Down memory lane in the Japan-Kenya partnership

And when it comes to reciting my recollections of the many years of collaboration and partnership between Kenya and Japan, I believe I should start with what was a high point of my younger days.

This was in 1988. I was at that time an employee of Toyota Kenya, and I visited Japan for the first time with a delegation of vehicle dealers from Kenya.

When we arrived, the first item on our extensive itinerary was a visit to Tokyo Disneyland. This came as a surprise to most members of the group, as they were businessmen who were heavily invested in their car dealerships, and Disneyland was not what they had expected on this visit to Japan.

But we soon found out why Disneyland had been included in our itinerary.

The operations at Disneyland, when seen close up, provided a lesson in teamwork, discipline, focus and attention to detail.

I have since then visited all the Disneylands globally, including those in America, and have never seen one to match the one in Japan.

HARMONY AND TEAMWORK

An equally important recollection is one from my time as the Kenyan Ambassador to Japan. In that capacity, I supported the participation of the Japanese National Rugby Team in our Safari Sevens Rugby Tournament, here in Kenya.

And very much later on, discussing the matches we had watched, some of my friends and I agreed that what was most remarkable was how the Japanese rugby players, though in general very much smaller in body size than the hulking Kenyan rugby players, showed such an amazing degree of teamwork, that this easily overcame any advantage Kenya may have had in their bigger and faster rugby players.

This amazing degree of harmonious cooperation and teamwork was something I was to witness over and over again in my interactions with Japanese institutions both here in Kenya and when I served as Kenya’s Ambassador to Japan between 2004 and 2009.

Also touching on rugby is that during my time as Ambassador to Japan, it was my good fortune to meet the former Prime Minister of Japan, Yoshiro Mori, then just a few years out of office and serving as the Honorary Chairman of the Japan Rugby Union.

He and I became good friends out of our shared interest in the game, and over the next few years, he invited me to just about every top rugby game played in Japan. The hospitality and friendship extended to me by the former Prime Minister remains in my mind as a perfect illustration of Japan’s affection for Kenya and eagerness to see Kenya prosper.

It is hardly surprising, then, that Kenya is the single biggest recipient of Japanese Official Development Assistance in all of Africa.

And a final word about Japanese harmony and teamwork: it is rooted in diligent and outstanding research undertaken before any initiative is launched. Only through this highly focused prior preparation and study in advance of taking any action, are Japanese leaders and institutions able to come up with the long-term strategies for sustainable development for which Japan is so famous.

The hospitality and friendship extended to me by the former Prime Minister remains in my mind as a perfect illustration of Japan’s affection for Kenya and eagerness to see Kenya prosper. It is hardly surprising, then, that Kenya is the single biggest recipient of Japanese Official Development Assistance in all of Africa

THE TOKYO IMPERIAL PALACE

But I must admit that sustainable development was not what was on my mind in 2004, when I was seated in a traditional horse-drawn carriage, elaborately attired in a “morning suit”, and on my way to present my credentials to Emperor Akihito at the Tokyo Imperial Palace.

At that time, I was simply in awe of Japanese culture and traditions.

The Japanese monarchy is, of course, the oldest continuous hereditary monarchy in the world, having been founded as far back as 660BC.

To enter into the grounds of the Tokyo Imperial Palace while riding in a traditional horse-drawn carriage is an overwhelming experience by any measure, and one which cannot easily be forgotten.

And as for meeting the Emperor and presenting my credentials, no words I can think of could adequately describe that experience.

RICH CULTURAL HERITAGE

However, I did not know on that day that the Japanese imperial family’s hospitality traditions extended to ambassadors make it possible for the diplomats to interact with members of the Japanese imperial family on a number of occasions over the course of the year. In particular when it came to the seasonal cultural events.

These events include visiting the royal stock farm; cormorant fishing expeditions in the royal barges; excursions for “duck netting” (which it would take me too long to explain here); and many banquets and feasts at various locations of cultural significance.

Two of the better-known annual events of cultural significance in Japan are the Emperor’s Birthday, which is the key national holiday and is celebrated even here in Nairobi. And then there is the viewing of the cherry blossoms, which is a deeply cherished tradition in Japan.

For ambassadors in Tokyo, the viewing of the cherry blossoms in the Spring season is hosted by the Crown Prince, who in my time was Prince Naruhito, who has since succeeded his father and is now the Emperor of Japan.

VIP VISITORS

But much as I enjoyed the rich cultural heritage of Japan, I also had my official duties to attend to. Such as, for example, in 2004, when President Mwai Kibaki travelled to Japan on an official state visit to meet with Japanese government officials and leading figures in the private sector in order to attract new investments to Kenya. President Kibaki also visited the Aichi Expo, which was held in the Aichi Prefecture near the city of Nagoya, and also travelled to Hiroshima to lay a wreath at the Hiroshima memorial.

A Kenyan whose visit to Japan created as much interest as President Kibaki’s visit was the late environmentalist and Nobel Prize for Peace laureate Prof Wangari Maathai. She, in fact, visited Japan on more than one occasion. And each time I went to the airport to meet her, I was amazed at the sheer number of press photographers and TV crews who turned up to cover her arrival, and the enthusiasm she generated with the audiences at the many functions she presided over.

For her work in promoting “the three Rs of environmental policy: reduce, reuse and recycle”, Prof Maathai was awarded the prestigious Japanese Order of The Rising Sun, an order which has an over 140-year history, having been established by the Emperor Meiji back in 1875.

TICAD

President Kibaki was to return to Japan in 2008 for the fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD IV), which was held in Yokohama.

Since TICAD VI has since been held in Nairobi in 2016 (this being the first time the conference was held on African soil), many Kenyans will be aware that this premier conference on African development has since 1993 been co-hosted by the United Nations, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Bank and the African Union Commission (AUC). TICAD aims to promote Africa's development, peace and security through the strengthening of relations in multilateral cooperation and partnership.

And it is interesting to note that whereas back in 2008, I was necessarily part of the Kenyan TICAD delegation in my capacity as the Ambassador of Kenya to Japan, when the TICAD VI was held in Nairobi, I was back in the country and attended the conference as a delegate from the private sector, having by then been appointed the chairman of Toyota East Africa.

In all these interactions with the people as well as the various institutions of Japan, I was constantly amazed at the incredible attention to detail that the Japanese people bring to all the tasks they undertake, and the remarkable level of organisation.

MOVING FORWARD

Kenya has also made much progress in such matters, especially in the private sector. But we still have a long way to go and a lot to learn.

The partnership between Japan and Kenya has contributed greatly to moving the country forward. It has been a remarkable 60 years, marked by many clear proofs of the Japanese people’s sheer loyalty and friendship to Kenya.

And I believe that this strong partnership will continue to help our country in our collective pursuit of prosperity, even as we struggle to rise beyond our current dependence on primary agricultural produce, to become an advanced economy built on services and manufacturing.

Amb Dennis Awori is the chairman and country delegate of the CFAO Group in Kenya, which includes CFAO Motors, DT Dobie, Loxea, Laborex, CFAO Agri and Tyre Distributors Africa. He is also the chairman of the Toyota Kenya Foundation.

He served as Kenya’s Ambassador to Japan from 2004 to 2009.