Yukio Hatoyama
Prime Minister of Japan

To not let history fade
May 1, 1956. On this day, Minamata disease, which is said to be the first pollution case in Japan, was officially confirmed for the first time. The string of numbers of this date, 195651, is also used in the domain name of the Minamata Disease Municipal Museum, which exhibits valuable materials on Minamata disease and preserves them for posterity.
Minamata disease, caused by the ingestion of methyl mercury, causes numbness in the limbs, impairs mobility, and in (...)

1. Introduction
Almost two months have passed since that scorching summer day of the general election, and almost forty days since I was designated Prime Minister and a new Cabinet was inaugurated based on a policy agreement of the three-party coalition consisting of the Democratic Party of Japan, the Social Democratic Party, and the People’s New Party.
In the general election, the people of Japan chose to have a change of government. It is the first time for this to occur materially since (...)

Mr. President,
Distinguished Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to His Excellency Dr. AH Abdussalam Treki on assuming the Presidency of the sixty-fourth session of the United Nations General Assembly. I would also like to express my respect to His Excellency Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann for his excellent leadership in the previous session.
I highly commend as well the dedication and leadership of His Excellency Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (...)

1. Here today, a new Cabinet has been founded through a coalition of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and The People’s New Party.
I have taken the view that the recent general election was not a triumph for only the DPJ and its allied parties. Rather, the public’s unbearable distrust of politics, their dismay at the dysfunction of conventional politics and the government as well as their pronounced anger at this situation, were reflected in the high (...)