[Japan]: Email to Sovereign Order of Malta

[Zak]

OFFICE OF THE DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER​

PRIVATE AND CLASSIFIED​

Recipient: Arthur Sinclair, Grand Master, Sovereign Order of Malta I am contacting the government of the Sovereign Order of Malta on behalf of the State of Japan. It is my hope that with this message we may continue the positive ties that our countries have shared under previous governments. During the last two years of World War I, Japan played an important role in securing the sea lanes. Fourteen destroyers on anti-submarine convoy escort duty and their flagship cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy made Malta their homeport, but unfortunately, a Kaba-class destroyer Sakaki was torpedoed by the Austrian submarine U-27 and 68 crews lost their lives on June 11, 1917. Afterwards, they were buried in Kalkara, Malta. On September 21, 1964, the State of Malta, whose successor state is the modern-day Republic of Malta, was independent from the United Kingdom. In the next year, 1965, Japan established formal diplomatic relations with Malta. I would like to visit Valletta and meet with members of the new Sovereign Order of Malta. ___________________________ Tarō Asō Deputy Prime Minister of the State of Japan​

 

[Odinson]

SOVEREIGN ORDER OF MALTA
OFFICE OF THE GRAND MASTER
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________​

SUBJECT Current Events of Malta
RECIPIENT Tarō Asō, Deputy Prime Minister ( @Zak )
SENDER Arthur Sinclair, Lieutenant Grand Master of The Sovereign Order of Malta
SECURITY ENCRYPTED


Your Excellency,

It is a great surprise to receive this message from you. The Order and I would be honored to host you here in Valletta. The State of Japan is only the second Asian nation that the Order has made contact with since the end of the recent troubles.

As I'm sure you know, the Republic of Malta has gone through a few years of intense political strife with the resignation of multiple Prime Ministers and corruption charges brought against countless government officials. Malta recently witnessed the murder of the late President, the resignation of the most recent Labor Prime Minister, and an almost total collapse of faith in the government. The Sovereign Order of Malta was invited to form a transitional government along with what remained of the Republic's government. We are currently working on forming a new government here in Malta, which will be led by the Order. For now, we are working on establishing relations with other countries around the world, which is why I am delighted to hear from the State of Japan.

It would be a great honor to host you here in Malta, where we can hopefully discuss the state of relations between our governments, among other things. I very much look forward to meeting you, and I hope that we can build a strong bond between our nations. Perhaps, if you wish, we could visit Kalkara Naval Cemetery where those brave Japanese service-members were buried.

Respectfully,

Arthur Sinclair
Lieutenant Grand Master

 

[Zak]

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With the details of the visit planned, the details would be passed over to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department VIP Protection Division who would begin to plan out the security arrangements surrounding the visit and would coordinate with the law enforcement agencies in Malta about the necessary details about the visits.

Under the cover of darkness, the Deputy Prime Minister arrived at Yokota Air Base where a fully crewed and stocked All Nippon Airways Boeing 767-200 had been chartered out to ferry the Deputy Prime Minister to the European country of Malta, the Deputy Prime Minister was not alone though as he was joined by the Emperor which was a very rare occasion for the Emperor to be joining a government official on a foreign visit. The flight would be filled by the Deputy Prime Minister, the Emperor, and agents from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department VIP Protection Division whereas the flight crew and cabin crew would be members of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force, the flight was expected to land in Malta at around 09:30am local time.

 

[Odinson]

To say that the message from the Japanese Deputy Prime Minister was surprising to the Order would be an understatement - it was stunning. Of the Asian nations on the Priory of Foreign Affair's list, India and Japan were the two nations that the Order hoped to build the strongest relationships with. Now that the State of Japan had contacted the Order, the organization was well on its way to establishing itself as an unequivocally sovereign entity. Japan, due mostly to its legitimacy as an ancient nation and culture, was a highly valued potential partner.

