On October 7 of this year, in the Round Hall of RA NAS Presidency sessions, “Armenia-Japan. PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE PROSPECTS” international conference has been held. It is dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Armenia and Japan.
The organizers of the conference were the Institute of Oriental Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia and the “Armenia-Nipon” Armenian-Japanese Scientific and Cultural Union NGO.
Academician-Secretary of the Department of Armenian Studies and Social Sciences of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia Yuri Suvaryan delivered an introductory speech at the plenary session of the conference..
Robert Ghazaryan, director of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia, delivered his welcome speech.
At the plenary session, Suren Baghdasaryan, Head of the Asia and Pacific Department of the RA MFA, made a speech of welcome.
The ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Armenia Masanori Fukushima welcomed the participants and delivered a bilingual speech.
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Professor Ruben Karapetyan, who made a great contribution to the establishment of Armenian–Japanese diplomatic relations, the creation of the Department for Emergency Situations of East Asian Countries (now-International Relations), delivered a speech NAN RA.
The founding Chairman of the Japan-Armenia Friendship Association, founding editor of the Araks and Ararat newspapers in Japan Hideharu Nakajima also delivered a welcoming speech (online).
Anna Vardanya co-organizer of the conference, Chairman of the Armenian-Japanese Scientific and Cultural Union “Arumenia-Nipon”, Candidate of Technical Sciences, International Affairs specialist and Extraordinary Envoy and Plenipotentiary Minister of the Republic of Armenia in Russia, in Japan in 2010-2012. Chargé d’affaires of the RA, honorary president of the Armenian-Japanese Scientific and Cultural Union “Armenia-Japan” Arsen Arakelyan/online/. delivered a speeches.
The Scientific Secretary of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia Eva Harutyunyan welcomed the participants and invited everyone to watch a video dedicated to the Armenian–Japanese relations.
At the end of the plenary session, certificates of appreciation were presented to a number of figures who contributed to the development and strengthening of Armenian-Japanese relations.
The scientific part of the conference consisted of two sessions, where Armenian specialists from various scientific and educational centers of Armenia, well-known scientists and researchers from Australian and Japanese universities made speeches.
In the first session, the speeches were about the activities of Eichi Shibusawa, who loves Armenia. A sociological study by a Japanese scientist Matsui Shinnosuke about the creation and survival of Armenian schools in France. Comparative analysis of the activities of the Japan International Cooperation Agency in Armenia and Azerbaijan. On the problems of improving the Earthquake insurance system on the example of Japan in Armenia. Covering the visit of Japanese journalists to Kirovabad prison during Operation “Ring(oghak)” (based on archival documents).
In the second session, the speeches were about Armenian-Japanese connections in fine arts, linguistic-cultural, linguistic similarities and features in Armenian and Japanese, and also Japanese, British and Armenian proverbs were presented as a reflection of cultural identity.
All participants of the conference were given the 5th volume of the “East Asian Studies” collection, where the speeches of the conference were printed in the form of scientific articles.
The conference also has a cultural component: the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia demonstrated books on Armenian-Japanese relations, Japan over the past 30 years, as well as materials prepared by the students of the Armenian-Japanese “Hikari” Scientific Center.
The conference once again revalued and redefined Armenian-Japanese friendly relations, as well as the need to strengthen and develop bilateral relations in scientific, cultural, diplomatic, historical, diplomatic and economic fields.
Author: H. Muradyan