Kidokoro Takuo, the 12th Japanese Ambassador to Mongolia,
answers questions on bilateral relations.

When did you first
have anything to do with Mongolia?
It
was in 1964 when I was among those who welcomed the Mongolian team arriving in
Yokohama by ship to participate in the Tokyo Olympics. Yokozuna Hakuho’s father
was in the team. I did not know then that I would be sent here in August, 1973
to open our first Embassy. At that time only Ulaanbaatar Hotel accommodated
foreigners and our Embassy had rented Room 501 for 15 months and worked from
it. The French Embassy was in Room 324. We could not freely communicate with
Mongolians, could go to only one shop that served diplomatic staff. The streets
were full of litter and only a few cars could be seen. Actually only two cars
could be seen in the parking area of the hotel. One was the hotel bus and the other
was our Embassy car. We could drive to the airport in 10-15 minutes. I enjoyed
driving in the weekends but Mongolian drove quite erratically.

What did the Japanese
Embassy do in those first days?
Our first
talks were on cultural contact. Much preparatory work was needed before the
Japanese language classes could open in 1975. A Mongolian cultural team went to
Tokyo. Until 1994, the route was through Moscow and then one could go via
Beijing. Now, of course there are direct flights from Ulaanbaatar to Tokyo and
Osaka.  

Japanese funds have
been available for many projects since the end of those socialist days. Do you
remember some of them?
The
Government of Japan took up development programs when Mongolia made the
transition in 1989. We successfully cooperated in work on Power Station IV, upgrading
the railway, and communication. We surveyed possible areas of aid in 1994-1997.
The secondary education system was then facing problems. Some classrooms had
three pupils at one desk and some schools sat in three shifts to accommodate
all the students. A nonrefundable grant of 10.7 billion yen (1 yen= MNT 16
approximately) from the Japanese Government was used build new schools, and repair
old ones. This program led to 43 new schools being built and 513 classrooms
being rebuilt in Ulaanbaatar, Darkhan and Erdenet after 1999. 

“Providing grass root security” is a program
well known in Mongolia. How did it begin?
I was
Chief of the Department of Economic Cooperation in the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs of Japan in 1988. We usually spent 3-5 years on research before
announcing a large program but realized Mongolia needed faster action. So we took
just about a week to decide on the main thrusts of a program to provide support
to education, health care, drinking water supply and infrastructure development
– things that would directly affect the population. The program started in April
1989 and its original name “Small- and middle-level projects” was soon after
changed to “Providing grass root security” and that is how it is known even
today.

How much have you spent
on this program in Mongolia?
We
have so far spent USD20 million on 350 projects under it. Roughly 56% has gone
to education, 15% to health, 6% to water supply systems and the rest to
infrastructure and other fields. In Japan we give priority to good education
and we have followed this here also.

What future programs
are under consideration? And what do you see in the future?
“Providing grass root security” annually spends USD100,000 distributed among
the capital and the 21 aimags but considering the problems of Ulaanbaatar
following the migration of people here from the countryside we now wish to
concentrate on the capital.  

Mongolia sent cashmere blankets and gloves when an earthquake hit Kobe in
January, 1995 and after a later earthquake in the Niigata province, we received
aid from workers at Power Station IV and a bus company where Japan had implemented
projects. We were so happy.

The present bilateral relations are much wider than in 1973 or in 1994. We have
been partners in politics, economics, education and culture, but this should
now spread to technical and technological fields also, like mining and minerals.

Japanese can visit Mongolia
without a visa. When will the facility be reciprocated?
This applies only to short-term tourists from Japan and their number has risen
40% since the system was introduced in April 2010. It would be more if Mongolia
had a longer tourist season, so the non-visa regime benefits Mongolia.  The question of visa exemption for Mongolia can
be taken up only after some issues are resolved by the Mongolian side. Foremost
among these is the large number of people from here who illegally overstay in
Japan. I shall try to resolve the visa issue during my term of duty.