This visit by the Japanese Deputy Prime Minister, while not that of a head of state or even head of government, would be the first visit of a foreign dignitary to the Order since it became a part of the transitional government in Malta. The Order's lack of activity in most of Asia meant that the preparations for the arrival of the Japanese government required even more attention. Luckily, members of the former republican government were more than willing to lend a helping hand. Preparations were made so that the appropriate Japanese diplomatic protocol was understood by the parties that would be interacting with the Japanese delegation. Things from who sits first at a table - which is surprisingly not the most senior person, but actually who is the oldest (or more simply, who has the most grey in their hair) - to how a formal meeting is conducted where junior members cannot just speak out, but must instead pass their comments to their superiors. This was a bit of a culture-shock for an order of knights who consider each other equals, despite their hierarchies, however most of those in the higher ranks of the Order were able to adapt and understand these cultural differences.

The major fascists of the Order, from the Grand Offices to the most exclusive entities of the Military Corps, were at Malta's international airport to represent the Order and serve as an honor guard to the Japanese. The flight schedules of civil aircraft were redirected, or grounded, so that the Japanese would be able to approach without the need to delay their landing. Lining the runway were hundreds of knights in their formal military uniforms, rendering a salute as the aircraft as it landed.

In respective order of their seniority in the Order, the following were aligned: the (Lieutenant) Grand Master, Arthur Sinclair; the Grand Commander, Jonathan Denaro; the Grand Hospitaller, Marcellino Lombardi; the Reciever of The Common Treasure, Chritsopher Vasco; and the Prior of Foreign Affairs, Xaiver Azzopardi were waiting at a red carpet where the Japanese aircraft was expected to stop. The Grand Chancellor, Silas Delacroix, was still in London meeting with British officials. His right hand man, the Prior of Foreign Affairs, took his place. All of them were in their formal uniforms. The Sovereign Guard, who were the most elite members of the Order's armed forces, were standing guard with weapons, in their formal uniforms. They were responsible for keeping the public, and the press, at a reasonable distance. Because the Sovereign Order of Malta was a military order, even the Grand Officers stood at attention as the Japanese begun to descend to the tarmac. Standing right next to the red carpet was, of course, the Grand Master who was expecting to see the Deputy Prime Minister as the most important individual on the visit.

@Zak

 

[Zak]

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The atmosphere on board the aircraft was quiet as many of the staff had just woken up for the landing into Malta International Airport, the two Japan Air Self-Defense Force pilots in command of the aircraft had spent the flight studying charts and maps of the island in order to prepare for the landing at the only airport on the island. With the aircraft on final approach, they would presumably have received landing clearance from the air traffic controllers at the airport and typical of the spot-on Japanese punctuality - it was bang on 09:30am as predicted by the flight crew who taxied off the runway with the assistance of the air traffic controllers to the assigned spot where a staircase would be attached to the aircraft and the doors opened by the experienced cabin crew members.

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Deputy Prime Minister Asō appeared at the top of the stairs and waved to any awaiting press and proceeded down the air stairs towards the awaiting officials and introduced himself to the Maltese officials.

"Good morning, it's wonderful to be here in your beautiful country. I do have a surprise for you that joined us before we took off."

He turned around and pointed towards the aircraft door and out of nowhere, Emperor Akihito appeared at the door of the aircraft and due to his old age, he would be helped down the the stairs by a member of the cabin crew.

​

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Emperor Akihito took the time to inspect the honour guard set out by the Maltese order and took a fine look at their uniforms before nodding his head before moving over to where the awaiting officials and smiled as he approached the Japanese Deputy Prime Minister before introducing himself to the Maltese politicians that had turned up to greet the Japanese delegation.

 

[Odinson]

Arthur greeted the Deputy Prime Minister but was curious when he noted that he had a surprise-person traveled along with him. Arthur didn't exactly have the face of all foreign monarchs memorized, but he had a strong assumption of who it was. Arthur leaned over to the Prior of Foreign Affairs, but before he could say anything to him, the man whispered in Maltese, "Yes, that's who you think it is."

