OSLO – Ichiro Akiyama, a former Ground Self-Defense Force officer, said Monday that Japanese have made important contributions to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which was named this year’s winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Akiyama, the first director of the Inspectorate Division at the OPCW, said: “Japanese personnel have worked together to produce results (in their work with the OPCW). I am very happy to be able to attend (the ceremony) as their representative.”

The award was to be presented Tuesday in Oslo.

Akiyama, 64, said that a variety of Japanese have worked in the OPCW since its 1997 founding. They include personnel dispatched from the GSDF and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and also inspectors sent from the private sector.

“Japan can make international contributions in various fields. It should actively make proposals for contributions in the future by combining human, material and financial resources,” he said.