Happy New Year! On behalf of The Nippon Foundation I wish you a happy, healthy and prosperous 2023.

With the approach of my 84th birthday on January 8, I feel in great shape both physically and mentally. I get up at 4:30 a.m. everyday. After a quick stretch and shower, I start work at the office at 6:40 a.m. Nothing makes me happier than being able to work well and I am truly grateful for that.

On the eve of this year’s World Leprosy Day/World Hansen’s Disease Day on January 29, I will visit the Vatican as WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Leprosy Elimination and chairman of The Nippon Foundation. There I will jointly host an international symposium on Hansen’s disease with the Holy See and issue Global Appeal 2023 to End Stigma and Discrimination against Persons Affected by Leprosy.

During the trip, I will also visit the Republic of Malta in the Mediterranean Sea.

Then, in February, I will visit Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Norway and Portugal.

Later in the year, I plan to climb 5,895-meter-high Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania to display a flag with the message “Don’t Forget Leprosy” at the top of Africa’s highest mountain.

This will be a follow-up to my ascent of Mount Fuji, Japan’s highest mountain, in the summer of 2022, which I climbed to give a boost to the “Don’t Forget Leprosy” campaign that I launched in August 2021. The campaign was initiated to send the message that leprosy and those who are affected by it must not to be forgotten even amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

To make this a fulfilling year, I shall devote myself to humanitarian activities not only in Japan but around the world, based on my motto that the place where problems are occurring is also where solutions will be found.