高円宮妃殿下お言葉（英語）

Speech text, State Guest House, Akasaka Palace, 6 th March 2013
Her Imperial Highness Princess Takamado

I am delighted to be able to join you this evening for the dinner that is being held to officially welcome Sir Craig Reedie and the members of the Evaluation Commission, and also to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Tokyo Olympics of which we have just heard so much. I would like to join Mr. Abe in extending to you a very warm welcome.

There has been much media coverage of your visit and I have been watching leading businessmen and athletes enthusiastically engaged in their presentations. I have also watched and heard Prime Minister Abe sing, and have seen Governor Inose's prowess on the tennis court. I am not sure whether these two latter things are representative of Japanese hospitality, but I do hope that they are treating you well.

Japan has been through a very difficult period with the devastation caused by the earthquake and tsunami of March 2011, but as you can see with the help of our friends throughout the world, Japan is definitely moving forward. I would like to extend my thanks to the IOC for all the support that you extended to Japan in her time of need. We will remain forever grateful.

I would also like to congratulate the IOC and in particular you, Sir Craig and the British contingent here this evening on the tremendous success of the London Olympics and Paralympics. I was particularly impressed with the way in which the various stadia filled for the Paralympics, and the way in which the super-human athletes of the Olympics and the super-super human athletes of the Paralympics were in the parade together to celebrate the success of the Games. Of course, having its origins in Stoke Mandeville, it might be understandable but after Rome Tokyo was the second city to hold the Paralympics, and it struck me that we had moved a long way in the right direction.

I was not in London for the Olympics, although obviously there is a part of me that wanted to be there. As some of you may know, I am the Honorary President and Patron of a reasonably large number of sports organizations. Many of them had teams in London. The only way that I was able to keep abreast of Team Japan’s efforts was by remaining riveted to the television set at all times of the day and night, whichever part of Japan I should be in. Yuki Ota, who gave the presentation, is a fencer. I can tell you that I discovered that he had won the fencing team silver medal at 4 o’clock in the morning. I was then talking on my mobile with the people that had accompanied the team. It was a very exciting moment and I could not sleep very much after that. The achievements of the Japanese athletes were such that night and day seemed to merge into each other and everyone looked excited and happy throughout the Games. They were somewhat bleary-eyed and somewhat the worse for wear, but excited and happy.

By the way, this Akasaka Palace was built for as the Crown Prince's palace for the Taisho Emperor, who happens to be my late husband’s grandfather. It is a beautiful building – it looks completely European, but if you take the time to look carefully, you will find parts of it that are very Japanese.

Olympics come and go, but they always leave a legacy, tangible and intangible. You left much with us in 1964. One of the legacies is the orchestra that is playing for you this evening. Another legacy is that we have had a national version of the Paralympics that follows on from our national sports meet that takes place in different parts of Japan. It started in 1965, the year following the Tokyo Olympics, and it carries on to this day. But the greatest legacy was the intangible. You left the Japanese with a feeling of confidence, of pride, of hope and a team spirit, which were all so important as we built up our country again.

At the Winter Olympics in Nagano, my husband and I had the pleasure of welcoming the IOC members who represented various royal families at a special dinner. Mr. Igaya knows about this. And I have many fond memories of travelling to Nagano to greet various visiting royal members from different countries.

Now without going into too much detail, I would just like to clarify one point in order to ensure that we all know where we stand. As sportsmen or sportswomen we all know the importance of defining one’s position. Now, different royal families are called upon to serve their countries in different ways. In the case of Japan, the role of our Imperial family is not to lead but to move together with her people. In the case of any cause or decision which will affect the lives of many people, and the Olympics would obviously fall in to this category by definition, we would not be fulfilling our role if we took a positive action or a positive stand in influencing a decision one way or the other.

However, I am surely not stepping out of line when I say that when the final decision has been made in the case of any event, be it national or international, when that final decision has been made then it has always had and will always have our full wholehearted support. The 1964 Olympics would be a good case in point.

In finishing, I would like to express my respect to the International Olympic Committee, the Olympic Movement and for all the things for which she stands. The contribution that sport is able to make in enhancing friendships, promoting peace and goodwill and in giving motivation and encouragement to the youth is of immense importance in realizing a healthy human and humane society. And to each and every one of you involved in the implementation of the philosophy of the Olympic Movement I would like to extend my most respectful and sincere thanks.

I hope that the remainder of your stay in Japan is a fruitful one. I am sorry that you are not able to enjoy the wonderful weather – I gather that you have been inside a lot of the time - but I hope even then that you will take back very many good memories. You have two more stops. I wish you a safe journey.

I do hope that our paths cross again some time in the future, and on that occasion it would be nice if I could talk to you more personally, one-to-one. Until that time, I would like to express to the Olympic Committee the hope that the Olympic message will spread further, and to each and every one of you and to all those you hold dear, the hope that you are blessed with much health and happiness.

Now we may find that Mr. Abe is going to be doing some running. I don’t know what you have in store tomorrow, but for tonight in the elegant setting of the Akasaka Palace, the State Guest House, please enjoy your evening.

Thank you very much.