Ninety-four new graduate hires to the Foreign Ministry kicked off fiscal 2002 on Monday by expressing their resolve to serve the country and win the public's trust.
Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi encouraged the new bureaucrats to make reforming the ministry part of their agenda, and to learn and gain experience to carry out diplomacy that serves the nation's interests.
"I want you always to remember that you are the ones who will lead the future Foreign Ministry and Japan's diplomacy," Kawaguchi told the audience, including 20 professional career-track diplomats.