Japón. Un viento nuevo, más humano y la muñeca okiagari-koboshi

Cuenta el primer ministro, Naoto KAN (y es que créanlo o no, de vez en cuando me escribe y me cuenta cosas).
Acabo de regresar de Paris, donde participé en la Ceremonia Conmemorativa del 50 Aniversario de la OECD, en la Cumbre del G8, en Deauville, donde mantuve encuentros con destacados líderes políticos. Además también estuve en Bruselas, en la Conferencia de la Cumbre Japón - EU.

En la edición de este año de la Cumbre de los G8 yo venía por segunda vez como Primer Ministro. El año anterior fue en Muskoka, Canadá. Los participantes, los mismos. Quien presidía este año, el Presidente Nicolás Sarkozy, tuve el gesto de dirijirse a nosotros utilizando nuestros nombres de pila, cosa que me ayudó mucho a relajarme. Sin embargo, algo había diferente respecto al año pasado. Cierta tensión reinaba en el ambiente. La atención parecía estar centrada en Japón. la Cumbre de este año ha servido como escenario imprescindible para hablar sín tapujos, con absoluta claridad, acerca de la grave situación por la que atraviesa Japón debido al desastre del terremoto y los posteriores accidentes nucleares.
Ya en el almuerzo del primer día Sarkozy me rogó que fuera yo el primero en tomar la palabra, "Que empieze Naoto."


Each leader expressed his or her sympathy to Japan, and they all

spoke of their feelings of respect for the Japanese people for

raising themselves up with courage in a level-headed manner. This

was truly encouraging. I am taking this opportunity to report this

to you, as this was a message to the Japanese people as a whole,

and above all to the disaster victims.



In addition, heartfelt remarks extended towards the disaster areas

were made at the joint press conference with the leaders of the EU,

which wrapped up the diplomatic events during this trip. As he

finished his remarks, Mr. Herman Van Rompuy, President of the

European Council, also presented in English a haiku poem that he

had written the night before.



"The three disasters

Storms turn into a soft wind:

A new, humane wind."



Hearing this poem for the first time there at the podium, I jotted

down the simultaneous interpretation there on the spot, and as

I concluded my own remarks, with feelings of appreciation I read

out the poem again, this time in Japanese. But as I finished the

second line, I found myself choked up for a moment, filled with

emotion.



President Van Rompuy is a great fan of haiku poetry, having even

published a collection of the poems that he has written, entitled

Haiku. When I met him last year, he graciously signed a copy of his

anthology, which I had brought along. This year's summit, which was

called the "Kizuna Summit" - or, the "Summit of the Bonds of

Friendship" - also demonstrated a strong feeling of solidarity from

the EU side towards Japan.



During this trip, I kept a small commemorative okiagari-koboshi

doll in my suit jacket pocket. This is a kind of traditional folk

art that I had purchased the other day when I visited a shop in

Tokyo selling goods made in Fukushima. The spirit represented by

this doll, which always rights itself after it is knocked down,

imparted surefire strength to the message I sent to the leaders

from around the world, that Japan will without a doubt become

revived once again.