Vew from the chair: Speeches of Richard WL Austin

Sayu nionna Futol<oro ni kane Freely translated, this says: When sitting on the floor, I like to have a pillar behind me (meaning, of course, that I am the guest-of-honour), sake in front of me, a girl on each side of me, and money in my pocket. No one can say that the Japanese do not know how to enjoy sitting on the floor. Let us join them there and enjoy it too. 2 And now, I should like to conclude my address on a more serious note. Far too many Australians today--especially those of my generation, but many younger Australians too-when they think about Japan, look back in anger to events which happened almost half a century ago-indeed before most present Australians and Japanese were born. It is time, I believe, for a change in attitude. We should put the past behind us where it belongs in the limbo of forgotten things and, where Japan is concerned, we should see only the present and look only to the future. If we did this, we would see a Japan in which there is much to admire, much to envy, and much to emulate. We would see: • a country which has risen by its own efforts, phoenix like, from the ashes of wartime destruction to become one of the leading economic powers in the world today; • a country which has the good sense to go about the business of running its own affairs with unobtrusive efficiency, and the good grace to refrain from telling other countries how to run theirs; • a country with little unemployment, low inflation and interest rates, a high level of savings and no foreign debt; • a country where unions work with their companies and not against them; • a country with a high regard for the family, the sanctity of marriage, and the rule of law; • a country where it is possible to walk down the darkest street on the darkest night without.fear of being mugged or raped; • a country which respects ancient traditions, while at the same time encouraging new initiatives; • a country with a greater appreciation of the beauty that resides in simple objects than any other in the world; • a country which, in all the years since the War, has never fired a shot in anger. When we think about Japan, we should think about some of these things. There is no place in the modern world for recriminations or for guilt complexes. Like Ulysses and his gallant companions in Tennyson's poem of that name, we are that which we are. And that means now, today, not what we were fifty years ago. With this in mind, let us look upon Japan not as a past enemy but rather as a present and future friend. 141