Mass Al-Qaisi
Photography: Mahmoud Raouf
The Iraq International Book Fair continues its second session, which has passed six days since its launch on the eighth of this month, by receiving visitors from readers and those interested in the literary, cultural and scientific aspect, and it is also visited by many public figures from writers, poets, artists and journalists in addition to official bodies, and today, which is the seventh of the days of the exhibition period, the fourteenth of December The exhibition was attended by the Ambassador of the State of Japan, Naofumi Hashimoto, accompanied by a delegation from the Japanese Embassy, and was received by the President of Al-Mada Foundation Fakhri Karim, who was taken on a tour between the pavilions of the participating publishing houses, especially in the Iraqi pavilion, with an introduction to the classifications of each pavilion and informing him of the visit of student cadres on a daily basis to the exhibition in response to his questions in this regard, Ambassador Hashimoto was also briefed on the literature and books that convey literature related to Japanese heritage, including, (The longest day in the history of Japan), which are Japanese studies by a group of post-World War II researchers on the fanaticism that led Japan to the brink of resurrection, issued by Dar Al-Mada, And (The Fourth Idiot) a complete story guide to Tokyo and the Japanese experience, written by Shusaku Ando and issued by Dar Al-Rafidain, these works were presented to the Japanese ambassador as symbolic gifts in celebration of his visit and welcoming his abundant interest in what Iraq offers of civilizational achievements represented by exhibitions and cultural forums at the hands of the Iraqi elites, and the latter expressed his gratitude and happiness with that visit, calling for the continuation of more of these initiatives.
In the question of the Japanese Ambassador Naofumi Hashimoto about his point of view and impression about the Iraq International Book Fair in its second session, he replied: “We are pleased with this initiative that Iraq has a cultural festival of this size, we thank those in charge of it,” and about the transfer of the culture of the Japanese people and their human experiences throughout history through literature and publications, whether fiction or research, he said: “The truth is that despite the fact that there is a difference and a big difference between our culture in Japan and the culture of the Iraqi people, it is very important to have civilized communication. There are common points in trying to defy the difficulties and overcome the crisis, so we find it necessary to transfer the Japanese experience, which may benefit Iraqi society in order to advance and keep pace with the ways of peace and global progress.”
It is noteworthy that the relationship of the Japanese ambassador, who received his position at his country’s embassy in Baghdad in August 2018, is close because he has been working for the past ten years, as he said in one of the media interviews: “My relationship with Iraq is deep, as I was in the mid-nineties deputy director of the department on Iraq affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and I was also responsible for organizing the Tokyo meeting to support the reconstruction of Iraq, which was hosted by the Government of Japan in October 2004.”