VZCZCXRO8503
OO RUEHFK RUEHKSO RUEHNAG RUEHNH
DE RUEHKO #0222/01 0292253
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 292253Z JAN 09
FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0414
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING IMMEDIATE 7476
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA IMMEDIATE 3010
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL IMMEDIATE 3510
RUEHFK/AMCONSUL FUKUOKA IMMEDIATE 2158
RUEHNAG/AMCONSUL NAGOYA IMMEDIATE 0031
RUEHNH/AMCONSUL NAHA IMMEDIATE 4505
RUEHOK/AMCONSUL OSAKA KOBE IMMEDIATE 5946
RUEHKSO/AMCONSUL SAPPORO IMMEDIATE 2717
RUEHIN/AIT TAIPEI IMMEDIATE 7244
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEKJCS/CJCS WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEATRS/TREASURY DEPT WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUENAAA/SECNAV WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RHMFIUU/USFJ  IMMEDIATE
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RHMCSUU/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 TOKYO 000222 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR S/ES-CR, S/ES-O, EAP/J 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPDC JA OPDC PGOV PREL
SUBJECT: MESSAGE FROM FORMER DPJ PRESIDENT MAEHARA TO 
PRESIDENT OBAMA 
 
¶1. On January 28, 2009, Embassy Tokyo received a 
congratulatory letter to President Barack Obama from 
Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) Vice President Seiji Maehara. 
 Following is the English translation provided by the DPJ 
International Department.  The original letter will be sent 
via diplomatic pouch. 
 
¶2. Begin text: 
 
His Excellency, Mr. Barack Obama 
President of the United States 
 
Dear President Obama: 
 
Congratulations on your inauguration as the honorable 44th 
President of the United States of America. 
 
I believe that your inaugural address given in Washington DC 
in the depths of winter has captured the minds, and given 
courage and hope, not only to the citizens of the United 
States, but also to the citizens of countries suffering from 
war and conflict, and to the  children and young people, 
workers, homemakers and seniors around the world who desire 
peace and happiness.  I am also one of those people.  I, for 
one, tasked with national policy in Japan, felt a sense of 
empathy with your perspective of this era and your strong 
commitment.  Being a politician of the same generation across 
the Pacific, I wish to be able to stand together with you as 
a genuine partner in your journey for change. 
 
Our generations share the challenging responsibility of 
protecting the values of peace and prosperity achieved by our 
forefathers through painstaking effort and sacrifice.  And in 
this unprecedented time of transition, we share the mission 
of passing the torch of change to future generations by 
standing up with courage to the fundamental challenges of 
global dimensions.  To this end, there is a need to forge a 
genuine friendship, extending beyond national borders and 
ethnic groups, building a cooperative relationship where we 
can speak to each other without reserve and at times say to 
each other what may be unpleasant to the ear. 
 
It is not only the United States under your leadership that 
requires a remaking.  Japan also is standing on the edge of a 
serious challenge.  Traditionally, Japanese society cherished 
the values of social harmony and unity.  There is not a 
single junior high school student in Japan who does not know 
Commodore Perry or General MacArthur as a part of our 
history.  It is clear that the rapid modernization after the 
Meiji Restoration as well as the miraculous reconstruction 
and growth after the unfortunate World War have been the 
result of fusion and integration of traditional Japanese 
culture with the United States and other Western 
civilization.  It is no exaggeration to say that the history 
of Japan over the past two thousand years was a history of 
integrating culture introduced from overseas. 
 
On a personal point, I was able to continue my studies thanks 
to the scholarship I was granted throughout my eight years of 
high school and university.  Unlike your country, not 
everybody was able to enjoy that fortune in the educational 
environment offered in Japan in those days.  In my case, even 
after graduating from university, I was given the opportunity 
to continue with my studies as a scholarship fellow at the 
Matsushita Institute of Government and Management, a 
foundation presided by the late Konosuke Matsushita, founder 
of Panasonic.  I have become what I am today owing to the 
discipline of many of my teachers and support from society 
over a total of twelve years.  I am grateful for having been 
 
TOKYO 00000222  002 OF 003 
 
 
the son of my respected parents and at the same time, a son 
of society.  I would not doubt for a moment the importance of 
delivering the same opportunity to future generations. 
 
