Traditionally, Bulgaria and Japan enjoy friendly and stable relations. This year a lot of Bulgarian institutions showed solidarity with the victims of the Fukushima nuclear accident and the subsequent natural disasters. The Bulgarian National Radio Mixed Choir, for one, gave a concert in support of the victims. From Radio Bulgaria, we’d like to send our best wishes to our Japanese listeners and Japan as a whole. This year coming to an end, we’ve prepared an interview for you with His Excellency Mr. Makoto Ito, Ambassador of Japan to Bulgaria. He made an overview of Bulgarian-Japanese relations in 2011.
As far as the two countries’ economic and political relations are concerned, Mr. Ito highlighted the visit of Bulgarian PM Borissov and a Bulgarian business delegation to Japan early this year. He assessed the relations as very good, noting that Japan, however, has been mostly occupied with the Fukushima disaster.
His Excellency thanked the Bulgarian people for their sympathy, support and assistance. He expressed his appreciation of the work of Bulgarian Commissioner Responsible for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Support Kristalina Georgieva. In his words, she has contributed greatly to the EU’s relief efforts for Japan.
From Radio Bulgaria, we also asked about the highlights of this year’s Japanese Days of Culture in Sofia. We learnt from His Excellency there were 13 programmes, of which the Japanese food demonstration reaped huge success among Bulgarians.
What are the major initiatives of the Embassy of Japan next year? It was revealed they were not decided upon yet, but the ambassador of Japan expressed a firm wish to have a frequent exchange of people on political, business and cultural levels.
The English Service of Radio Bulgaria thanks the Japanese Embassy in Sofia and Mr. Makoto Ito for their cooperation.
