November 10, 2015:
It was an honor and pleasure for His Excellency Ambassador Dr. Sayed Mohammad Amin Fatimie to attend the book launching reception for “History and Heritage of the Kudan the Official Residence of the Philippine Ambassador to Japan” held at the residence of H.E. Mr. Manuel M. Lopez, Philippine Ambassador.
As the Afghan mission chief to the Republic of Philippines, H.E. Ambassador Dr. Fatimie extended, on behalf of the people and the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, his congratulations to H.E. Ambassador Mr. Lopez, and gratitude for the invitation to the event, as well as their support to and friendly relationship with Afghanistan. H.E. Ambassador also had a pleasure of communicating with former Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Hirotaka Ishihara, and Their Excellencies Ambassadors of other countries attended the event, to further deepen the amicable connections with other countries.
November 10, 2015:
Artifacts stored at the National Museum, Kabul in Afghanistan have been on the world tour, and they are to be exhibited in Japan next year. The exhibition starts on January 1st, 2016 at Kyushu National Museum in Fukuoka until February 14th. Then from April 12th to June 19th, Tokyo National Museum will hold the exhibition titled “Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul.”
The ancient artifacts, once believed to be lost forever due to the chaotic state of conflicts, had been hidden by the courageous National Museum staffs. They were “re-discovered” in 2004, after the establishment of the current Afghan government. Such artifacts and some of those had been kept in Japan in order to maintain the collection will reunite for the exhibition in Fukuoka and Tokyo next year, and eventually will be returned to their mother home, Afghanistan.
To widely publicize such a rare and precious occasion to enhance fully of the relationship and friendship between Afghanistan and Japan, a press conference was held at the Embassy of Afghanistan in Japan, organized by the sponsors of the exhibition tour, Fuji Television and Sankei Shimbun. The press conference was opened by His Excellency Ambassador Dr. Sayed Mohammad Amin Fatimie’s remarks that it is such a great opportunity to display that prove Afghanistan’s rich cultural and historical background.
Following H.E. Ambassador Dr. Fatimie, Mr. Masami Zeniya, Executive Director of Tokyo National Museum, made a remark by thanking all the sponsors and supporters of the upcoming event possible to happen in Japan, and introduced how attractive the collections that the cultural history of Afghanistan -crossroad of Silk Road- reflects even after 4000 years since their creation.
After the demonstration of video footage briefly explaining the fate of “Hidden Treasures” what they have been through, Mr. Yoichi Inoue, Director of Curational Planning of Tokyo National Museum, briefed the attended media the overview of the artifacts planned to be displayed at the exhibition based on 4 excavation sites.
(Photo credit: Exhibition’s facebook page, see link below)
Mr. Ryohei Suzuki, one of the most emerging, well-known and talented Japanese actor, was assigned to be a “Special Navigator” –an icon to represent the event on the media. He will also be the narrator of the listening guide device at the exhibition museums. Based on his knowledge as a holder of the class-A World Heritage Exam certification, he expressed his excitement and willingness to widely spread the news and background story of the “Hidden Treasures” of Afghanistan.
Before closing, H.E. Dr. Fatimie made an additional remark regarding the realization of the event, and expressed his deep gratitude to all supporters and contributors, namely the Honorable Mr. and Mrs. Matsunami of Japan-Afghanistan Friendship Association who were in attendance. The time dates back to 2012, when Tokyo Conference for Afghanistan was held in Japan, the Honorable Mr. Kenshiro Matsunami spoke with then-president of Afghanistan H.E. Hamid Karzai that the exhibition of the “Hidden Treasures” be held in Japan. After the instruction from H.E. then-president Karzai to H.E. Ambassador Dr. Fatimie at that time, once what seemed like a dream idea, becoming the actual event in 2016. Therefore His Excellency expressed his deep appreciation and gratefulness for all those dedicated to this event happening for further solidifying the friendship of Afghanistan and Japan. The remark was received by a room full of applause by attendees of distinguished guests and media staffers, in addition to the embassy staffs.
The conference was attended by nearly 150 media personels and journalists, including TV coverage. The news were reported subsequently on multiple articles all over Japan. The event came to a closure with a fruitful publication, then the entire visitors enjoyed Afghan cuisine prepared and served by the embassy.
Prior to the press conference, H.E. Ambassador Dr. Fatimie had a pleasure of communicating with the key guests and participants including the executives of Fuji/Sankei group at His Excellency’s office.
