Greeting from Representative

DOJ is a bridge between Japan and ICAO.

DOJ participates in discussions and decision-making by ICAO on establishing international standards for aviation safety, security, low carbon emission and others, rule-making (review on the Chicago Convention, aircraft-related counter-terrorism conventions, etc.) and also adopting related policies (harmonization of safety measures and goals to pursue, action plan to address cyber and other security challenges, traveler identification plan, budgeting and other management, etc.).

Through those activities, DOJ continues to take its catalytic role to make ICAO work and function any better to carry out its mission for safe and orderly development of international civil aviation in ways to best reflect the interests of Japan, including the best possible use of its human and financial resources available.

To this end, I will continue to represent Japan on the Council at DOJ in Montreal with a view to contributing to its best possible decision making through direct interaction with President of the Council, other delegations, Secretary General and other key players, by using my career experience gained from over 27 years of Japanese foreign service including 5 years of professional post inside IAEA Secretariat, and also in close coordination with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan in Canada  who is concurrently the head of DOJ to ICAO..

The year of 2017 marked the 70th anniversary of the formal foundation of ICAO. Japan joined the ICAO membership in 1953 and has continued to be elected as a Council member state since 1956.

Here, it is worthwhile to draw attention to the fact that Japan resolved to contribute to, and act in harmony with the ICAO aviation safety standards as its member state from as early as the times when Japan was receiving international assistance and my parents’ generations were working hard for rebuilding its economy and infrastructure, including aviation industries and international airport access to be in time for hosting the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games in 1964, standing up from the post-war burnt ruins of the land.

I am certain such an entrenched determination by the government, people’s desperate effort to learn and build their own capacity for innovation, unyielding pursuit for safety and sincere respect for agreed rules were key enablers for Japan to take off to economic prosperity. Those are underlying Japan’s current aeronautical, technical, regulatory and industrial expertise in civil aviation.

In addition, passengers and crew always fly in conditions of security and comfort. It is also noteworthy that in 1963 Tokyo was chosen by the ICAO Council as the venue of the diplomatic conference for finalizing the Convention on Offences and Certain Acts Committed on Board Aircraft, now well known as“Tokyo Convention” as the first international counter-terrorism convention.

The afore-said path Japan has followed with ICAO reminds me of the preambular mention in the Chicago Convention: “the future development of international civil aviation can generally help to create and preserve friendship and understanding among the nations and peoples of the world”. This universal conviction is now driving ICAO to promote the principle of “No Country Left Behind” for introduction of ICAO standards in a globally harmonized manner.

Today, Japan is receiving over 20 million visitors and handling over 3 million ton of air cargo every year. Incidentally, Japan will host the Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games again in Tokyo in 2020. I hope that it can be an opportunity for Japan to show the world how Japan has reached the envisaged “future development of international civil aviation” and what is good about ensuring safe, secure and environmentally friendly international civil aviation for sustainable economic development of your country.

However, the roles of DOJ cannot be played without support from and cooperation with other states, organizations and people engaging in civil aviation across the world, as well as other relevant ministries and agencies, research and educational institutions and so forth in Japan.

I will continue with my utmost efforts to make ICAO’s roles, Japan’s cooperation and Japanese people’s support to such cooperation further known and understood inside and outside of Japan by all means including this website, along with efforts by ICAO’s Regional Office of Asia Pacific region located in Bangkok.
 

As the closest example, Mr. Hajime Yoshimura, my alternate representative, was successfully elected in 2016 and is serving in 2017 as the first Japanese President of the Air Navigation Commission (main body recommending ICAO safety standards) in over 70 years of the ICAO history. You can find the related contents and more on this website.

Therefore, should you have any comment or suggestion on this website, which is welcome for its improvement, please feel free to email us at Japan@icao.int .



Summary introduction of Mr. Shinji Matsui

Mr. Matsui has been representing the Government of Japan on the Council of ICAO since August 2016. He engaged in Japan's ICAO-related policy-making and cooperation with ICAO as Principal Deputy Director in Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) 2013 - 2014, and came back to this front at the Delegation of Japan to the ICAO in Montreal right after finishing his role as Director of EU Economic Affairs Division of MOFA.

Mr. Matsui joined the Japanese foreign services in 1989, completing his international legal master's degree in San Diego in 1992, followed by his duties as a congressional liaison at the Embassy of Japan in Washington, D.C until 1995. He continued with his diplomatic career, gaining a wide range of experiences, such as engagement in Japan’s bilateral treaty negotiations, its cooperation with WTO, UNHCR, ILO, IMO, ITU and other UN system organizations in Geneva.
 

Special mention is also made to his experiences of assistance to Japan’s counter-terrorism action in response to the 9.11 situation in 2001, and of a mission to Fukushima one week after the nuclear accident in March 2011 to support IAEA on its local radiation monitoring mission by fully utilizing his experiences of working at its legal office in Vienna 2004-2009.