The Prior of Foreign Affairs began sweating heavily, because they weren't exactly prepared for the visit of a foreign head of state, let alone the most senior-ranked monarch on the planet. They watched as the Emperor expected the honor guard, and slowly made his way over to the Grand Officers and Foreign Prior. Arthur bowed generously to the Emperor, which prompted the other Grand Officers and Maltese officials in the general area to do so as well.

"Your Majesty," Arthur said mid-bow, "it's a great honor to have you join us in Malta."

Off in the distance, the press could see that something unplanned was happening, but they couldn't exactly tell what.

"We were going to start off the visit by passing by the Kalkara Naval Cemetery, where a number of Japanese service-men are buried. We thought that we could have a short wreath-laying ceremony at the cemetery, before returning to Valletta for discussions, perhaps. Would that still be acceptable?" Arthur asked.

If the Japanese delegation, and more important the Emperor, were okay with this then a motorcade would make their way to the cemetery which wasn't that far from the capital itself. Very quietly, the entire Sovereign Guard was activated and deployed to various spots on the island, from the Kalkara Naval Cemetery to Valletta to various spots on the way to ensure that they traveled safely. Hundreds of off-duty Civil Guards were also brought into service and ordered to close roads and secure buildings that they would be using. Major roads in Valletta, to the dismay of civilians, were to be unexpectedly closed now. An order was also quickly given to close Maltese airspace over the entire northern half of the island, so that there would be no threat from the sky. Knights in the Special Diving Company were also in Valletta Harbor, which would be temporarily closed, to ensure that there were no unidentified water threats. The knights did everything they could, in the short notice they had, to make sure that the Emperor and the rest of the diplomatic group was safe for the duration of their visit.

The motorcade went to the cemetery, which had been closed to the public as well by this point, so that they could conduct the wreath-laying ceremony in peace. The cars drove as close as possible to where the Japanese graves were located, that way the Emperor wouldn't have far to walk. Luckily, it was only about fifteen or so steps. The crisp morning air briskly blew through the deserted cemetery, except for a few photographers who were commissioned to be there by the Order and take pictures for posterity's sake.

The Archbishop of Malta - the highest-ranking religious figure on the island - said a small prayer and a few words of comfort for the dead, who had been buried there many decades ago. Then, Arthur and the Emperor (or the Deputy Prime Minister, if they preferred) would lay the wreath at the site before the graves of over sixty Japanese. There was a brief moment of silence before they returned to their vehicles and made their way back to Valletta.

This detour to the cemetery actually gave time to the Civil Guard and Sovereign Guard to harden the city, and close important roads. Snipers were atop the roofs of some of the tallest buildings in the city, ready to respond to any threat. Their meeting would take place in the Order's former embassy to the Republic of Malta, which was actually a part of the ancient fortifications of the city.

They were guided inside through a series of ancient stone hallways to a secluded meeting room with comfortable chairs, a large wooden table, and some refreshments that had already been brought inside. A number of butlers were patiently waiting in the room. Once everyone had taken their places at the table, Arthur allowed the Emperor to take his seat first since he was the most senior person in the room. He then followed afterwards and sat down for the private meeting.

"Thank you very much for joining us here today, Your Majesty. It is a great surprise and honor, that is sure to be remembered for decades to come. Your presence is an incredible show of goodwill to the Order. Gentlemen, if you would like any refreshments of any kind, we would be happy to bring them now."

This the butlers did, bringing anything to eat or drink that the Japanese or Maltese wished to have. Once the refreshments were served, Arthur spoke up again, "The first item on our agenda would be negotiating the recognition of the Sovereign Order of Malta by the State of Japan. The other Grand Officers and I believe that this could most easily be done by having Japan open an embassy here in Valletta, and allowing the Order to establish an embassy in Tokyo. Do you think this would be acceptable?" Arthur was trying not to be rude to the Emperor, but knew that the Deputy Prime Minister was likely the one to actually be discussing politics. So he gave his attention to both men as he spoke.

@Zak

 

[Odinson]

@Zak