2022 Nengajo

2021 has once again seen Australia and Japan strengthen ties and seek out new areas for collaboration. Despite the continuing challenge of the pandemic, Australia and Japan have both remained leaders in bringing the virus under control, and Japan in particular was widely lauded for the remarkable success of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.

This year, our nations faced each other across the field, the track and the court, all while Australian and Japanese government and business leaders collaborated across (virtual) boardrooms. From JAXA flying wattle seeds into space, to hydrogen deals in Queensland, partnerships on decarbonisation, participation in the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue and joint participation in Exercise Talisman Sabre, cooperation and collaboration between Australia and Japan has covered an incredibly broad range of areas, adding to the multifaceted character of the bilateral relationship.

In Japan, the resignation of Prime Minister Suga had little impact on the strength of the relationship, with Prime Minister Scott Morrison becoming one of the first world leaders to phone with his congratulations to Prime Minister Kishida. Concurrently, the Ambassadors in both Australia and Japan have now seen a full year in their posts, and both were able to engage widely with government and business despite prevalent lockdowns and emergency declarations.

Here at the AJYD, we also broadened our horizons and stepped into new territory. This was not just in the form of our first ever virtual Dialogue, but also in the launching of our inaugural Essay Contest, and our August webinar on prospects for the revived Quad. We also hosted a number of alumni events, including an in-person catchup in Melbourne (during a brief respite from lockdown) and several virtual nomikais.

The third Australia-Japan Youth Dialogue, held across four weeks in November this year, saw eighteen young leaders come together in a virtual setting. Our delegate cohort encompassed diverse fields, from medicine and engineering, to the creative arts and disability services, and brought together young leaders located across four countries and five time zones.

Using an innovative virtual platform, Gather, to facilitate natural conversations and add an element of real-life interaction, delegates were able to learn from leaders in key areas of the bilateral relationship, experience a crisis simulation, enjoy a tea tasting workshop and work together to create projects to enhance the Australia-Japan relationship. We now look forward to in-person events with our 2021 cohort, which we hope to be able to hold in the coming months.

2021 also saw us welcome on board a range of new sponsors and partners, such as ITOEN, Commonwealth Bank and Japanaroo. We also renewed our partnerships with a number of organisations which have supported us since the beginning, including Asialink Business, the Asia Society, the University of Melbourne, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Moleskine Japan, the Australia-New Zealand Chamber of Commerce in Japan and both the Embassy of Japan in Australia and the Embassy of Australia in Japan. We would like to extend our sincere thanks to our sponsors and partners for their contribution to the success of our 2021 Dialogue.

We look to 2022 with optimism, hoping that – with the resumption of international travel – the next 12 months will see our alumni and future delegates able to meet in person. We would like to thank all of you for your continuing interest and support for the Dialogue, and for your work in helping to realise the full potential of our robust and vibrant bilateral relationship. We encourage you to monitor our social media channels for further information about our future initiatives.