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Hidekatsu Fujii
Honorary Consul of the Republic of Lithuania in Japan,
President of Fujii Building Co.Ltd.,
Chairman of the Urban Redevelopment Committee of the Sapporo Chamber of Commerce and Industry
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It was a great honour for me, here in Sapporo, to be appointed the first Honorary Consul of the Republic of Lithuania in Japan. I will do my best to strengthen friendly relations between Japan and Lithuania.
For Japan, Lithuania is a very distant country, but not unfamiliar one. The efforts of the Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara, who saved the lives of some 6,000 Jewish people by issuing them visas during World War II, are well documented. After Dr. Algirdas Kudzys, who studied at Hokkaido University, became Lithuania’s Ambassador to Japan, cultural exchange strengthened between the two countries through the participation of a Lithuanian team in the Snow Carving contest at the annual Sapporo Snow Festival. The ambassador’s enthusiasm for this exchange was the main reason I accepted the honorary consulate position.
The island of Hokkaido and Lithuania have a similar climate and are very similar due to their rich natural beauty. The exchange of students between Ritsumeikan Keisho High School and Lithuania is lively and blooming like the cherry trees that Hokkaido University’s botanical garden donated to the city of Vilnius.
The year 2003 saw an exhibition of Lithuanian history, culture and economy in Sapporo. In addition, after I had been made Honorary Consul, here in Sapporo, we received an application from the city of Kaunas to become a member of the World Association of Winter Cities at the meeting held in Sapporo in February. During the same month, the Hokkaido Lithuanian Friendship Association, consisting of approximately 70 members, was founded in Sapporo.
In June, I will lead 30 members on the first Hokkaido Lithuania Friendship Tour, to Vilnius and Kaunas. The participants include representatives of the city of Sapporo and the Sapporo Chamber of Commerce. It is my hope that this combination of private and public sectors will further strengthen the exchange between our countries.
