From Ambassador

Hello everyone! I arrived in Iceland on 1st of November and handed over my Credentials to the President of Iceland, H.E. Mr Guðni Th. Jóhannesson on the 21st. This time, I would like to say a few words about it.

As you may know, Ambassadors need to hand over their Credentials to start their official duties. On the day of my ceremony, the Chief of Protocol of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs came to the Embassy to accompany me to the official residence of the President. (The presidential car is Toyota Lexus and the number “1” is written on the license plate)

The President’s residence was built in about 1761 and is located in the “Alftanes” peninsula, which is about 20-minute drive to the south-west from the city center. The residence is a very beautiful building with an idyllic atmosphere. Since it is one of the popular sightseeing spots, some of you might have even been there. The residence is called Bessastadir (it means Bessi’s Place in English) and is a very familiar place to the Icelandic people.

Since there is no obstacle around the residence, it is usually very windy there. According to the Chief of Protocol, It frequently happens that hairstyles of guests get messy just by walking from the car to the entrance of the residence. Luckily, there was no wind and we enjoyed unusually good weather on that day.

Mr. Jóhannesson is the 6th President of the Republic of Iceland and was elected in a direct democratic election. He is 48 years old and was teaching history at the University of Iceland until just before the inauguration in August of this year.

After I arrived at the residence, the attendants to the presentation of Credentials were only the President, the Secretary General of the President’s Office, the Chief of Protocol and myself. Then the President and I had a private conversation for 30 minutes in a study located in the next room. The President was very friendly and open without being too formal. He extended a fully warm welcome to a new Ambassador, which I deeply appreciated.

After the conversation with the President, we took ceremonial photographs with other staff members of the Embassy, which was followed by a reception. At the reception, about 80 VIP guests were invited and I shook each guest’s hand and greeted in between President and the First Lady. Among the guests, there were the current Prime Minister, Speaker of the parliament, an opposition party leader, CEOs of companies, former Ambassadors to Japan, Mayors and more, and the President kindly introduced each of them to me.

After one hour or so, upon the Chief of Protocol’s guidance, I extended my gratitude again to the President and the First Lady and left the residence. I believe the reason why I received such a warm welcome attributes to the longstanding efforts made by many of my predecessors in the private and public sectors to establish a bilateral relationship between Japan and Iceland. Now that I have received the „baton“, I renewed my commitment to the further enhancement of the relationship.

When I participated in the Golden Circle Tour (a one-day bus tour) after a week‘s stay in Iceland, a charming female guide, on our way back, suddenly started to talk about the President, saying “The President and I are from the same hometown. Not only he excels academically, but also he has a brilliant personality! He and his Canadian wife met at Oxford University...” I had thought what she told had nothing to do with sightseeing, but now I realize why she so proudly kept talking about the President.

The next day, the following article about the event was posted on the website of the President’s Office.

From the President's website:

Ambassador of Japan The President received the new Ambassador of Japan, Yasuhiko Kitagawa, who handed over his Letter of Credence at Bessastaðir. They discussed about the strong relations between Iceland and Japan, especially in the field of trade, and particularly about the possibilities of increased cooperation of the countries in geothermal matters, enducation and culture. Also mentioned was the knowledge the two countries have in rescue-matters following natural disasters. After the meeting the President held a reception in honour of the new Ambassador.