To deepen ties between tenants in Palaceside Building and people of the building, the Palaceside Building New Year Gathering was held on January 25 at Mainichi Hall on the first basement; about 100 tenants and building people took part.
A New Year event that brings tenants and building people together began last year; this is the fifth. Having lived through the Great East Japan Earthquake, a mood of helping one another when it counts has grown.
The gathering had two parts: a lecture and a reception. In part one, Mainichi Newspapers guest editorial committee member Megumi Nishikawa spoke on “Banquet Diplomacy as Seen from the Prime Minister’s Official Residence” (photo). Nishikawa writes the Friday “Kingen” relay column on page 3 of The Mainichi Newspapers; drawing on long correspondent experience from Europe to the Middle East, he is known for digging into “hard” themes — diplomacy, security, international politics and the economy — with historical background, while weaving in softer asides.
This day’s talk also looked at the role meals such as dinners play behind official diplomacy. “Food is an extension of politics”: the quality of the cooking and the wine tell you the level of hospitality, and thus how the host ranks the guest country (and its leader) and how close the leaders are. He mixed in reporting from the Élysée Palace (the French presidency) from his Paris years.
Incidentally, Nishikawa’s analysis is that Japan’s first conscious use of cuisine in diplomacy may have been when Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, hosting the president of gas-rich Turkmenistan at a welcome dinner in December 2009, noted the president’s love of horses and specially prepared horse-themed wine. After that, using food in summit diplomacy increased; Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is keen on hospitality strategy and especially on promoting Japanese cuisine. He also noted that as Japanese wine quality has risen, domestic wines from around the country (ultra-premium, mind you) are being used more.
At the reception that followed, after a toast led by Tsuneo Haneda, president of Mainichi Building Co., conversation continued with Nishikawa. There were also greetings from Yoshiaki Takeda, executive director of The Mainichi Newspapers, and Yasushi Fujita, president of Media Do; participants exchanged cards and introduced companies and themselves.
To deepen ties between tenants in Palaceside Building and people of the building, the Palaceside Building New Year Gathering was held on January 25 at Mainichi Hall on the first basement; about 100 tenants and building people took part.
A New Year event that brings tenants and building people together began last year; this is the fifth. Having lived through the Great East Japan Earthquake, a mood of helping one another when it counts has grown.
The gathering had two parts: a lecture and a reception. In part one, Mainichi Newspapers guest editorial committee member Megumi Nishikawa spoke on “Banquet Diplomacy as Seen from the Prime Minister’s Official Residence” (photo). Nishikawa writes the Friday “Kingen” relay column on page 3 of The Mainichi Newspapers; drawing on long correspondent experience from Europe to the Middle East, he is known for digging into “hard” themes — diplomacy, security, international politics and the economy — with historical background, while weaving in softer asides.
This day’s talk also looked at the role meals such as dinners play behind official diplomacy. “Food is an extension of politics”: the quality of the cooking and the wine tell you the level of hospitality, and thus how the host ranks the guest country (and its leader) and how close the leaders are. He mixed in reporting from the Élysée Palace (the French presidency) from his Paris years.
Incidentally, Nishikawa’s analysis is that Japan’s first conscious use of cuisine in diplomacy may have been when Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, hosting the president of gas-rich Turkmenistan at a welcome dinner in December 2009, noted the president’s love of horses and specially prepared horse-themed wine. After that, using food in summit diplomacy increased; Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is keen on hospitality strategy and especially on promoting Japanese cuisine. He also noted that as Japanese wine quality has risen, domestic wines from around the country (ultra-premium, mind you) are being used more.
At the reception that followed, after a toast led by Tsuneo Haneda, president of Mainichi Building Co., conversation continued with Nishikawa. There were also greetings from Yoshiaki Takeda, executive director of The Mainichi Newspapers, and Yasushi Fujita, president of Media Do; participants exchanged cards and introduced companies and themselves.