Kansai Consular Corps Annual General Meeting was held on Friday, 23 June 2023. The meeting was attended by representatives from 49 countries and distinguish guests including Mr. Tsutomu Himeno, the representative of the Government of Japan and Ambassador in charge of Kansai. And we are delighted to annouce that British Consul-General Caarolyn Davidson was elected as first female Dean of the Kansai Consular Corps! We greatly appreciate Dean Jules Irrmann for his outstanding support to contribution to the Kansai Consular Corps. Merci, Bon voyage!

関西領事団年次総会が2023年6月23日に行われ、49か国から合計60名にご出席いただきました。政府代表関西特命全権大使　姫野勉大使にもお越しいただきました。そして初女性団長　英国総領事キャロリン　デーヴィットソンが選任されました。ジュール　イルマン団長の二年間の任期中、関西領事団へのご貢献を心より感謝申し上げます。

“Shiga Sake Brewery Tour” was conducted by Osaka Tax Bureau and was attended by representatives from KCC members.   On the tour, GI Shiga (Geographical Indication) was introduced and we observed the sake production process and enjoyed a tasting experience.  Before visiting Sake Brewery (Fujii Honke) a presentation by the representative director of the Shiga Brewers Association was held at Omi Shonin Yashiki, (old house of Omi merchants) which has a beautiful garden. This area has been designated as an important cultural architecture preservation area. It was great opportunity to enjoy Japanese culture as well as discovering something new about Sake production process.The tour was introduced on NHK news.  https://www3.nhk.or.jp/lnews/otsu/20221209/2060012166.html 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　大阪国税局による滋賀酒蔵視察ツアーが行われ、近江商人屋敷での酒セミナー、藤居本家へ視察へ行ってまいりました。セミナーでは伝統的な日本酒のつくり方の紹介、GIに認定された日本酒の試飲、その後、藤居本家にて酒蔵視察。近江商人屋敷、初めて行きましたが歴史を感じる風情あるお屋敷で街並みも雰囲気もとても素敵です。NHKニュースでも紹介されました。

S&T Diplomatic Circle activity at Panasonic R&D Headquarters in Osaka. Panasonic is well know as Japan’s largest consumer electronics company and is changing its portfolio to industrial business solutions. We firstly visited the Panasonic museum where shows  history of Panasonic created by Konosuke Matsushita. And we had a meeting with Mr. Ogawa, group CTO of Panasonic holdings and gave us a presentation of their environmental initiative “Panasonic GREEN IMPACT” and solutions to reduce CO2 emissions. Panasonic is also supporting EXPO2025 with “Panasonic Pavilion” The Ultrasonic Bath (human washing machine) was exhibited during EXPO70 and drew the attention of many visitors.Looking forward to discovering a new innovative technology in 2025!! S&TサークルにてパナソニックR&Dを訪問しました。パナソニックミュージアムでパナソニックが現在に至るまでの歴史や、松下幸之助の生涯についての展示を見学後、パナソニックホールディングスのCO2排出量の削減と、社会におけるCO2排出量の削減に対する貢献「GREEN IMPACT」についてのプレゼンテーション、多くの参加者の関心も高く活発なディスカッションも行われました。ミュージアムではEXPO’70でのサンヨー館で人気を集めた「ウルトラソニックバス(人間洗濯機)」も展示されており、EXPO 25のパナソニックパビリオンではまた斬新なテクノロジーを見ることができるのでしょうか！楽しみですね。

Science and Technology Diplomatic Circle conducted the second activity; visit to Fugaku at RIKEN center for computational science and technology in Kobe, a world’s highest performance supercomputer which made debuted on 2020. Fugaku held the first spot on top500 list of the world’s fastest supercomputers for four times by May 2022.

