On August 23rd, Ambassador Kodama, Deputy Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations, attended the closing ceremony of the World Harmony Run which took place in the Dag Hammarskjold Plaza. The World Harmony Run is a global relay that seeks to promote international friendship and understanding. The relay included Japan where runners ran through Miyagi, Iwate, and Akita prefectures from May 7th - 11th, 2012 to lift the spirits of the people who were affected by the Great East Japan Earthquakes.

      At the closing ceremony, Ambassador Kodama delivered a message of congratulations and expressed this gratitude regarding the relay portion through the 2011 disaster-affected areas which was symbol of the international community’s support. After the ceremony, Ambassador Kodama interacted with three Torch Bearer’s award recipients Bob Beamon, an Olympics gold medalist, Ben Gilman, a former Republican United States Representative, and Cathy Oerter, wife of Olympic legend Al Oerter who founded Art of the Olympics, as well as the runners.

      Previously, on April 12th, the opening ceremony of the World Harmony Run was held at the same location, and at that time, Minister Nakamae attended the ceremony. At that ceremony, the “People of Japan” received the Torch Bearer’s award, in recognition of their commitment to peace and global understanding as well as the determination and resilience that the Japanese people showed on the occasion of the Great East Japan Earthquake.