Tonga is an island nation in the South Pacific, which became an independent kingdom in 1970. Its location is just west of the dateline, around 20 degrees south latitude. It consists about 170 islands which are spread out 600 km north-south and 200 km east-west. It has a population of about 100,000. Although the climate is mild with an annual average temperature of 24°C and an annual rainfall of 1700 mm, it is often hit by natural disasters such as cyclones and earthquakes. According to the Global Risk Report by a German aid relief organization, it is considered to be the second highest risk of disaster damage in the world.
The people of Tonga have a cheerful national character with many devout Christians. Church activities are widely rooted in society, and on Sundays, worship is held in the church and commercial activities are prohibited in principle.
Tonga has a long-standing friendly relationship with Japan. There was close exchanges between the Royal family and the Imperial Family of Japan, and in particular, His Majesty the King Tupou IV of the previous generation incorporated the abacus and Japanese language into Tonga's education system, and created an opportunity to develop sports exchanges such as sumo and rugby.
JICA has been engaged in development support such as volunteer dispatch, technical cooperation, and grant aid in the fields of education including abacus and Japanese, agriculture, forestry and fisheries, health and medical care, and transportation infrastructure development. It has recently been working on the development of renewable energy such as solar and wind power generation, and the development of an early warning system to protect human life from natural disasters.
Various support from Japan is highly valued by the people of Tonga, and the activities of volunteers including the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV) are a major bridge between Japan and Tonga.
From 2020 onwards, Tonga has been preventing the influx of new coronas by introducing strict immigration restrictions, such as suspension of commercial flights. The Tonga economy, such as tourism, is in a difficult environment, and development-related activities continue to operate with difficulty, but we would like to do our best for the better future of this country, which Captain Cook described as "The Friendly Islands", without compromising the trust that our predecessors have built up.
TAKASHIMA Hiroaki
Resident Representative of JICA Tonga Office
(November 2021)
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