Padma
Bhushan Felicitation for Mr. Mori, Former Prime Minister
of Japan
September 22, 2004, Tokyo, Japan
The former prime minister of
Japan Mr. Mori was awarded Padma Bhushan. He could not go
to India to receive the award in person so the Embassy of
India in Tokyo, Japan arranged a felicitation ceremony at
the Ambassador's residence in an open air garden.
Mr. Mori was prime minister from 2000 to 2002 during which
he visited India every year. He was the first Japanese PM
to visit India in ten years. His contribution in strengthening
India-Japan relations was of particular significance in
the IT sector. His government changed IT policies between
the two countries which resulted in a remarkable growth
of business with a consequent increase of Indian engineers
working in Japan.
The function commenced with the
lighting of the auspicious lamp by Mr. Mori followed by
the welcome speech by ambassador Tripathi.
Ambassador Tripathi awarded Mr. Mori the Padma Bhushan award
by offering a shawl and medal. The governor of Ishihara
prefecture then gave a congratulatory speech and raised
a toast to celebrate the award.
The gathering consisted of many elite Japanese members of
parliament including Mr. Hatoyama and Mr. Abe, secretary
general, both of whom are popular figures on Japanese national
TV political programs and news.
Dr. Chandrakant Sardeshmukh gave a sitar performance in
honor of Padma Bhushan Mr. Mori. All who attended the ceremony
listened with great interest and in a relaxed mood.
Later Mr. Mori and Mr. Abe personally greeted Dr. Chandrakant
and congratulated him on a wonderful performance. Mr. Mori
was very curious to know about Indian music when Dr. Chandrakant
presented him with some of his CDs as a gift.
The head of the Aoi School of traditional dance performed
a dance.
The Inoue twin brothers from the Aa-Un music group gave
a traditional Japanese drum performance.
The Indian embassy organized the whole function, with the
central coordinator being Mr. Aseem Mahajan, second cultural
secretary.
The event concluded with the deputy chief of mission Mr.
Nanda giving a vote of thanks which was followed by a dinner.
