Prime Minister Kishida's speech at the U.S. Congress

I've just watched Prime Minister Kishida's speech on NHK. It started around 0:10 Japan time, or 11:10 a.m. in the U.S., which is most likely what's called "Eastern standard time" if I'm correct.

He spoke for about half an hour, starting with his memory of his life in Queens, New York, when he was small. He said he lived there for a few years due to his father's job. He talked about watching baseball games, visiting the Niagara Falls and other places. He thanked the people in Queens for making his life enjoyable. He made the members of Parliament? laugh at the beginning by saying he never received such a warm welcome at Japan's Diet. He introduced his wife and said the people of the U.S. can rest assured of his personality by looking at her. He then went into the details of what Japan has done and is doing as a trustworthy partner of the U.S. to ensure world peace and stability: that the U.S. is not, and should not be, alone as a global power to maintain peace and prosperity around the world; that Japan has progressed from being a reticent power to an active one helping and working togther with the democracies of the world to oppose oppression of human rights and aggressions around the world, as witnessed by the invasion of Ukrain by Russia; that today's Ukraine might be tomorrow's East Asia. He touched upon the challenges posed by China, and emphasized the importance of cooperation between Japan and the U.S. in various areas.

I felt his English was excellent, or specutacular, even; it's not something you can pull off by just hours' or even days' of preparation. The pronunciation, intonation, rhythm, and so on, were very natural, confident, and convincing. Who am I to judge? I taught English for two years in a vocational school for high-school graduates and I earn a living by translating Japanese into English, and so I know how difficult and time-consuming it is to learn to speak English. Prime Minister Kishida's confidence and excellent delivery may well come from his constant efforts in making sure that the English he learned when he was young would not get rusty. 

I felt the standing ovations he received many times during his speech were not just formality but genuine. I think this will give a big boost to his popularity here in Japan, which has been in steep decline recently. 

And I was also reminded of a video I saw of Japan's Finance Minister, Mr. ..., I forgot his name [Kazuo Ueda of the Bank of Japan], the other day in which he was discussing global economy with the finance ministers [central bank chiefs] of other nations including the U.S., Ms. Yellen? [Christine Lagarde of the European Central Bank], where his English was also excellent, convincing and highly communicative. Before I saw the video I had the impression that he was a very intelligent but boring person not capable of having a relaxed and enjoyable conversation with anyone in English, but how wrong and arrogant was I. He was an excellent communicator in English and now I admire him. 

While it seems it is almost common knowledge around the world that the Japanese can't speak English, I think things have changed slowly but surely. Many of us Japanese speak English fluently. It's just that we are a shy people and too many of us are perfectionists; too scared to make mistakes, when in fact many of us have a large vocabulary, thanks to the vigorous English education system, and can hold conversations and discuss various issues with people around the world in English. Japan's leaders are proving it, which I think is great.