The Amerigo Vespucci reached the port
of Tokyo in its first visit to Japan in its storied 93-year
history Sunday, as part of a World Tour, which started in Genoa
in July 2023 and will take it to 31 countries, reaching over 30
ports in five continents.
In the last stretch, which was the longest of the tour, the
historic sailing ship and training ship of the Italian Navy
sailed to Japan from Honolulu, in the Hawaian Islands, covering
3,630 miles, and tying off in hot and muggy Tokyo afternoon amid
the curiosity of many onlookers.
"We are extremely proud to represent Italy in the world both as
crew and as all the community of the Vespucci", Captain Giuseppe
Lai told ANSA.
"We are in the 22nd stage of the world tour after 14 months
since we left Genoa on July 1, 2023," he stressed.
"It's a highly anticipated stopover, the first time for the
Vespucci in Tokyo and Japan.
"We have very great expectations both to visit a different and
fascinating culture and to receive a warm reception.
"They have been intense days," added Lai, "a long voyage across
the Pacific which lived up to its name with great windows of
dead calm and only a little more choppy sea in Tokyo's lee.
"The 115 cadets of the Livorno Naval Academy who boarded in Los
Angeles greeted this opportunity with extremely great enthusiasm
and participation".
Awaiting the Vespucci, at 14:40, in the August sun and with the
proverbial Japanese organisaton, was the Welcome Ceremony with
the national anthems of the two countries played by musical
bands and a gaggle of authorities and public functionaries,
testifying to the ample collaboration at a diplomatic level that
at the start of 2023 saw the governments of Giorgia Meloni and
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida elevate bilateral relations to a
strategic partnership.
Italian Ambassador in Tokyo Gianluigi Benedetti told ANSA that
"the arrival of the Vespucci sailing ship in Japan is a historic
event and it follows the arrival of other Italian Navy ships,
like the Cavour aircraft carrier".
Welcoming the Navy's training ship to the port of the Japanese
capital, he said "it is also a sign that has a wider value,
multilateral if you will, a global strategic value.
"Italy's confirmation to want to contribute to peace and
stability in the world, ensuring the coordination in cooperation
with other partners and countries of various areas, maritime
safety and security and freedom of navigation, also in the
Indo-Pacific, which seems very far off, but in reality is a
continuation, if you will, of the Atlantic-Mediterranean Axis."
Strategic connotations, but also economic and commercial
attractions, together with a growing and prolific involvement at
the cultural level between nations that have always had an
affinity for one another.
Hence the desire to repeat the success of setting up the
Villaggio Italia in Los Angeles, a successful international
exhibition that brings together national excellence, through the
creativity, research and innovation of Made in Italy,
sustainability projects and the Bel Paese's natural heritage.
Until August 30, thanks to the Vespucci, the borders between
Italy and Japan will be easier to cross.
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