Message from Ambassador Yamanouchi after presenting his letter of credence

A month has passed since my arrival in Ottawa as Ambassador to Canada. On June 7, I presented my letter of credence to Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary J. May Simon, Governor General and Commander-in-Chief of Canada. Upon my arrival in May, I expressed my aspirations together with my reflections of past encounters with Canada. Today, I would like to reiterate my resolve to devote my efforts to the further development of Japan-Canada relations.
 
Following my arrival, I have had the opportunity to meet with various people and listen to their stories. Looking at Canada afresh, my posting is an opportunity for me to "rediscover Canada." Japan and Canada share universal values such as freedom, democracy, and the rule of law. Our two countries have built good bilateral relations on the solid basis of mutual understanding fostered through people-to-people exchanges and friendship over many decades. And now, I can see that this foundation provides us a remarkable opportunity to further advance our bilateral relations toward realizing the vision of a "Free and Open Indo-Pacific." In this time of great turmoil, there is meaning and potential in Japan-Canada cooperation. Japan and Canada are mutually important partners and deepening and solidifying the Japan-Canada relationship means a lot for both our countries and beyond, for the peace and prosperity of the international community as a whole. I would like to seize each and every opportunity in the political and security arenas, economic and business relationships, culture and people-to-people exchanges, and more, and give a concrete shape to cooperation and mutual understanding founded upon our shared values and ideologies.
 
I will do my utmost as Ambassador to further these goals. I look forward to working together with all of you for the sake of Japan, Canada, and bilateral relations, to promote a better world.