Message on the 50th Anniversary of the Japan Foundation Awards

My sincere congratulations on the 50th anniversary of the Japan Foundation Awards. When we received the Japan Foundation Award for Japanese Language in fiscal 2011, I was the Head of the Department of Japanese and Japanese Literature in the Faculty of Arts at Cairo University, and I am thrilled to be sending you this celebratory message now as their representative.

In 2011, I visited Japan to attend the Japan Foundation Awards ceremony and other relevant events, and during those three days, I had the opportunity to engage in international cultural exchange. Even now, I am still in contact with many of the people I befriended back then. I am very grateful to everyone from the Foundation for giving me such a valuable lifetime experience.

At the Japan Foundation, Cairo, where I expressed my thanks after returning to Egypt, staff from the Department of Japanese and Japanese Literature renewed their conviction to do their very best for Japanese-language education in Egypt.

After I returned to Egypt, the reaction to the Japan Foundation Award within Cairo University was huge. It was announced on the university’s website in Arabic as big news.

Receiving the award was the catalyst for an increased desire to learn about research on Japanese-language and Japanese-literature education in the Middle East and Egypt. After that, for the 35th and 40th anniversaries of the founding of our Department in Cairo University, we proactively held academic and cultural activities, including a “Symposium on Japanese Studies in Egypt” and a speech contest. On top of this, in fiscal 2013, a new Department of Japanese Language was established in Aswan University, a regional university, thanks to the efforts of a number of graduates with degrees from the Department of Japanese in Cairo University. The unexpected Japan Foundation Award received in 2011 was an immense encouragement to all Egyptians and Arabs aspiring to research Japanese and Japanese literature. Even now, a lot of graduates are active in the fields of Japanese-language education and research on Japanese literature.

I am still responsible for providing guidance as a university professor, not just to students of Cairo University, but also to graduate students of Ain Shams University, and I hope to contribute to the education of many more human resources in the future.

I celebrate and extend my heartfelt thanks on this 50th anniversary, and pray for the success of your continued activities.

Karam Khalil
Professor Emeritus,
Former Head of the Department,
Department of Japanese and Japanese Literature,
Faculty of Arts,
Cairo University

(Original text in Japanese)

The Japan Foundation Awards (2011)