Japanese friend with a heavy heart for Nghe An

Bridge connecting Japanese businesses with Vinh City

Mr. Furuya Yoshio was born in 1938 in Nagasaki Prefecture. After graduating from Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo, Mr. Furuya started working in the international tour business at Nippon Travel Agency. He then established a travel agency in Hong Kong and became its representative director, and opened travel agencies in Bangkok and Singapore.
Later, he acquired the Hong Kong Airport Taxi Company and established branches in China and Hong Kong. He also ran a trading company, a consulting company, and an art publishing company.

In 1990, as an extension of his tourism business, he established Dong Do Fujicab Joint Venture Company, the first foreign-invested taxi company in Vietnam, and also the first taxi company with foreign capital.Japan invests in Vietnamthe early years of innovation

In 2010, he established the Japan - Vietnam Business Bridge Association to contribute to practical cooperation in trade and economic relations and cultural exchange between the two countries.

Ibaraki prefectural enterprises, through the Japan-Vietnam Trade Bridge Association, visited Nghe An to explore investment cooperation opportunities (Mr. Furuyo, far right). Photo provided by the author

In 2010, Mr. Furuya first set foot in Nghe An and had initial contact with representatives of the Nghe An Province Union of Friendship Organizations and the Vietnam - Japan Friendship Association of Nghe An Province. In Nghe An, the first place he researched and chose to visit was Nam Dan - the hometown of President Ho Chi Minh, a leader he admired, and the hometown of patriot Phan Boi Chau - a Vietnamese admired by Japan, who, together with doctor Asaba Sakitaro, laid the foundation for the Vietnam - Japan friendship more than 50 years ago.

Immediately after that first visit, returning to Japan as Chairman of the Japan - Vietnam Business and Trade Bridge Association (with nearly 150 businesses in Japan), he mobilized a number of businesses, philanthropists, and social activists to support part of the funding to build a memorial site for Phan Boi Chau in his hometown of Nam Dan.

Since his relationship with Nghe An, in 2010, Mr. Furuya wrote a handwritten letter to comrade Ho Duc Phoc - the current Provincial Party Secretary, in which he expressed his desire to approach Vinh city, bringing the Japan Trade and Business Bridge Association to connect with Vinh city to learn and survey investment opportunities.

The Vietnam - Japan Friendship Association of Nghe An province, along with some Japanese volunteers and Mr. Furuya, visited a school in Vinh city. Photo: Document of the Vietnam Friendship Association

Received goodwill from provincial leaders andVinh city, in his role as a people's diplomat, he has connected Vinh city with cities in Japan: Kasumigaura city and Tsukuba city (Ibaraki province). Many delegations of leaders and businesses from the two Japanese cities have visited Vinh city and many Vinh delegations have visited Japan. In 2011, a delegation of the Tsukuba City Chamber of Commerce and Industry led by the Chairman of the Chamber visited and worked in Vinh city.

Tsukuba is the location of Tsukuba Science City and the headquarters of the Japan Aerospace Research and Development Agency. Tsukuba is also known as the Science, Technology and Research Center of Ibaraki Prefecture. With Kasumigaura City, Vinh City has established a friendly and cooperative relationship. The two cities signed the memorandum of understanding on "Implementing a cooperation project to support sustainable agricultural production applying high technology in Japanese agriculture", the memorandum of understanding with JWS Tecnica Company to implement the project "Production and supply of equipment and technology for high-concentration electrolyzed water", the memorandum of understanding on cooperation between the North Central Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology, Vinh City People's Committee and Tecnica Company on experimental research and transfer of advanced Japanese technology in the field of agriculture and rural development.

Representatives of some Japanese cultural organizations introduced some cultural images of the neighboring country to Comrade Vo Viet Thanh - former Secretary of Vinh City Party Committee. Photo: Minh Tuan

The Japanese side has surveyed to bringagricultural productsFresh ginger and turmeric from Nghe Aninto the Japanese market; inspecting investment in Japanese cuisine restaurants; manufacturing rolling door motors; manufacturing and assembling electric motorbikes; environmental treatment, new generation electrolyzed water, waste treatment for electricity generation; building Giang Son Ecological Zone and exploiting mineral water, Do Luong district; building a waste treatment plant in Nghi Yen commune, Nghi Loc district and a project in coordination with Vinh Medical University to train and send nurses to work in Japan.

He also thought about how to have a direct flight from Vinh to Japan and organize tours when Vinh airport becomes an international airport.

Missing a great friend

In recent years, he has visited Vinh City on average 8 to 9 times a year, accompanying businesses, social organizations, and cultural activists to connect investment cooperation between Japanese businesses and Vinh City. In 2019, there were months when Mr. Furuya traveled back and forth between Vinh - Vietnam and Japan 3 times.
Looking at his walking and working ability, few people would know that he is over 80 years old, but he is agile, respects working hours and is polite and emotional in the true Japanese style. Every time he goes to Vinh, he never forgets to bring some gifts of his homeland and Japanese culture as gifts for his friends in Vinh, such as mochi cakes, green tea boxes, white chocolate bars, some seaweed packages for children, or traditional Japanese handicrafts.

In October 2019, he came to Vinh city alone, and he looked unwell. He made an appointment to visit Vinh after the traditional Lunar New Year of Vietnam and Japan as planned to continue connecting the projects he was nurturing. But then the Covid-19 epidemic spread rapidly, and his home country, Japan, became a major epidemic center in the world. International flights were closed, and there were no flights from Japan to Vietnam for him to continue carrying out his "non-professional diplomatic" mission, the bridge connecting Japanese and Vietnamese trade and businesses that he built.

Representatives of several Japanese cultural organizations work with Vinh city leaders (Mr. Furuyo stands on the far right of the photo). Photo: Minh Tuan

In early August this year, his daughter informed him that he had passed away due to a serious illness that had persisted for many years and had become more serious. His friends in Vinh could not help but feel a sense of suddenness and loss. His death, the Vietnam - Japan Friendship Association of Nghe An province and Vinh city lost a Japanese friend who always had a deep affection for Nghe An province and Vinh city, a place he loved and had devoted his efforts, time and material resources to fostering friendship and cooperation between Japan and Nghe An. Understanding more about his heart, he often forgot and hid his illness and personal pain when his mother passed away in his hometown while he was in Vietnam.

The Japanese have a famous saying about friendship.“If you dare to dream it, you can absolutely do it!”. He dreamed and he did a lot. Maybe many things he wanted for the development of Vinh city when acting as a trade bridge for Japanese and Vietnamese businesses are still unfinished, but what he has done and given to Vinh, to Nghe An over the past many years can be said to have fulfilled his people's diplomatic mission, being a trade bridge for the good relationship between Japan and Vietnam.

Vinh September 11, 2020.