The Midwest-Japan Relationship
I am also pleased to report that the Midwest-Japan
partnership is now thriving. In the four
states that the Consulate covers, namely
Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota and Wisconsin,
Japanese direct investment now provides more
than 90,000 jobs including nearly 50,000
manufacturing positions. Japan is the largest
overseas market of American agricultural
products, most of which are produced here
in the Midwest. Finally, as a barometer of
our increased interchange, there are now
six direct flights daily between Chicago
and Japan, and the number of trade and goodwill
missions between our two nations is increasing
year by year.
The highlight of 1999 was the visit of Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi to Chicago. As a matter of fact, Chicago was selected by the Japanese government to represent the entire Midwest for the Prime Minister's visit. Mr. Obuchi delighted in his stay here and after successfully throwing the first pitch to Sammy Sosa, he declared spontaneously, "Chicago is my kind of town".
Another key component of the Midwest-Japan partnership is the increased interchange at the grassroots level. Building upon the many sister city relationships, the State of Indiana and Tochigi Prefecture signed a new sister state agreement last year.
Further, Japan received a special delegation from Chicago last November. The five students represented the Langston Hughes Elementary School, a Chicago public school, which provides daily Japanese language instruction to all students in the first to fifth grades. The five students welcomed Prime Minister Obuchi at O'Hare Airport last April. In return, the Prime Minister personally extended the red carpet treatment to them during their Japan visit.
Incidentally, the grassroots summit in which those students participated in Japan will celebrate its tenth anniversary meeting in Chicago next summer. It will enable several hundred Japanese and Midwesterners to become acquainted through a home stay program for several nights. I fully support this initiative and look forward its success.
In short, 1999 was a banner year for the Midwest-Japan partnership and I know that in the New Year, it will continue to flourish. Best wishes for the holiday season!