[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1994, Book I)]
[June 13, 1994]
[Pages 1070-1071]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



[[Page 1070]]


Remarks at the Welcoming Ceremony for Emperor Akihito and Empress 
Michiko of Japan
June 13, 1994

    Your Majesties, distinguished guests: On behalf of the people of the 
United States, I am deeply honored to welcome Your Majesties to 
Washington and our Nation for your first visit since you ascended to the 
Chrysanthemum Throne.
    When Hillary and I had the great pleasure of visiting your beautiful 
country last year, we were honored by your invitation to the wonderful 
banquet at the Imperial Palace for the G-7 leaders. The people of Japan 
welcomed us with open arms and left us deeply impressed by their warmth 
and their society, which blends the most ancient traditions with the 
most modern technologies.
    During the next 2 weeks, as you make your way across our land, the 
American people will have the opportunity to return the hospitality that 
you showed to us. From the great cities of the East to the peaks of the 
Rocky Mountains to the ports of the West, we welcome you not as visitors 
but as honored guests and old friends.
    In the next 2 weeks, you will see much more than vistas, landscapes, 
and monuments. You will also meet, as Your Majesty said on your last 
visit here, as many people from as many walks of life as possible. Our 
people, after all, are the essence of America. I know they look forward 
to welcoming you into their homes and communities. And I am certain you 
will be impressed with them and that they will be impressed with you and 
your great knowledge of our Nation, our culture, and our history.
    You will also witness the tremendous contributions that Japanese-
Americans have made to our society and the growing influence of Japanese 
cultural heritage in America. The list is long. It includes 
distinguished artists and musicians. It includes athletes. It includes 
business leaders and eminent leaders of our political system.
    In your travels, you will find that almost every American city 
boasts buildings inspired by the fluid and elegant lines of Japanese 
architects. In millions of American homes you will see the works of 
Japanese printmakers and gardens that might well fit in Kyoto. And in 
our elementary schools and colleges, you will meet thousands of 
Americans struggling to learn and to master your wonderful Japanese 
language. These studies, in fact, are among the fastest growing courses 
in our schools today.
    Think how different the world was when Your Majesty first came to 
America more than 40 years ago. Nations were rebuilding from the 
devastation of war, and vivid memories of that conflict divided our two 
people. Misunderstanding and even ignorance divided us, and more than 
borders blocked the sharing of ideas. When you visited New York in 1953, 
you were shown a demonstration of a brandnew technology. Your eager 
American hosts called it color television. Today, as we gather here, 
millions and millions of Japanese citizens are watching us as we speak 
because their households are linked by sets to us through the miracle of 
satellite.
    Today's ceremony is but one symbol of what the combined talents and 
ingenuity of our two people can produce. Surely we have come far since 
the days when one of our great teachers on Japan, your friend and our 
Ambassador, Edwin O. Reischauer, observed that our two countries were 
using the same set of binoculars but looking through opposite ends. 
Today, we share a common vision.
    It is a vision of democracy and prosperity, of a world where we 
trade freely in ideas and goods, a vision of a world that protects and 
secures the rights and freedoms of all human beings, a vision of a world 
at peace. You have called the era of your reign, Heisei, ``fulfilling 
peace,'' and nothing could be more important to our Nation than working 
with you to achieve that goal.
    Your Majesties visit us at a moment when it is clear that the 
destinies of our two peoples are inextricably linked, a moment in 
history when every day yields new challenges. But those challenges bring 
with them the opportunity for us to carve new paths together.
    Let us listen to the elegant words left to us by the Japanese poet, 
Tachibana Akemi: ``It is a pleasure when, rising in the morning, I go 
outside and find a flower that has bloomed that was not there 
yesterday.'' That verse is more than a century old, but its message is 
timeless.

[[Page 1071]]

Every day brings with it the promise of a new blossom: the prospect of 
progress and growing friendship between our two peoples.
    Your Majesties, our commitment to common ideals is firm. Our 
determination to work with you is strong. Our welcome to you today is 
sincere and heartfelt. We are privileged to receive you in the United 
States.
    Thank you very much.

Note: The President spoke at 10:14 a.m. on the South Lawn at the White 
House.