The Irish Embassy Celebrates St. Patrick’s Day in its Beautiful New Embassy
St. Patrick’s Day, the most important holiday for Ireland and the Irish people, has arrived once again.
St. Patrick’s Day is a Catholic holiday celebrating March 17th, the feast day of Saint Patrick, who spread Christianity to Ireland. This Irish holiday is also known as “Green Day” around the world, when people wear green. This is said to stem from two theories: one is that Ireland is known as the “Emerald Isle” due to its beautiful green landscape, and the other is that Saint Patrick held a shamrock (three-leaf clover) while preaching about the Trinity.
Even today, St. Patrick’s Day remains a unique and special opportunity to showcase the connections between the 70 million people of Irish descent scattered around the world, and to highlight Irish culture and heritage. Large-scale events were also held throughout Japan. The St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Tokyo celebrated its 30th anniversary, St. Patrick’s Day Yokohama Motomachi its 20th, the Green Ireland Festival its 10th, and the Emerald Ball its 30th. These events have been held annually for a long time, and are now familiar to Japanese culture and beloved local events.
St. Patrick’s Day is also a valuable opportunity for diplomacy. This year, the Irish government assembled a 38-member delegation, led by the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, which visited more than 50 countries to promote Ireland as an ideal place for tourism, work, study, and investment. Minister Sean Canney visited Japan. Minister Canney has 30 years of experience in the private sector, and has served as a university lecturer, local councilor, and Governor of County Galway before being first elected to the House of Commons. After serving in various ministerial positions, he assumed the position of Minister for International Affairs, Road Transport, Logistics, Rail and Ports in January 2025.
Relations between Ireland and Japan are extremely good. The Osaka-Kansai Expo 2025 was a great success, and last year, in addition to the Prime Minister, seven cabinet ministers visited Tokyo and Osaka, fostering new connections and friendships in various fields such as culture, education, research, innovation, and business.
Bilateral trade reached approximately 22 billion euros, and Japan is the largest source of foreign direct investment (FDI) to Ireland in the Asia-Pacific region, investing in key sectors such as semiconductors, technology services, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, and financial services. Furthermore, Ireland’s agricultural food exports are of high quality and have established a strong position in Japan.
Ireland is not a particularly large country within the EU. However, Ireland accepts this fact and promotes an open, fair, and free trade system based on multilateral rules. This is because such opportunities can generate economic benefits, create high-wage jobs, drive innovation, and build economic resilience. And in this context, Japan, despite its geographical distance between Europe and Asia, is the most important partner due to its shared values.
Furthermore, what was particularly striking in Minister Canney’s comments on St. Patrick’s Day this year was Ireland’s stance on global wars and aggression.
Four years have already passed since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and Ireland has declared that the invasion is “illegal,” and has stated that Ireland will continue to support efforts toward achieving just and lasting peace and security. Regarding the conflicts in Iran and the Gulf and Middle East regions, Ireland clearly reiterated its long-standing position of supporting international affairs and the United Nations, stating that its priority is to see an urgent de-escalation of tensions and a return to dialogue and diplomacy.
This year, a television drama based on the lives of the Irish literary giant Lafcadio Hearn (Koizumi Yakumo) and his wife Setsu was broadcast, making Ireland feel even more familiar to the public.
Ireland, known as the “Emerald Isle,” is also a country that shares values and has forged close friendships with Japan, the “Land of the Rising Sun.” This year’s St. Patrick’s Day left a deep sense of the continued development of this friendship, tourism, and international exchange.