S&TDC の第二回アクティビティとして、理化学研究所 計算科学研究センターにある「富岳」見学に訪問しました。気象や防災、生命科学、ものづくりなど多くの分野で活用されており、最近ではコロナウイルスの飛沫感染趣味レーションで「富岳」の名前をよく耳にしますね。

“Kansai International Exchange Program”

“Kansai International Exchange Program” at the Entrepreneurial Museum of Challenge and Innovation, was conducted by Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Osaka Business & Investment Center on 14 September.   The meeting/museum tour was attended by 13 representatives from the Consulate General/Consulate in Kansai including Vice-Dean of Kansai Consular Corps. At the tour, history of Osaka which shall provide many business opportunities as an attractive investment destination for companies around the world was introduced. 

We look forward to next collaboration event with Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry!

On 12 Monday 2022, Science and Technology Diplomatic Circle conducted the first meeting by Dr. Felix Moesner, the consul of Switzerland. Meeting theme was “Briefing on Innovation” and meeting was attended by representatives from 20 countries. The presentation document by Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) Director General Yoichi Hosokawa on can be found in the link.

http://kansaiconsularcorps.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Briefing-Material-part-1.pdf

http://kansaiconsularcorps.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Briefing-Material-11-20.pdf

http://kansaiconsularcorps.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Briefing-Material-21-31.pdf

http://kansaiconsularcorps.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Briefing-Material-31-39.pdf

http://kansaiconsularcorps.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Briefing-Material-39-44.pd

Our colleagues in the Japan Ministry of Foreign Affairs Osaka Liaison office have kindly informed us about an employment opportunity in their office. They are seeking a Japanese citizen with English language ability to serve as a Consular Officer for a period of 7 months (25 September 2018~end of April 2019).

Details can be found on the MOFA homepage (Japanese only):

https://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/ms/m_c/page4_004270.html

They will be accepting applications until the end of this month.

Our colleagues at the Kansai National Strategic Special Zone Employment Center (in Japanese, 雇用労働相談センター) have kindly informed us about two upcoming employment seminars. These are the 5th and 6th seminars of their ongoing series of free monthly programs designed to support overseas companies expanding into the Kansai region.

The dates and themes are as follows:

• 23 August 2018      Theme: “Points to note in implementing company’s internal rules for trade secret protection”
• 20th September      Theme: “Basics of labor management that an employer should know “and “Points to note for allowing employees to have side jobs and dual work”

Please note that the seminars will take place in Japanese only.

Additional details and online registration can be found on their homepage:  https://kecc.jp

General information about the organization can be found in English here:  https://kecc.jp/en/

The Kansai Consular Corps wishes to extend our deep congratulations to Mr. Yoshikawa, Honorary Consul of Chile in Osaka and current Chairman of the Osaka Foundation of International Exchange (OFIX).

Honorary Consul Yoshikawa was recently recognized by the Japan Minister of Foreign Affairs for his outstanding contribution within the field of international exchange.

Congratulations, Honorary Consul Yoshikawa, on your wonderful achievement!

The 27th Tour of the Kansai Consular Forum was held on 4 July 2018. The theme of the tour was “Advanced Housing Technologies in Kansai” and participants were treated to a tour of the Sekisui Heim Industry Co., LTD Kinki-regional plant (located in Nara Prefecture).

Over 24 Consuls-General, Trade Promotion Officers, and other officials representing 18+ countries joined the program.

Following a tour of the plant, which covered important topics such as Sekisui Heim’s technology focus on energy, efficiency and durability/disaster resilience, a lively question-and-answer discussion ensued.

The Kansai Consular Corps would like to extend its deep gratitude to our colleagues at the Kansai Consular Forum for coordinating this event on our behalf, as well as to Sekisui Heim Industry Co., LTD for an informative and meaningful program.

A summary of the event can be found on the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) website as follows:

English: http://www.kansai.meti.go.jp/2kokusai/ryoujikan/english_consulate_forum_top.html

Japanese: http://www.kansai.meti.go.jp/2kokusai/ryoujikan/top_jyouhou.html