Norway is in sorrow after the horrific and tragic bomb attacks on government offices in Oslo and mass slaughter of youth at a summer camp on the island Utøya on 22 July. Acts of terrorism not by foreign extremists, but by an extremist from within. Thousands upon thousands of Norwegians have gathered in the streets of Oslo and across the country with roses and candles in memory of the dead and to share grief and comfort those who have lost their loved-ones. And not least to send a strong message of unity in safeguarding the democratic values upon which our country and open society are built.
We have posted on our website speeches by our King, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, which put words to the emotions of all Norwegians in our hour of tragedy. We thank the many Norwegians, Japanese friends as well as representatives of the international community in Tokyo that have come to the Embassy to sign the Protocol of Condolences and those who came for a quiet, commemorative moment of sympathy with us. When tragedy struck Japan, Foreign Minister Støre went to the Japanese Embassy in Oslo to sign the Protocol of Condolences. When tragedy struck Norway, Foreign Minister Matsumoto came to the Norwegian Embassy in Tokyo to do likewise.
Norway greatly appreciates the many messages of condolences and sympathy that have come from Prime Minister Kan, Members of the Diet and our many other Japanese friends as well as from other state leaders, the Security Council of the United Nations and from individual citizens around the world, who share our grief and condemn acts of terror.
2011 has, indeed, been a year of tragedy for both our countries and people. For Norway, an unprecedented one-man made human atrocity. For Japan, an unprecedented natural catastrophe caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake and the tsunami and nuclear reactor problems that followed in its wake. Causing so many deaths, so much suffering among survivors and such material devastation.
Both Norwegians and Japanese face the challenge of returning to normalcy and facing the future while being mindful of the tragedies that have struck us. Here in Japan, I am happy to see our cultural exchanges and business contacts being resumed with an ever-increasing return of Norwegian visitors and residents. And we are looking forward to the official visit of Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg that was postponed when disaster struck in March and that will take place with renewed purpose hopefully early next year.
Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg has in his recent letter to Prime Minister Kan dated 24 June reiterated the condolences and offer to help that he earlier conveyed, when disaster struck Japan on 11 March. In this new letter, he also informed the Japanese Prime Minister of the establishment of a co-ordinated “Team Norway” effort to assist Japanese recovery efforts in the fields of fisheries, seafood safety and coastal development as well as renewable energy and environmental technology.
The Embassy is now in active dialogue with Japanese authorities, central, regional and local, as well as with other stakeholders to identify specific measures according to Japanese reconstruction needs.
We have visited devastated areas in Miyagi Prefecture several times already and met with mayors of Sendai, Ishinomaki and Minami Sanriku. Most recently, on 15 July, we accompanied Norway’s Deputy Minister of Finance Kjetil Lund to Sendai, where he met Vice Governor Wako. And we are preparing a major Norway-Japan fisheries symposium to take place in Sendai in September organized by Miyagi University. These focused Embassy efforts come in addition to the assistance already given and being given by voluntary organisations, NGOs and civic society, as well as in our commercial relations.
Coping with our national tragedies, extending both official and people-to-people feelings of sympathy and support to each other and sharing our grief with each other, have strengthened the close bonds between Norwegians and Japanese at a new and even higher level as we meet the challenges of the future.
Arne Walther
August 2011