The 1964 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service

RESPONSE of Yukiharu Miki
Ramon Magsaysay Award Presentation Ceremonies
31 August 1964 Manila, Philippines

It is a great privilege as well as an immense pleasure for me to come to Manila to accept the honorable Ramon Magsaysay Award. I am deeply moved with a sense of gratitude when I think of all the hospitalities you have extended to me to attend these presentation ceremonies. You have even provided me with the opportunity of visiting for the first time the famous "Land of the Morning" and "Pearl of the Sea of the Orient," which I have long dreamed of seeing.

However, my joy is mixed with another sentiment. I venture to say that I entertain a lingering anxiety as to whether the scars of war that took place 20 years ago have completely healed. Among the guests attending this ceremony, I would not be surprised to find some people who had the misfortune of losing their relatives or property during the last war.

I am a physician and have devoted my whole life to the protection of human lives, but, when I think of the last war, I feel that being a member of the Japanese nation I share the responsibility for causing suffering to the people in the Philippines. Therefore, it was with a sense of guilt that I set foot on your soil. Perhaps to some people it was rather strange that I lacked the happy expression of a welcomed guest when I arrived.

It was indeed a happy surprise to me and my staff when we learned that our small prefecture in the western part of Japan had caught the attention of the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation. I must say with all humility that what I have done in the past 14 years as the governor of the Okayama Prefecture is very small.

During my governorship, your late President Ramon Magsaysay appeared with great prestige on the international horizon, and I already developed in those days a high esteem for his simple and humble personality. He inspired me with his conviction that all people had the right to live in peace and happiness and that one should devote his life for the rights of humanity. His "selfless devotion" to the crusade for the welfare of the people was what I tried hard to the best of my ability to live up to in my work as a public servant.

It was by a strange fortune that I left the field of public health to become a governor. Although my life has been marked by vicissitudes, one thing remains unchanged. I have always held to the belief that I belong to the common masses and what is most valuable in life is to serve the welfare of the public.

I am deeply touched this afternoon by your gesture of generosity in affording me the opportunity as the first Japanese to receive the Magsaysay Award.

In all sincerity, it is my feeling that your generous gesture is an expression of the magnanimity and friendship of the Filipino people who are trying to forget the past and to forge a new friendship with Japan. For such sentiment, I cannot find a proper word of appreciation.

I accept this Award for the five thousand members of my staff in the prefectural office who worked closely with me, as well as the members of the prefectural assembly who cooperated with me. Their devotion, dedication and ability have given the Prefecture of Okayama the public image that you are recognizing this afternoon. I, therefore, wish to express my sincere thanks on their behalf and on behalf of the Japanese people, who share my feeling of appreciation for this Award, to those who conferred this honor upon me.