UJ News - Her Royal Highness Princess Raiyah Bint Al-Hussein on Wednesday patronized the inaugural of a series of virtual seminars highlighting Japan's development and modernization drive over the years.

The seminars, organized by the School of Foreign Languages at the University of Jordan (UJ) in cooperation with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), aimed to shed light on the contemporary history of Japan, and to introduce students to Japan's renaissance and development.

In an opening speech, Princess Raiyah expressed delighted on being involved in this collaboration between JICA and UJ and on being part of the continued building of cultural connections between Jordan and Japan.

 

She expressed her admiration for Japan's efforts to preserve its values and culture during its march toward modernity, saying: "Adaptation of foreign influence – adjusting it and shaping it to fit naturally within the native culture so it becomes part of a uniquely Japanese whole and is no longer foreign at all – is something Japan has been doing, and doing well, for centuries."

JICA President Shinichi Kitaoka stressed that Jordan is a key partner to Japan and said cooperation between the Kingdom and JICA dates back to 1974. He indicated that his country managed to achieve development without losing its traditions and culture.

 

UJ President Prof. Abdul-Karim Qudah said: "The renaissance that Japan witnessed makes the country an example to be emulated on various levels," stressing that the University is keen to benefit from the Japanese culture by teaching the Japanese language to its students.

The first seminar, which incorporated a lecture entitled " Meiji Revolution: Start of Full-Scale Modernization" by Dr. Kitaoka, staged the historical events that affected Japan from the beginning of the "Edo period" in 1603 until the end of the "Meiji Revolution", in the beginning of the twentieth century.

In her remarks, Jordan's ambassador to Japan, Lina Annab, said many lessons can be learned from Japan's experience, most notably the importance of having political will to achieve a difference and the importance of knowledge transfer and the ability to learn from the other experiences.

 

The second seminar will be held next Wednesday, November 25th, under the title “Economic Growth and Japanese Management,” while the third seminar will take place on the role of "Educational Development in Modernization in Japan" on December 2nd.