14/01/2025
【Greetings from Ambassador MAEDA Toru】
Namaste.
My name is MAEDA Toru. I arrived in Nepal on 9 January, 2025. It is my great pleasure to be able to work with all of you as the Ambassador of Japan in Nepal, which is a longstanding friend of Japan and home to the majestic mountains.
Japan and Nepal established diplomatic relations in 1956. There has been a continuous exchange of high-level officials, such as the visit to Nepal by then Foreign Minister KAMIKAWA Yoko in May last year.
However, the history of people-to-people exchanges between the two countries is longer than that of country-to country relations. KAWAGUCHI Ekai, a Japanese monk, visited Nepal as early as in 1899 and the first eight Nepali students were sent to Japan in 1902. Today, more than 200,000 Nepali people are living in Japan. Nowadays a wider range of Nepali people are heading to Japan, with aims of working and studying, sometimes with their families. I believe that we are currently at a turning point, where the structure of people to people exchanges between the two countries are changing. I hope that we can make most of this opportunity to make our relations even better.
In terms of economic development, Japan has been providing assistance in a wide range of fields, including infrastructure, agriculture and education, at various levels, from government to grassroots, for many years. As a mountainous country that faces natural disasters almost every year, Japan has a lot in common with Nepal. I would like to do my best to utilize Japan's knowledge and technology for Nepal's development and convey goodwill of Japanese people to Nepali people.
At the EXPO 2025 Osaka, Kansai, starting from this April, Nepal will be exhibiting a pavilion. I hope that this will be a valuable opportunity to showcase the strengths and charms of Nepal to the people of Japan.
In 2026, Japan and Nepal will celebrate the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. While paying respects to Japanese residents who have sustained grassroots exchanges between the two countries for many years, I will work wholeheartedly to further strengthen the friendship between Japan and Nepal that our preceding generations have built. To this end, I will make every effort to ensure that people from and companies of Japan can live and work safely in this country.
I would very much appreciate your continued support and cooperation and conclude my greeting by wishing you all a happy and prosperous year in 2025.
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Nepal
MAEDA Toru
