Several Filipino kids aged 4 to 16 gained the opportunity to interact with Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Koshikawa Kazuhiko in a newly launched Hello! Japan, a three-part cultural series program that can be viewed on social media platforms.
Amply called “Kids Ask Ambassador Kaz!’ the Japanese envoy gamely answers all the interesting questions from Filipino kids on subject matters concerning Japanese culture, tradition, places, and even his personal favorites and preferences.
In the first and second series, Koshikawa was asked about how Japan maintains its cleanliness, the discipline of its people, and his favorite anime.
“In Japan, trash is properly thrown in trash cans. Every day, garbage in houses is collected by garbage trucks. Useful trashes are turned into new items that can be then used in houses. Trash that cannot be used anymore are burned in big factories and that process creates electricity that can be used in homes,” the Japanese diplomat said in response to the question raised by nine-year-old Corbin.
Koshikawa told Corbin that in Japan, students clean their classrooms every day because “Japanese people love to clean”.
Twelve-year-old Jacob, on the other hand, asked Ambassador Koshikawa the secret why Japanese people are very disciplined.
“In Japan, children are taught both at home and school to be more considerate of others more than themselves. People who are considerate and show kindness to others earn the respect from those around them. Also, Japanese people value being on time and doing their activities as scheduled. The secret to this disciplined lifestyle lies in education at school and home,” he explained.
Barely a few months into his stint in the Philippines, Koshikawa expressed his admiration for the Filipinos for their “lovely smile” and “kindness”.
“These are two of the reasons why I love Filipinos,” he said
Hello! Japan Special will run on all Sundays of April 2021. All the episodes of the series will be posted on the Facebook Page of the Embassy of Japan in the Philippines and featured on the Twitter page of Ambassador Koshikawa .
The Filipino kids featured in the show were selected among the roster of children who sent their questions following the announcement of the program last February 2021.
Hello! Japan is a long-running cultural program of the Japan Information and Culture Center (JICC) that aims to introduce Japanese culture to Filipinos.