From Ambassador (Funeral of Mrs. Jóhanna Jórunn Thors)
2025/2/18
On February 12, I attended the funeral of Mrs. Jóhanna Jórunn Thors, the wife of the late former Honorary Consul General for Japan, Mr. Ólafur B. Thors. Nearly 300 people attended the mass at the church and the reception afterwards, and they all expressed their profound sadness at the passing of Jóhanna.
I had the opportunity to meet Mr. Hilmar Thors, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Thors and to express my deep appreciation to him for the great care and support his parents had given the Japanese people and the Government of Japan. Then, he shared valuable stories with me, as follows:
There was no Japanese embassy in Iceland until 2001. This was why his father Ólafur was serving as Honorary Consul General. Hilmar then took on the role of chauffeur whenever the Japanese ambassador to Norway, who was also in charge of the embassy in Iceland, came to the country, as well as helping with the reporting of information about Iceland to the embassy of Japan in Norway. Furthermore, Hilmar visited Japan in 1994 as the representative of Iceland in the delegation of European Free Trade Association (EFTA), and also visited the Ministry of Foreign Affairs then.
It is a significant achievement which should be passed on to the future that Ólafur served as Honorary Consul General for 20 years from 1981, and that as the family his son was also contributing to Japanese-Icelandic relations.
This was the first time I had attended a funeral in Iceland, and I was humbled by the whole experience. Thank you so much, Mr. Ólafur, Mrs. Jóhanna and Mr. Hilmar.
I had the opportunity to meet Mr. Hilmar Thors, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Thors and to express my deep appreciation to him for the great care and support his parents had given the Japanese people and the Government of Japan. Then, he shared valuable stories with me, as follows:
There was no Japanese embassy in Iceland until 2001. This was why his father Ólafur was serving as Honorary Consul General. Hilmar then took on the role of chauffeur whenever the Japanese ambassador to Norway, who was also in charge of the embassy in Iceland, came to the country, as well as helping with the reporting of information about Iceland to the embassy of Japan in Norway. Furthermore, Hilmar visited Japan in 1994 as the representative of Iceland in the delegation of European Free Trade Association (EFTA), and also visited the Ministry of Foreign Affairs then.
It is a significant achievement which should be passed on to the future that Ólafur served as Honorary Consul General for 20 years from 1981, and that as the family his son was also contributing to Japanese-Icelandic relations.
This was the first time I had attended a funeral in Iceland, and I was humbled by the whole experience. Thank you so much, Mr. Ólafur, Mrs. Jóhanna and Mr. Hilmar.