政務官「正確な情報を発信」　「竹島の日」で記念式典―島根県

　島根県が竹島（隠岐の島町）の領有権確立を目指して条例で定めた「竹島の日」の記念式典が２２日、県などの主催により松江市内で開かれた。政府からは小寺裕雄内閣府政務官が出席し、政務官の式典参加は１０年連続となった。小寺氏はあいさつで「竹島に関する正確な情報を内外に発信し、国際的な理解を得るとともに、国内での関心の喚起が不可欠だ」と述べた。
　１７回目となる今年の式典には、超党派の「日本の領土を守るため行動する議員連盟」会長の新藤義孝元総務相や地元選出の国会議員、県議ら８０人を超える関係者が出席。新型コロナウイルス感染拡大を受け、例年より規模を縮小し、一般参加者がいない中での開催となった。
　島根県の丸山達也知事は式典で、韓国警察庁長官の竹島上陸などの動きを挙げ、「政府においては引き続き、毅然（きぜん）とした姿勢で対応するよう強く望む」と求めた。（2022/02/22-16:57）

The Shimane prefectural government on Tuesday held the 17th ceremony to mark Takeshima Day, designated by a prefectural ordinance, with a central government official attending the event for the 10th consecutive year.
   The annual ceremony for the islands of Takeshima in Shimane, western Japan, is designed to assert Japan's sovereignty over the Sea of Japan islands, effectively controlled by South Korea, where the islands are called Dokdo.
   This year, Hiroo Kotera, parliamentary vice minister at Japan's Cabinet Office, joined the event held in the Shimane capital of Matsue, along with some 80 other people. Among the participants were Shimane Governor Tatsuya Maruyama, former internal affairs minister Yoshitaka Shindo, lawmakers elected from Shimane and members of the Shimane prefectural assembly.
   In response to the spread of the novel coronavirus, the ceremony was held on a smaller scale compared with previous years and there were no participants from the general public.
   The participation in the ceremony by a high-ranking Japanese national government official for the 10th year in a row is expected to provoke a backlash from South Korea.