Friday 24 / January / 2025
Muscat: Oman’s 120-year ties with Japan remain strong and continue to grow, according to the Asian economic giant’s ambassador to the Sultanate.
In an exclusive interview with the Times of Oman, Ambassador Mitsugu Saito praised Oman for its beauty, hospitable citizens, and long-standing ties with Japan.
“Oman has been one of my favourite postings, because the Omani people are very kind and decent,” he said. “They are beautiful, similar to their mountains and coastline, which I also truly love to see and experience.”
Mitsugu has enjoyed a long and extensive career that has taken him around the world, throughout the GCC, the Middle East, and Asia. In many ways, his deep affection and appreciation for the Sultanate mirror the journey of one of his countrymen from 120 years ago.
“The first official Japanese delegation to Oman from Japan was led by Commander Sukeyuki Tsukiyuki Itoe, the captain of the INJSC (Imperial Japanese Navy Ship) ‘Hiei’,” said the ambassador.
“He visited Muscat in 1880 and is regarded as the first official visitor from the Japanese government to Oman.”
According to contemporary reports, some members of the crew disembarked in Oman’s capital and were given an audience by Sultan Turki bin Said. For the first time, gifts were officially exchanged between the two nations. The Omanis gave their visitors cows, sheep, and fruits, while the Japanese offered chairs and vases.
Today, both countries enjoy a highly fruitful bilateral relationship, with cooperation ranging from trade and business to education and culture. In terms of substance, Japan is the Sultanate’s largest trade partner.
While oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) dominate trade from Oman to Japan, cuttlefish, green beans, and tuna are the 5th, 6th, and 7th most exported items from Oman to Japan respectively.
“From Oman to Japan, the volume of exports is OMR1.7 billion. Of that amount, 58 per cent is LNG, while oil is second at 37 per cent, followed by natural minerals,” said Mitsugu.
“Oman also exports vegetables and fish to Japan, with Omani green beans in particular enjoying great popularity in my country. During the winter season, over 90 per cent of the green beans sold in Japan are made in Oman.”
However, it is in the field of environmental conservation that the ambassador hopes both countries will learn from one another.
“I hope the youth of Oman continue to work to keep the environment clean as unfortunately the challenges presented by plastic in the ocean, as well as litter left on the beaches, are encountered in some of the Sultanate’s most beautiful places,” he said.
“I have now been cleaning the beach almost every morning for two years. It is also very important in terms of social and economic development,” added the ambassador.
According to the United Nations, litter is now found in all the world’s oceans and seas, even in remote areas far from human contact and other obvious sources of the problem. The continuous growth in the amount of solid waste thrown away, and the very slow rate of degradation of most items, together lead to a gradual increase in marine litter found at sea, on the sea floor, and on coastal shores. It is an economic, environmental, human health, and aesthetic problem posing a complex and multi-dimensional challenge.
Marine litter is a direct result of human behaviour. It mainly comes from land-based activities, including water released from dumpsites, litter left by tourists on beaches, fishing activities, and ship breaking yards, among others.
This can cause serious economic losses, with coastal communities spending more to clean beaches and for public health and waste disposal. The tourism sector, on the other hand, has to confront the potential loss of income and bad publicity.
Last year, in response to the increasing amount of plastic found in the world’s oceans, the UN Environment launched an unprecedented global campaign to eliminate major sources of marine litter, such as microplastics in cosmetics and the excessive, wasteful usage of single-use plastic, by the year 2022.
