Friends of Japan come together

GARY CARDINEZ

MEMBERS of the diplomatic corp, international organisations, government, business, the arts, sports and media came together at the official residence of the Japanese ambassador on Phillip Maxwell Street, St Clair, to support friends of Japan last Friday.

Ambassador Tatsuo Hirayama and his wife Sachiko Hirayama held a reception for the Networking of the Friends of Japan.

In his address Hirayama told the gathering, “I thought it might be a good idea to get together with those who have been connected with Japan in some way or another and to do some networking.

“This is therefore an informal gathering which is also intended to be inclusive as I know there may be more person who are eligible to join us. I plan to keep this group open and growing from now on so that our linkages will create an important platform to advance Japan TT relations and exchanges.

“Because of the physical distance between us, your presence in this country as friends of Japan does matter a great deal. In the same way Trinidad and Tobago expatriates in Japan are playing an important role there.”

This year TT and Japan celebrate the 55th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations and also the 40th anniversary of the opening of the Japanese Embassy in Port of Spain.

Laurence Inniss, president of the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Alumni Association also brought greetings.

Guests were treated to a little Japanese culture with a dance by students from the University of the West Indies Centre of Language Learning Japanese classes who did a Yosakoi dance which is done for Matsuri (festival). Guests were also entertained by an array of Japanese food.