed.
‘These are, of course, new engines of economy but statistics have proved Japan is far from forgotten. Students of Japanese remain at the same level with new registrations each year. We have realised that we have a new image amongst young people. Our famous sushi, animé and manga cartoon characters are worldwide cults bringing us huge revenues. These have helped young people refocus on Japan and have served as a new gateway into our culture. Japanese language studies are growing and important, serving as the main highway into our way of life.’
The epitome of Franco-Japanese elegance in his office surrounded by Danish design furniture and lighting, Kondo reflects: ‘Here in Denmark, Japan and the US are still viewed as high-tech world leaders. This too is a small, highly-developed IT society. Danes have been very skilful at identifying valuable niche products and markets. They have managed to survive so well by finding partners and maintaining their prestigious status.
‘We don’t yet have such a developed social welfare system as the Danes – but most people are happy that the economic crashes of the ‘80s and ‘90s have taught us some hard lessons. Our financial sector is in pretty good shape again so that now that the world is in recession, we are not quite so hard hit.
‘We are impressed by the Danish model of society – the way the people themselves have taken responsibility for their own working lives, wage negotiations etc. They have looked outside their borders and have used best practices and made it their own. What strikes me is the high level of mutual trust that has grown up and how respect for rule of law – and the use of high-tech has saved the country millions which can be spent on welfare.’
Kondo describes Japan today as a perfect blend of old traditional values and cutting-edge technology, both of which pervade the lives of all Japanese.
He describes a wave-like pattern of development, where his country forged forward, only to be hit from a backlash or downturn from which it has had to recover before moving forward again.
‘Since 1868 we have followed a difficult path. Back then we realised that we had to learn the Western ways, Western ideologies. Strangely Western-style dancing was first to be introduced. Actually touching your partner and dancing to music was a complete departure.’
This first symbol of Westernisation was only offered to the elite. In the 1880s the government encouraged people to change their centuries-old diet of exclusively rice, vegetables and fish and begin eating pork and beef. Kondo explains that it was part of a policy to fend off colonisation. It worked. Apart from the years immediately after the Second World War when the Americans occupied in Japan, it has never been colonised.
‘This modernisation suffered a backlash between the first and second world wars, but after the war democratic governance was returned and modernisation and industrialisation returned in force. By the 1970s the country was being poisoned by industrial pollution, so drastic measures to curb this were needed. Clear air policies and very strict environmental regulations for factories and cars were implemented.’
‘This wasn’t as difficult as expected, in fact, because we Japanese have always had deep in our cultural heritage and religion a sense that we are one with nature. We had put that aside in the 60s and 70s but have taken it back again. This is why we are one of the forerunners of environmental protection, why the Kyoto Protocol is so important, and why we have already made commitments for COP15, he says.
‘We are a modest, subdued, gentle race of people now. We see the shades of grey and are realistic about the complexity of life and we accept its contradictions. We no longer try to impose our views, but we are keen to show them and discuss them, letting others make their own judgments. In my view Japanese are evolutionists not revolutionists,’ says Kondo philosophising at the end of the day.