In Japan, however, these traditional values of social 
integration are rapidly diluting in recent times.  With the 
growing disparity and division among regions and income 
groups, and the breakdown of the Japanese style lifelong 
employment system, poverty, which appeared to have been 
eradicated for half a century, has reemerged as a real issue, 
aggravating social difficulties.  That does not mean, 
however, that we can simply wind back our clocks and solve 
our problems merely by reverting back to our old customs when 
activities of individuals and companies go beyond national 
borders with human resources, capital, technology, and 
information extending all over the world for economic 
activity. 
 
Today, our countries and the entire world have entered a 
stage where we need to merge and integrate seemingly opposing 
concepts such as markets vs government, environment vs 
economy, governmental authorities vs non-profit 
organizations, sovereign states vs global institutions, to 
achieve genuine change rather than be constrained by the 
dualistic confrontation structure of the past.  I regard it 
as my mission to rebuild a society that can embrace different 
individuals and regions with harmony and compassion while 
preserving economic and social vitality through healthy 
competition in a market economy. 
 
In this context, I am following with keen interest the reform 
of domestic and foreign policy that you have embarked upon. 
In particular, the world today is faced with an unprecedented 
economic and fiscal crisis as well as numerous challenges 
including the environment, energy, food, water, and other 
global issues.  I am looking forward to the United States, 
under your leadership, to give higher priority to the 
environment and new sources of energy, and agricultural and 
food policies that attach greater importance to nature and 
her natural cycle.  I intend to do my best to build strong 
cooperation between Japan and the United States in these 
areas. 
 
The value of peace has never been so high as today.  When we 
look back on history, those in power face the greatest 
temptation to incite nationalism in times of difficulty.  As 
symbolized by your deliberate reference to patriotism, we 
have to continue to be patriots without being exclusionary to 
others.  Exploring ways to achieve compatibility among 
patriotism, cooperation extending beyond nations and regions, 
and love for humankind is one of the essential challenges 
that global leaders ought to focus their greatest efforts. 
From this perspective, with the start of your administration, 
it would be most important for Japan and the United States, 
with different cultures and customs while sharing universal 
values, to learn from each other their respective cultural 
and social background for an evolution in the Japan-US 
Alliance and global partnership to be able to make a 
contribution to the citizens of our countries and to the 
future of humankind. 
 
Japan also finds itself precisely on the eve of a change of 
government and the far-reaching changes that it will bring. 
We cannot hope to see any progress in human society with the 
cynicism that has spread widely not only in the United 
States, but also in Japan and the entire world.  No matter 
how capable a leader may be, a handful of people will not be 
able to totally change the entire world, but even just a 
handful of individuals can become a flash point for major 
 
TOKYO 00000222  003 OF 003 
 
 
change.  Whether we are Americans or Japanese or Africans, 
what is important is to be able to continue to light up a 
flame in people's hearts, and continue together on the 
sometimes difficult but enormously fulfilling journey for 
change.  My heart has been filled with excitement to hear 
your strong commitment to have the United States start off a 
tidal wave of change to reach all peoples and regions, and to 
know that in you we have a genuine partner of my own 
generation on this difficult but fulfilling journey.  At the 
same time, Mr. President, I sincerely hope you will be 
mindful that here in Japan and Asia, and in Europe, in 
Africa, in Latin America, in the Middle East, and throughout 
the world, there are more than a few genuine partners who are 
willing to travel with you on that difficult journey.  I wish 
you the greatest success as a global leader in this new 
multi-polar age. 
 
Your Excellency, I extend to you my sincere hopes for your 
continued health and success and shall be looking forward to 
meeting you in the near future. 
 
Yours sincerely, 
 
Seiji Maehara 
Member of the House of Representatives 
(Vice President of the Democratic Party of Japan) 
 
End text. 
ZUMWALT