out the main dining room in grand style.
Groundbreaking for the residence began
in 1974 with work completed in 1977.
Yoshida was in charge of the basic design,
which emphasizes the simplicity of traditional
Japanese aesthetics. The flat-roofed, reinforced
concrete structure, with a stone-covered
exterior, has two floors above ground and two
below. In total, the residence covers 70,130
square feet of total building space.
All total, the full grounds cover eight acres
and include a European-style garden, a Japanese
garden, a pool, tennis court, and a cabana. One
of the most distinctive features of the residence is
the tea house, which is adjoined to the modern
main building by a traditional wooden and redcarpeted
passageway that borders the placid Koi
pond that connects the tea house with the main
house, thus seamlessly joining past with present.
“I try to have tea parties once or twice a year, but it is getting difficult because we are so busy,”
Mrs. Kato says. “We have a real tea house, a very
good one, built behind the office ….”
“A very authentic one,” her husband interjects.
“Yes, it’s an old tea house that was disassembled
in Japan and shipped here. It was placed close to
Rock Creek Parkway. The traffic sounds like water
is near; I pretend it’s a waterfall,” she muses. The Consummate Diplomat
Hardly a laughing matter are Amb. Kato’s
responsibilities as Japan’s point person for one
of America’s most important bi-lateral allies.
“The Japan-U.S. alliance is quite solid,” he is
quick to point out, “Japan is the most reliable
ally of the United States in the Pacific. We are
very proud to be so.” It doesn’t appear that
having a new prime minister in Yasuo Fukuda
will change that. One thing that is shared
among [Japanese Prime Ministers] Koizumi, Abe and Fukuda is that each has clearly stated
that the cornerstone of Japan’s foreign policy
is and will be the Japan-U.S. alliance. In that
sense there is a commonality,” he says.
Kato has now visibly switched his demeanor
as talk of baseball and gardens has moved on
to matters of state. On Japan-U.S. economic
relations, he stays on message: “The relations will
grow stronger,” he states. “In the ’80s and ’90s, we
witnessed many trade conflicts between the United
States and Japan. Since then, the situation has
changed dramatically. Our economies are steadily
integrating, which are number one and two [in
the world]. For instance, speaking of automotive
industries, which used to be the focus of the
trade conflicts, critical perceptions of Japanese
automotive companies have diminished – today,
some people believe that Toyota is an American
company.” When asked about industries in which
the two governments should cooperate for future
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