Dear Friends of JITTI USA,
My name is Tetsuhiro Nakagawa. I took up the Senior Representative position for JIITI USA this August. I thank all the readers of this journal for understanding and supporting the activities of JITTI USA. I wish I could greet every one of you in-person, but the current situation doesn’t allow me to do so. If you get to know a little about me through this brief self-introduction, that would be a great pleasure of mine.
Prior to my current position at JITTI USA, I spent most of my professional career in the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) of Japan. I was involved in the government’s policy making and regulation setting for a wide variety of fields: civil aviation, maritime transportation, surface transportation, road administration, logistics efficiency, urban re-development, and tourism promotion. My most recent experience was not creating policies or regulations, however, but measures against COVID-19. As a senior member of the Maritime Bureau, I was working on issuing guidance on preventing the spread of infections on vessels, and compiling the remedy measures for mid and small sized shipping businesses. Besides these experiences based in Tokyo, I spent three years working for the Embassy of Japan in Singapore during 2010-2013.
I have always had a desire to do work related to international issues, or more specifically, work overseas. I simply want to meet people all over the world and exchange views with them, and by doing so, I want to feel myself being a part of our human society. In that sense, working for JITTI USA is extraordinarily fortunate to me, and the best chance for me to become who I want to be. My personal slogan here is “Don’t waste even a second!” and my personal goal is to widen my world by interacting with as many people as I can here in Washington DC and across the US. I believe this will lead to enabling JITTI USA to contribute further to the societies of the US, Japan, and the world.
I started my new life in Bethesda with my wife and four children. This is my second time living in the US, since I studied at the UC Berkeley School of Law during 2006-2008, but it’s the first time for my family. To be honest, so far we haven’t been able to enjoy our new life fully under the conditions of COVID-19. Online school is simply a disaster for our children, who have just started to struggle with English and have no friends here. However, we found a great thing about living in this area is that we can actually be immersed in nature within a 15 minute drive. My family all love camping and playing in the outdoors, and are excited about seeing how the appearance of the environment is different compared to in Japan.
Finally again, thank you for your kind support. I truly wish the current situation will be resolved, and that I will be able to meet you soon.
Sincerely,
