"shizuoka" yusuke ishikawa: a quick talker, but cute and in love with shanghainese
2024-09-08
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shizuoka prefecture in japan is famous for mount fuji and has established sister cities with hangzhou and jiaxing in zhejiang for more than 40 years. as a world-renowned international trade port, it has also maintained a long-term cooperative relationship with shanghai and has carried out long-term business exchanges in trade, economy and logistics.
in order to deepen mutual understanding, "china-japan new vision" specially invited yusuke ishikawa, director of the shizuoka prefecture shanghai office, to visit the studio to give an in-depth introduction to the historical origins of the two places and friendly exchanges in the fields of culture, tourism, and handicraft production.
host: what kind of place is shizuoka prefecture?
ishikawa (director): shizuoka prefecture has the most famous mount fuji in japan and a population of about 3.55 million. it became a sister city with zhejiang province in 1982, and this year marks the 42nd anniversary. shizuoka is also the "hometown of tea" in japan. as early as the 12th century, master zhengyi of shizuoka prefecture brought back tea seeds from the song dynasty. therefore, shizuoka tea is famous all over the world, mainly thanks to china.
host: how did you become connected with china?
ishikawa: when i was in college, i studied asian economic history. i always wanted to see what asian countries looked like, so i took a year off and started traveling alone. i went to thailand, india, laos, bangladesh and other asian countries. the most impressive thing was china, where i stayed for three months. the journey started from osaka to shanghai on the "jianzhen" ferry. it took three days and two nights. after entering the huangpu river, various ships came and went. the scale of the port was incomparable to that of japan. during the free travel, the bus was stuck in the taklimakan desert. when i arrived in lhasa, i was hospitalized due to altitude sickness. it was a lot of difficulties. but i was deeply moved by the enthusiastic help of the locals, which helped to successfully complete the trip to china. in order to pass on the joy of travel to more people, after graduating from college, i joined a travel agency.
host: what opportunity led you to become a civil servant?
ishikawa: when i was working at a travel agency, i led tour groups around the world as a tour guide, but the happiest place was not hawaii or hokkaido, but taking tourists to my hometown of shizuoka. seeing mount fuji, soaking in hot springs, and entertaining friends with the scenery and food i was familiar with made me feel very proud, and i came up with the idea of "introducing my hometown of shizuoka to tourists from all over the world." i eventually worked hard to pass the civil service exam.
host: how many overseas offices does shizuoka prefecture have? i heard that you took the initiative to apply to come to shanghai.
ishikawa: we have overseas offices in four asian cities - seoul, singapore, taipei, and shanghai, and i have visited them all "secretly". the shanghai office is responsible for the business in mainland china, hong kong, and macau, and there are great opportunities and challenges, so i volunteered to work in shanghai.
host: you have been in shanghai for a year and a half, so you must have made a lot of friends. compared with the japanese, what is the biggest characteristic of shanghainese people?
ishikawa: there are two colleagues from shanghai in the office. when i proposed a certain plan and asked them "how do you feel about it", i often got the reply "i don't think it will have any effect, so don't do it". at the beginning, i was "hurt" every day, but gradually i tasted the sweetness. because through straightforward communication and collision of ideas, many high-quality plans have indeed been born. in japan, people often say polite words. when facing the boss's proposal, subordinates will not express their ideas clearly. but i feel very comfortable working with shanghai people, and my work efficiency has also been greatly improved. i sincerely thank my colleagues in shanghai.
anchor: the video shows gundam models. are shizuoka prefecture's plastic models very famous?
ishikawa: more than 80% of plastic models in japan, such as gundam and mini 4wd cars, are produced in shizuoka. after tokugawa ieyasu unified japan, he returned to shizuoka prefecture to spend his old age. after the completion of sunpu castle where he lived, carpenters, engravers and other craftsmen who gathered in shizuoka to build the palace began to make dolls and toys with wood and bamboo, which was the predecessor of plastic models. in the 19th century, wooden airplanes and other toys were manufactured, and in the 1860s, plastic materials were used and have continued to this day.
host: what is the main business of the shizuoka office? will you promote plastic models?
ishikawa: we have three main businesses. the first is to help the development of enterprises in the county in china. for example, we will assist food manufacturers to participate in various chinese food exhibitions. the second is to promote shizuoka tourism in china. so we are frequent visitors to tourism exhibitions in various places. the third is to maintain friendly relations with local governments such as zhejiang and shanghai. the shizuoka office has been established for 30 years. we hope that through our efforts, the two-way exchanges between china and japan will be taken to a higher level!
host: as a travel expert, what would you most recommend to friends in shanghai if they want to go to shizuoka?
ishikawa: when you arrive in shizuoka prefecture, you must see the majestic mount fuji. many chinese tourists told me that they caught a glimpse of mount fuji on the shinkansen from tokyo to osaka. it's a pity. i suggest you spend an hour or two on the suruga bay cruise and look at the 3,776-meter mount fuji from the horizon at an altitude of 0 meters. sometimes the sky is clear, and sometimes the sun sets. the ever-changing mount fuji requires careful appreciation to perceive its infinite charm.
host: on the contrary, if friends from shizuoka come to shanghai, what do you most recommend?
ishikawa: people in shizuoka hardly know that shanghai is the city with the most coffee shops in the world, and they are surprised every time they hear about it. so if you come to shanghai, you must take them to taste authentic yunnan coffee, or delicious and interesting creative coffee such as osmanthus oat latte.
host: do you have any goals this year?
ishikawa: i have made many friends in shanghai and learned some shanghainese words such as “nonghao”, “xie xie” and “have coffee”. i have memorized them all. i will continue to work hard this year and strive to be able to communicate with them in daily life.
kankan news reporter: shen lin
editor: zhang xinyuan
editor: shen lin
