(Provisional translation by an external company for reference purpose only)
I have two announcements at the outset today. First, on March 22, Sunday, I will welcome Federal Minister of Defence Pistorius of Germany in my hometown of Yokosuka and hold a Japan-Germany defense ministerial meeting. In Yokosuka, in addition to the meeting, we will visit the U.S. Commander Fleet Activities Yokosuka and the Maritime Self-Defense Force Yokosuka Naval Base. This will be our first meeting since the Munich Security Conference last month, during which time the international community has witnessed dramatic developments, including the situation in the Middle East. At the meeting, I intend to hold a candid exchange of views on regional security issues, including the situation in the Middle East, and on further promoting Japan-Germany defense cooperation and exchanges.
Secondly, I have an announcement about my attendance at the graduation ceremony of Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) High Technical School. March is graduation season for the educational institutions of the Ministry of Defense (MOD) and the Self-Defense Forces (SDF), as it is for many other schools in Japan. I attended the graduation ceremony of National Defense Medical College in Tokorozawa City, Saitama Prefecture two weeks ago and the graduation ceremony of National Defense Academy in my hometown of Yokosuka City last week. Tomorrow, I will attend the graduation ceremony of GSDF High Technical School. High Technical School is the only MOD/SDF school that trains future SDF personnel from the high school age group. The school trains future personnel equipped with techniques and skills to operate highly sophisticated and systematized equipment, as well as to play an active role in the fields of advanced technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and cyber. Before becoming a Diet member, I participated in a trial enlistment with the SDF. The interactions I had at the time with the SDF personnel who guided me and with the High Technical School students I met are the starting point of my admiration for the SDF. It is a great pleasure to attend the graduation ceremony of High Technical School nearly 20 years later as Minister of Defense. I intend to offer words of encouragement to the graduates who have spent three years in Takeyama and are about to spread their wings in the SDF. In FY2028, High Technical School will become a joint coeducational school of the Ground, Maritime, and Air Self-Defense Forces to make further strides in a new era. To ensure an environment where students who enroll with lofty ambitions can study with a positive attitude, I will make every effort to further promote improvements in the treatment and living and working environment of students and develop the institution into an even more attractive school.