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On March 15, DPJ Secretary General Katsuya Okada met with eight Ambassadors belonging to ‘Heiseikai’, an association of Japanese-speaking Ambassadors, at party headquarters, and discussed the response to the Tohoku Pacific earthquake and tsunami. The Ambassadors of Venezuela, Lithuania, Micronesia, Morocco, Paraguay, Germany, Bulgaria, and Palau attended the meeting, as did Administration Committee Chair Makoto Taki, International Department Director-General Chinami Nishimura and Vice Directors-General Harunobu Yonenaga and Mieko Nakabayashi for the DPJ.
Okada pointed out that the disaster was one unparalleled in global terms, and explained that the Japanese government was making every effort to engage in the necessary measures to respond to it, and that the DPJ was supporting these efforts wholeheartedly. He went on to say that there were two hopeful signs with a view to overcoming the disaster. These were the extremely calm response shown by the Japanese people, and the cooperative mood between the ruling and opposition parties in the Diet. Based on these circumstances, Okada expressed his desire to ensure that the budget for fiscal 2011 and budget-related legislation would be passed as early as possible, and stated that a supplementary budget for disaster response measures would also be drafted at an early stage.
The Ambassador of Venezuela, Seiko Ishikawa, currently chair of Heiseikai, responded on behalf of the Ambassadors, stating, ‘I would like to express our sincere condolences to the Japanese government and the people of Japan for the massive earthquake and tsunami that struck the Tohoku district and the Pacific coast.” Following this, each Ambassador reported on the whereabouts of their nationals living in Japan, particularly in the afflicted areas, as well as offering assistance and making various requests. Okada listened carefully to these various reports and requests and promised to convey them to the Japanese government.
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