On October 4, Ambassador Maeda attended the inaugural ceremony of the “Flag Plaza” that was initiated by Qatar Museums, under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Emir of the State of Qatar, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the “Years of Culture” initiative.
The Flag Plaza is a community park where flags of 119 countries that have embassies in Qatar, the United Nations, the European Union, and the Gulf Cooperation Council are hoisted.
The ceremony was held in the presence of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs H.E. Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, Qatar Museums Chairperson H.E. Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and many other Ambassadors.
Right after the inauguration, the flag plaza staged many dances and music shows from various countries on daily basis to showcase the fascinating culture of each country. And on October 7, for the Japanese show, students of the Japan School of Doha performed the famous Soran traditional dance and “Wadaiko” drum performance both of which were well received by the audience.
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| Opening event at Flag Plaza |
All the flags were hoisted all together |
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| Information panel about Japan |
Wa-daiko performance by Japanese students |
The Embassy of Japan organized a Japanese Cultural Event at Qatar Foundation–Multaqa building on May 19. The event highlighted many aspects of the Japanese culture and traditions such as the origami art of paper folding, the traditional toys known as kendama, the kimono try-outs, in addition to the calligraphy name writing activity which was a hit between the visitors.
The crowd was also fascinated with the Japanese food samples and traditional dolls that were displayed at the event. Furthermore, many visitors were thrilled to see the Karate demonstration which was presented by members of Al-Sayeh Club and lined up to take photos with their favorite anime characters that was part of the cosplay by Q-Cosplay. The event spurred interest in Japan between the audience who expressed their wish to visit Japan in the near future.
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| Children trying origami |
Samurai armor/helmet and traditional dolls were on display |
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| Many people tried Kimono at photo booth |
Attendees challenging Kendama |
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| Karate demonstration |
Cosplayers posing |
Ambassador Satoshi Maeda visited Abdulla bin Ali Al Misnad Independent School for boys and Al-Dhakhira Elementary school for boys in order to deliver pictures and calligraphies drawn and written by pupils in Asa town, Hiroshima city, Japan. Mr. Isao Suzuki, Managing Director of Doha Office of Marubeni Corporation, who has been supporting the activities of the Qatar Association in Asa community was also present. At the Al-Dhakhira school, Ms. Shaikha Al-Mansouri, Head of Supervising and Support, Mr. Hamad Ali, Head of Communication and Media from the Ministry of Education and Higher Education and Mr. Abdulla Al-Muraikhi, Member of Al-Khor Municipal Council, Mr. Ali Mohamed Al-Mohannadi, Member of Al-Thakhira Municipal Council were also invited to witness the event.
Asa town in Japan and Qatar have historical links. When the “12th Asian Games” was held in Hiroshima in 1994, Hiroshima carried out “one-town-one country support” project. It was decided at that time that Asa town would support the Qatari team. This relationship did not end with the Asian Games. The “Qatar Association in Asa" was established in July 1996 with the aim of maintaining friendship with the State of Qatar. The Asa community visited Qatar three times by far. Each time, the Asa community has come with pictures and calligraphies drawn and written by pupils from schools in Asa town. This year, in particular, as part of the official project to commemorate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Japan and Qatar, Qatar Children's Painting Exhibition and Qatar Museum were held in Asa City.
Qatar three times by far. Each time, the Asa community has come with pictures and calligraphies drawn and written by pupils from schools in Asa town. This year, in particular, as part of the official project to commemorate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Japan and Qatar, Qatar Children's Painting Exhibition and Qatar Museum were held in Asa City.
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| Group photo at Abdulla bin Ali Al Misnad Independent School for boys |
Ambassador Maeda(left), Mr. Ibrahim Hamad Al-Mohannadi, Principal(center) |
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| Invitees with pictures sent from Asa |
Group photo with children of Al-Dhakhira Elementary School for Boys |
On March 24, 2022, The event of "Contribution of Educational Toy and Seminar to Early Childhood Center (ECC) at Qatar University" was hosted by LNG JAPAN CORPORATION as a part of the commemorative Event 50th Anniversary of the Establishment of Diplomatic Relationships between Japan and Qatar.
At the opening ceremony, LNG JAPAN CORPORATION presented the toys to ECC and the Japanese participants received plaque-shaped commemorative gifts in return.
Afterwards, Mr. Atsushi Fujita, President of Japan Association of Toy for Education held online workshops which he gave a lecture on how to play with educational toys (multiple types of building blocks) for children and a lecture for early childhood educators: How to give toys that nurture creativity, which was well received.
Ambassador Satoshi Maeda and Mrs. Maeda attended the opening ceremony and observed a workshop for children.
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| Ambassador and Mrs. Maeda (center), Mr. Hiroshi Kawahara, Chairman of LNG JAPAN CORPORATION. (center right), Mr.Kenichi Ushio, Chief Operating Officer, (third from right), Mr.Mitsuo Mizuno, Doha Office General Manager (second from right), Mr.Taro Fukuchi, Doha Office Senior Manager (first right), Dr. Eiman Mustafawi, Vice President for Student Affairs (center left) , Prof.Maryam Al-Falashi, Director of the Early Childhood Education Center (second from left), Amna Al-Megesheeb, Assisting Director of Early Childhood Center (first left) |
Six educational toys were introduced in the workshop. |
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| The online workshop for children connecting Japan and Qatar . |
The children playing with educational toys in the workshop |
On March 12, the Embassy of Japan in Qatar and the Japanese Language Teachers Association in Qatar (JALTAQ) organized the 13th Qatar Japanese Speech Contest at the premises of the Embassy of Japan for the first time. The speech contest was held this year after a long hiatus caused by the spread of Corona Virus as it was canceled once and postponed another over the past two years. A total of 14 participants, from beginner to advanced levels, took to the stage to showcase the outcome of their efforts in Japanese learning through texts’ recitations and free speeches. This year, the competition witnessed an unprecedented turnout in terms of the number of self-learning applicants, in addition to the great diversity in the background of the contestants of all ages.
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| Ambassador Maeda delivering his opening remarks |
A contestant while giving his speech |
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| Judging Panel |
Applicants of various ages participated this year |
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| Group photo |
On February 24, 2022, upon his visit to Old Airport Park, Ambassador Maeda participated to plant a tree along with Mr. Muhammad Ibrahim Al-Sada, Assistant Director of the Public Parks Department, Ministry of Municipality, in the ongoing one million tree-planting campaign, which was launched on the sidelines of Qatar’s First International Environmental Exhibition in March 2019. The participation came as part of supporting Qatar’s efforts to combat climate change and promote environmental sustainability. Mr. Shiotsuki, the chairman of the Japanese Society in Doha, was also present on the day of the event and participated in the tree planting.
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| Ambassador Maeda (Left), Mr. Muhammad Ibrahim Al-Sada (right) |
The Embassy of Japan set up a booth at the 31st Doha International Book Fair that took place at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Center (DECC) from January 13 to 22, 2022. Although the number of visitors and time slots for visiting were restricted due to the COVID-19 situation, many students and families visited the Japanese booth showing strong interest in the variety of books that was showcased including the Japanese language textbooks, manga, tourism, traditional culture, Japanese gardens, architecture, etc. At the same time, activities such as the calligraphy-sessions, origami classes, and kimono face-off boards were very popular.
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| Writing names in calligraphy was extremely popular |
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| Ambassador Maeda (right) visiting the booth |
