The Diplomat
The former president of the Real Instituto Elcano, Emilio Lamo de Espinosa, was awarded yesterday with the Distinction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan for his outstanding contribution to the promotion of friendly relations between Japan and Spain.
According to the think tank, the Japanese Ambassador to Spain, Kenji Hiramatsu, yesterday presented Lamo de Espinosa with the Diploma of Merits, signed by the Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Toshimitsu Motegi, as a “tribute to his valuable contribution to the strengthening of relations between Japan and Spain during his term as president of the Elcano Royal Institute”.
The Forums organized annually in Madrid since 2017 to address issues of common interest between Spain, the European Union and Japan, with the participation of leading specialists from Japan and other countries, as well as the visits to Japan made by researchers from the Elcano Royal Institute and the seminar organized in Tokyo in 2018 “have allowed deepening bilateral relations and fostering mutual understanding”, the think tank highlighted in a press release.
The most recent example of this is Lengua y cultura en español en el Japón de la era Reiwa (Spanish language and culture in Reiwa-era Japan), a report published last January by the Elcano Royal Institute and which represents the first study to review the situation of bilateral cultural relations between Spain and Japan in the changing international scenario and the new Reiwa era. The report also analyzes the evolution of Japanese cultural policy and its links with the international projection of the country’s soft power and delves into the presence of the Spanish language in the Japanese educational system.
“Cooperation between Spain and Japan, countries that share values on governance and global challenges, has intensified with this relationship fostered during Lamo de Espinosa’s time at the head of the RIE”, it continued. For all these reasons, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan officially published on December 1, 2020 the decision to award this distinction to Emilio Lamo de Espinosa.
Emilio Lamo de Espinosa (Madrid, 1946) was the founder and first director of the Elcano Royal Institute between 2001 and 2005. He also served as president of the institution between March 2012 and February 2021, when he left the post at his own request and was replaced by the economist José Juan Ruiz Gómez.
