I suppose that today becomes one of the brightest day in life for Kamimura Sensei. Congratulations again.

On the other hand, today is the darkest day for me because I have to confess that I am leaving this country. I have to say good-bye to my friends but must fulfill my duty as ambassador.

I understand that Au revior in French, Auf wiedersehen in Germany and see you again in English; all those phrases are the expression of a wish to meet again. In Japanese, however, we say “Sayonara.” It originally means “If you say so.” “It things are so.” Therefore my feeling now is “I don’t want to leave, but if the circumstances oblige me to leave, I have to obey my destiny.”

Or if all my guests in front of me have today say,” Ambassador Kikuta, you get of here no!”Then I have to accept your request to do so.

In any case, let me take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude.

First of all, I would like to express my thanks to “Nepal.” I fully enjoyed and appreciated its astonishing beauty of nature, traditional culture, food, music, dance, festival, so many world heritages, and lifestyle keeping the respect for Gods. I felt Nepal had many things in common with Japan.

In addition to popular destinations, as the Ambassador of Japan, the country which is conducting a number of grassroots grant type assistance through local Nepali or Japanese NGOs, I had many opportunity to visit remote village from the east to the west and directly communicate with the people there. It gave me special fond memories. Second, I want to say thank to them.

I like Nepali people’s smile and hospitality. I have a great respect for the fact and the efforts of the Nepali people to live in peace in such diversity.

I want to say thanks to my colleagues, too. All diplomatic here not only professional but also lovely human beings with profound personal charm. I happen to meet my New Delhi Deputies and US College Alumni. I happened to meet my old pals in the different positions after many years. These encounters will remain in me as precious treasures in the rest of my life.

I would also like to thank my embassy colleagues, Japanese diplomatic and Nepali national staff including secretaries, drivers, staff in each section, residence staff and chief couple; it was so comfortable to work with them.

In addition, my special thank go to the Nepali Kendo kid I met at the Multipurpose Marshal Art Center. I was so impress by their efforts to try to understand the sprit and sense of value contained in “Bushido, the way of Samurai.” They gave me a special light and joy in my day here.

Last but not least, I would like to thank “the Nepal-Japan relationship.” In more than 120 years’ history of people-to-people exchange, there are so many beautiful stories between us. I learn new heart-moving anecdotes almost every day from Nepai friends. I am so grateful for our long-time friendship.

You know, it is an ambassador’s official job to serve in any type of countries in the world, but if I may calculate the degree of personal satisfaction of any ambassador by the degree of pro-Japan sentiment in a posted country, I might by one of the happiest Japanese ambassador in the world.

To be honest with you, my day here have not been entirely trouble free. It is only natural that ambassador must face challenges of any kind. As Japan is assisting Nepal’s development with so many initiatives and projects, I have to overcome many challenges in the implementation phase on the ground.

But here I will not mention to them in detail, because I want to have nice time with you today. I just want to add that I worked hard because I wanted to help Nepal for its development. I wanted to see Nepali people smile. If Japan’s cooperation has been of any help to you, I am pleased and pleased and proud of myself.

It is my regret that I could invite only a limited number of guests to this reception. So, I will post my words of farewell on the Embassy’s Face book page later so that all my friends whom I could not invite today can take a look at it anytime, anywhere . Please disseminate my intention to your friends and members of your organizations after returning home today. In the post I will introduce two items. Usually, I try my best to make my message as clear as possible, but this time I will not explain why I chose these two. You will think about you.

Ladies and gentlemen, Diplomats come and go. That is our job. I am sure that my successor will try his best to make further contribution to Nepal-Japan relationship and be a good friend with you. I humbly ask you all to extend the same support you have bestowed on me to my successor.

KIKUTA Yutaka is the ambassador of Japan to Nepal and returning home after completing his tenure in Nepal. Excerpt of the farewell statement delivered by him in a reception.