Hideyuki Hoshiya: Determined to be a lifetime envoy for Sino-Japanese exchange

Sino-Japanese Exchange: A lifetime cause

Hideyuki Hoshiya has always been active in Sino-Japanese exchange. He made a donation during the Yangtze River flood in 1998. He gave the Complete Works of Nagai Kafu to Shanghai Fudan University as a gift. In 2015 and 2016, he invited the teachers and students from Dujiangyan Kuiguang Primary School, a school Mori Building helped build, to visit and take a tour in Shanghai. In 2015, he acted as a member of an evaluation committee for the Panda Cup Japan Essay contest for Young People.

 In 2015, Hideyuki Hoshiya visited the Mori Memorial Library in Kuiguang Primary School.

To recognize his contribution to Shanghai during his tenure as General Manager of Mitsui & Co Shanghai, Hideyuki Hoshiya was granted two Magnolia Awards by the Shanghai Municipal Government, which were the Magnolia Silver Award in 1999 and Magnolia Gold Award in 2003 respectively.

He wrote a Chinese acrostic poem named "Feelings During my Stay in Shanghai" (the first character of each line spells out the Chinese words for Mitsui & Co Hideyuki Hoshiya) to express his emotions for Shanghai and expectations for Sino-Japanese exchange.

Here is a literal translation of the poem:

Three years will see tremendous changes in great Shanghai,

Being so organized and in order is the New Pudong Area,

Affluent resources and materials depend on trade,

Advanced industries shall attach importance to distribution,

As shiny as the stars and moon is the Sino-Japanese bond,

The buildings are tall and magnificent,

Young ladies and men are working hard together,

To create a happy life and a wonderful new era.

To deepen the bond between this Magnolia Award winner and Shanghai, he proposed to establish a Club for Japanese Winners of the Award and was supported by the Shanghai People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (SPAFFC). The Magnolia laureates gather in Shanghai or Tokyo every year. The event has been successfully held for 5 years.

In the fall of 2017, the Shanghai Municipal Government contacted Hideyuki Hoshiya to grant him a permanent residence permit. He hesitated initially because after he went back to Japan, each of his business trips to Shanghai could not exceed 90 days. However, a friend of his with the SPAFFC suggested that he could contribute more to the friendly  Sino-Japanese exchange beyond his business trips. So he was determined that as long as he is still healthy he will continue to serve the civil exchange between Chinese and Japanese people.

Hideyuki Hoshiya's best wishes for China's reform and opening up：Sino-Japanese Friendship embraces a new era; the Belt and Road initiative brings new hope.

This year marks both the 40-year anniversary of China's reform and opening up and the 40-year anniversary of the signing of the Sino-Japanese Treaty of Peace and Friendship. The Sino-Japanese relationship is of great importance in Asia. In the future, the principle of mutual benefit, equality and humble exchange should still be followed to develop the Sino-Japanese relationship. Hideyuki Hoshiya hopes that young people of the two countries will increase their exchanges beyond business, travel to more places, participate in wide exchange in areas like culture and sports and enhance their friendship. He believes in the unlimited potential of Sino-Japanese exchange.

Story by: Cao Jun

Translated: Lu Yukun