Japan is your friend

そして皆様の前で、日本は現在もそしてこれからも友人であり続けることをお誓いいたします。

And in front of you, I pledge that Japan is and will continue to be your friend. In Japanese language there are several words for “friend-like” types of relationship. Although all of them can be translated as “friend” they hold some quite different meaning. 友達 tomodachi – friend, tout court; 親友 (shinyu) – close friend, buddy; 仲間 nakama – company, fellow, colleague, comrade, mate, member of the same group; 友人yuujin – friend (more formal than friend); 盟友 (meiyuu) - allied friend,… This can be a proof bearing on Japanese patterns of interpersonal relations.