A farewell in fluent Greek

Takaaki Nemoto, deputy head of Japan's embassy in Athens, has completed a four-year posting in Greece. Shortly before leaving for Japan, he published a farewell message on Instagram, speaking fluent Greek and thanking Greek friends and colleagues for their warmth. In the message he said the time had come to leave after four years of service at the embassy.

“It is time for me to leave Greece after 4 years of service at the Embassy.”

He said many Greek friends and colleagues had received him warmly, and he thanked them for their kindness, courtesy and hospitality.

Cavafy's lines and a successor

Nemoto closed his message with lines from the poem Apolipein ho Theos Antonion by Constantine Cavafy, a passage about bidding farewell to a departing Alexandria. He wrote that he was ready for a long time and brave enough to leave. Ending his message, he said the verses were engraved on his heart as he returned to Japan.

“With Cavafy's verses engraved on my heart, I return to my homeland, Japan.”

He also introduced his successor, Yokio Maetzima, whom he described as an excellent and courteous colleague with a deep knowledge of Greek. He asked Greeks to give her the same support and trust they had given him during his posting.

Context of the message

The farewell came while public debate over the departure of US ambassador Kimberly Guilfoyle was still continuing in Greece. Several Greek outlets published reports of Nemoto's message on 17 October 2026, and one contrasted it with the controversy surrounding the ambassador's removal.

His closing words were brief, and he avoided any formal statement on bilateral matters beyond stressing the friendship between Greece and Japan.

“Be well, all of you, until we meet again. Thank you very much.”