I am delighted that the Second Okinawa International Movie Festival is to be held here in Ginowan City, and I would like to offer my heartfelt gratitude to all who have devoted their efforts to the staging of this event.

With the institutionalization of the 1994 Convention Act, Ginowan City has been designated an international conference and tourist city. In August 2000 the west coast region, which is the location for the main venue on this occasion, was designated a tourism promotion region in accordance with the Act on Special Measures for the Promotion and Development of Okinawa, and it now enjoys the status of an independent economic development zone. Dotted around the Okinawa Convention Center are resort hotels, the Ginowan Seaside Park, the Ginowan Tropical Beach, and the Ginowan Marina. Together they form one of the prefecture’s foremost convention resorts. This pleasantly beautiful and typically Okinawan seaside location is a fitting venue for the Okinawa International Movie Festival.

The Okinawa International Movie Festival’s theme of “Laugh and Peace” coincides with the cheerfulness and spontaneity of the citizens of Ginowan and the people of Okinawa, and with their hopes for peace. I strongly hope that everyone-the people of the city and the prefecture, and the many visitors from the rest of Japan and from overseas-will meet up here and through the medium of film be able to laugh, feel emotion, and think together in the spirit of “Laugh and Peace”-free of any prejudice. I am also confident that the festival will be an opportunity for our children who face the future to enjoy various new experiences and to develop, while still holding on to their hopes and dreams.

The city of Ginowan also has high hopes that this event will lend fresh allure to the west coast region. I believe that the importance of developing content with the necessary appeal and communicative power for movies resides in the fact that it will create a new culture and lead to the cultivation of new industries. Thus, I intend to support this event to the full.

As I picture the smiling faces of everyone who will attend the festival, I look forward to meeting you all.
Finally, I would like to express my fervent wish that not only will the Second Okinawa International Movie Festival be successful but that its reputation will also spread from Okinawa to Asia and the rest of the world, allowing it to become firmly established.