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Japan-Egypt Relations
(as of July 2005) Japan-Egypt Cultural Relations
In term of cultural policies of Japan, Egypt is considered one of
the Middle East’s main countries. Therefore cultural exchange
between Egypt and Japan covers a wide range of activities such as
individual exchange in various fields, holding lectures and
exhibitions, extending cultural grants, and providing postgraduate
scholarships, known as Monbukagakusho scholarships, for
researchers to study in Japan at the expense of the Japanese
Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Technology.
Traditionally, the Egyptians have friendly close relations with
Japan and respect the Japanese.
The Japanese Cultural Center in Egypt (now the Information and
Culture Center) was inaugurated in 1965 and in 1995 the first
office of the Japan Foundation in the Middle East and Africa was
established in Cairo, to serve, together with the Embassy’s
Information and Culture Center, as an outlet to introduce the
Japanese culture to Egyptians and to foreign residents in Egypt.
To perform this function, the Center currently offers courses for
ordinary Egyptians in the Japanese language, flower arrangement
and the tea ceremony and regularly screens good-quality Japanese
films. In addition, the Center’s library offers readers a big
collection of Japanese books, newspapers, magazines and
periodicals, most of which in are either English or Arabic.
Many major cultural events have been organized, such as the
opening ceremony in 1988 for the National Educational Center
(Cairo Opera House), financed by a Japanese grant. There was also
the introduction of Japanese culture in various fields held in
1994 under the title of “Japan Week”. In 2000 “The Year of Egypt
in Japan” was celebrated featuring, among others, an exhibition of
Egyptian antiquities. In June 2000 “Japan Cultural Week in Egypt”
was held in Cairo. Their Imperial Highness Prince and Princess
Takamado attended the opening ceremony and the first Gagaku
performance in the Middle East was held during that week. From
September 2001 to March 2002, “Japan Festival 2001” was held as a
comprehensive event introducing the culture of Japan. In September
2003, the Japan-Middle East Cultural Exchange and Dialogue Mission
held a symposium at Cairo University and had talks with
intellectuals in Egypt.
Exchange is also seen in the field of sports. In the late 1970s
experts in Judo and Karate were dispatched from Japan,
establishing these two Japanese traditional martial arts in Egypt.
In October 1998, the Egyptian Soccer National Team visited Japan.
In March 2003 the Japanese Soccer Youth Team visited Egypt, with
friendly matches being held.
In September 2005, 24th World Judo Championship will be held in
Cairo. Not only Japanese delegation but also from all over the
world distinguished Judo players are expected to gather to have
hot competitions.
In 1974 the Department of Japanese Language and Literature was
opened in the Faculty of Arts, Cairo University and it has been a
landmark in the relations between Egypt and Japan in terms of
educational exchange and the spreading of the Japanese language in
Egypt, through its graduates who are specialists in the Japanese
language and culture. In September 2000, the Department of
Japanese Language was opened in the Faculty of Languages, Ain
Shams University and Japanese-language courses have even been
organized at many other universities in Egypt. This comes as no
surprise as many Egyptians want to learn Japanese, because Egypt
is one of the countries which attract many Japanese tourists.
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