President Van Rompuy launches 'Haiku II'
Ambassador Shiojiri hosts the launch of the new collection of haikus by President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy
President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy launched his new collection of haikus titled ‘Haiku II’ at the official residence of Ambassador Shiojiri on October 3rd.
Ambassador Shiojiri opened the event by remarking that it was “an honour to host the book launch of the second haiku collection by President Van Rompuy”.
To mark the occasion Ambassador Shiojiri offered his own haiku on the theme of autumn and the image of chestnuts falling from trees.
Delicious chestnut in the backyard,
Mother’s gift for neighbours,
Sharing joy and happiness.President Van Rompuy in his remarks thanked Ambassador Shiojiri for organizing the event and stated, “I’m already looking forward to my visit in November to Matsuyama, the haiku capital in Japan and in the world. Haiku plays an important role in the EU-Japan relations. We share not only commercial and political links but also cultural”.
After his remarks President Van Rompuy read one of his haikus from his new collection, before posting it in the Matsuyama Haiku-post.
An old dog faithfully
plodding at his master's side.
Growing old together.
The full speech by President Van Rompuy is available on the website of the European Council. Here.
The event was also covered by European and Japanese media.
Please visit the following sites directly to see video reports on this event.
Ring TV (Language: Dutch)
VTM (Language: Dutch)
NHK (Language: Japanese)
