"Obviously an event of such magnitude is bound to attract considerable attention to our prefecture. Look how many journalists came here from all over the world; I hope that they’ll become enthralled by the beauty of our land and spread the word about it. We should use this chance because we have plenty of things and places to look at," Muraoka said.
He also pointed out that Russia, which he described as a vast country populated by a multitude of people from different ethnic groups and a birthplace of many prominent writers and artists, actually shares a number of ties with Yamaguchi prefecture.
"During the Russo-Japanese War a number of wounded Russian sailors ended up in Nagato and the locals took care of them. The sailors who died were buried there and the locals keep taking care of their graves. As for more recent examples, the famous brand Uniqlo is in fact our local company. Another of our local high-tech crab meat processing companies, Yanagiya, controls about 70 percent of the world’s kamaboko market (Japanese processed food product made of surimi); it recently started operating in Russia. And Yamaguchi also ranks first among Japan’s prefectures in terms of coal imports, including the coal from Russia," the governor said.
A friend of the Prime Minister, Governor Muraoka also offered an insight into Japan’s leader personality. According to him, Shinzo Abe is a sincere and friendly man who’s easy to converse with.
"He’s a very keen person, so even a man who meets him for the first time won’t feel any tension. He’s one of the people who know how to create a casual atmosphere," the governor confided.
The relations between the Russia and Japan have recently been re-energized as in September 2016 Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took part in the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, holding three-hour talks with the Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The two leaders then agreed to continue their dialogue during Putin’s visit to Japan, scheduled to be held on December 15-16.
