Hyogo Goodwill Envoy Designation Ceremony 2012

        

On Friday 6^th July, the annual Goodwill Envoy Designation Ceremony was held at Hyogo House in Kobe. The 32 new envoys (32 in one year being a new record!) received a certificate of designation from Governor Ido and had a rare opportunity to meet him and other officials from the local government at a reception afterwards.

At the start of the ceremony, Sifton Anipare a 3^rd year ALT and Jeremy Pichot, a 5^th year CIR each gave a presentation on their time in Hyogo. Whether it was memories of the people they met or the interesting places they had been, both gave some great accounts of what it is like to live in Hyogo and revealed some of the far reaching and long-lasting relationships they, and I'm sure everyone present, have formed with this wonderful prefecture.

Reception with Governor Ido

 After the new envoys had received their certificates from the Governor, Miriam Rollason, a 2^nd year ALT gave an aisatsu (words of greeting) to the governor as a representative of the Goodwill Envoys. Her story was both funny and moving and I’m sure everyone was in agreement with her concluding words; “we can never completely leave”. 

I hope the ceremony provided the new Hyogo Goodwill Envoys with a chance to reflect on their time in Hyogo alongside their fellow JETs and that Hyogo and Japan will continue to play a part in their lives in future.