Ambassador Kusaka’s visit to the Northern Territory

Ambassador Kusaka paid an official visit to the Northern Territory from the 16^th to the 19^th of February 2017. During the visit he met and exchanged opinions with Administrator of the Northern Territory John Hardy, Chief Minister of the Northern Territory Michael Gunner, City of Darwin Lord Mayor Katrina Fong Lim and other prominent citizens of the Northern Territory. Ambassador Kusaka, as the representative of the Government of Japan, attended the unveiling ceremony for the memorial plaque to the I-124 submarine that was sunk in coastal waters off Darwin during WWII, and attended the commemoration ceremony marking the 75^th anniversary of the Bombing of Darwin and the memorial ceremony to the USS Peary. Ambassador Kusaka also visited the Port of Darwin, the naval base at HMAS Coonawarra and Charles Darwin University, as well as laying wreaths at the graves of Japanese citizens.
 
During the course of his official visit, Ambassador Kusaka deepened his awareness of the strong economic ties between Australia and Japan fostered by the import and export of liquid natural gas, and gained a deeper understanding of the necessity of co-operation in food security, particularly in lieu of the signing of an Memorandum of Co-operation between the Northern Territory government and the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries during the course of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to Australia in January this year. While re-confirming the strong partnership that exists between Japan and the Northern Territory, Ambassador Kusaka also gained greater awareness of the necessity of further strengthening these ties, and based on this visit will continue to expend every effort in creating even closer links between Japan and the Northern Territory. 

 

Visit to the Port of Darwin	Visit to HMAS Coonawarra
Visit to Charles Darwin University	Courtesy visit on NT Administrator Hard
Courtesy visit on Chief Minister Gunner	Courtesy visit on Lord Mayor Lim
Unveiling ceremony for the commemorative stone marking the visit to Darwin by the Kaiou Maru	Unveiling ceremony for the memorial plaque dedicated to the crew of the I-124 submarin
Laying wreaths at the graves of Japanese citizens
	Visit to the Darwin War Memorial
Viewing the Memorial to the Bombing of Darwin	Memorial ceremony to the USS Peary
Chatting with Prime Minister Turnbull
	Commemorative photo with the descendants of the crew of the I-124 and members of the Australian Japanese Association of the Northern Territory