For the detail of the Special Exhibition “Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul” in Japan (Fukuoka and Tokyo) please refer to the following links:
Exhibition's Official website (Japaneese)
Tokyo National Museum (English/Japanese)
Fuji Television (Japanese)
Exhibition facebook page (Japanese)
November 09, 2015:
It was an immense pleasure and honor for His Excellency Ambassador Dr. Fatimie and the entire embassy to receive the Honorable Mr. Masaaki Takei, Mayor of Minato-ku, of which the embassy locates in Tokyo, along with his delegation. The Honorable Mayor Mr. Takei visited the embassy to deliver the donation collected by Minato City and Minato City Assembly, and to express their deep condolences and encouragement for the victims of the reportedly Magnitude 7.5 earthquake that shook Afghanistan and the region on October 26th. The Honorable Mayor Takei said that Japan has been prone to be affected by natural disasters therefore he sympathizes Afghanistan the casualty from the natural disaster. H.E. Ambassador Dr. Fatimie expressed his heartfelt and sincerest appreciation for the Mayor's visit for the condolence message, as well as to the accompanying delegation visited the embassy for their great kindness. Citing the Japan's continuous assistance to Afghanistan over the decade in addition to the support this time, Afghan people will never forget Japanese friendship during Afghan's hardship, because Afghanistan and Japan are true friends, H.E. Ambassador added.
The Honorable Minato City Mayor Mr. Takei also expressed his appreciation to H.E. Ambassdor Dr. Fatimie and the embassy for attending Minato City Festival held on Oct. 10-11, for H.E. Ambassaor's speech regarding the importance of peace, following the participation to the discussion session with the university students, and opening the embassy booth during the festival. The Honorable Mr. Takei expressed his gratitude that the festival was done so successful due to one of the main event, speech delivered by H.E. Ambassador and the participation of the Afghan embassy regarding peace, and those were highly appreciated by visitors. H.E. Dr. Fatimie expressed his deep appreciation for H.E. Mayor's words, and noted that without the Honorable Mr. Takei's great leadership and great efforts of his staffs at Minato City Hall, it had not been so successful. H.E. Ambassdor Dr. Fatimie also expressed his gratitude that under such great leadership and cooperation, the embassy can operate smoothly in Minato-ku, and wishes to maintain this close relationship. In response the Honorable Mayor Mr. Takei thanked H.E. Dr. Fatimie's words, and agreed to keep the closer relationship.
November 06, 2015:
It was a pleasure and an honor of His Excellency Ambassador Dr. Sayed Mohammad Amin Fatimie, accompanied by Mr. M. Yasir Karimi, Second secretary, to attend the Yomiuri International Economic Society (YIES) holding the 360th Lecture Meeting invited H.E. Prime Minister Mr. Shinzo Abe as the speaker of the day. Titled "What We Should Do Next," H.E. Prime Minister Abe explained his diplomacy and Cabinet's recently introduced social and economic revitalization policy for dynamically engaging all people, so-called 'New Three Arrows' of Abenomics, based on the results seen from the original 'arrows' of policies announced 3 years ago.
November 05, 2015:
His Excellency Ambassador Dr. Sayed Mohammad Amin Fatimie had a pleasure of attending the forum organized by Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA) titled “Iran Nuclear Program: Challenges and Opportunities” with the attendance of H.E. Dr. Ali Akbar Salehi, vice president and head of the Atomic Energy Organization of the Islamic Republic of Iran as the speaker.
H.E. vice president Dr. Salehi spoke about the recent nuclear agreement between Iran and P5+1, and assured it is the mutual benefit for peace of the region and the world as long as the agreed parties are committed to the agreement. H.E. Dr. Salehi also added that Iran, for their part, is ready to work along the agreement.
At the end of the event, H.E. Ambassador Dr. Fatimie had an honor to communicate directly with H.E. Dr. Salehi, and both wished to maintain to be a good neighboring friends -Afghanistan and Iran.
November 04, 2015:
His Excellency Ambassador Dr. Sayed Mohammad Amin Fatimie and Mr. Ahmad Bashir Ghafoori, First Secretary, had a pleasure of attending the seminar session by H.E. Representative of the General Permanent Mission of Palestine in Japan (Ambassador) Mr. Waleed Ali Siam, organized by Middle East Institute of Japan (MEIJ). Upon arrival, H.E. Ambassador and Mr. Ghafoori had an honor and pleasure of being welcomed by Mr. Tatsuo Arima, President; and Mr. Takeshi Kagami, Vice President and Executive Managing Director, of the MEIJ.
H.E. Mr. Waleed Ali Siam spoke on titled "The Present State of the Middle East Peace Process" and explained the current situation of the Palestine, hope for the improvement, and called for assistance and support from the international community.
November 04, 2015:
His Excellency Ambassador Dr. Sayed Mohammad Amin Fatimie warmly welcomed Mr. Tetsuya Suzuki, a Japanese citizen, for kindly delivering a flower to show his sympathy towards victims of the recent earthquake shook South Asia region including, and particularly, Afghanistan. Mr. Suzuki said he had known a news that Afghanistan stood with Japan after the event of the earthquake and tsunami disasters on March 11, 2011, by collecting a donation and delivered to Japanese Red Cross Society, despite their hardship, therefore he had wanted to return such kindness. H.E. Ambassador Dr. Fatimie expressed his deep appreciation to Mr. Suzuki, and told that the flower and his kind sympathy are great encouragement and support to Afghans who were affected by Magnitude 7.5 earthquake on October 26. H.E. Ambassador also mentioned that the friendship during each other's hardship proves a great relationship between Afghanistan and Japan.
