Seminar Series to Understand the Middle East and Islam

July 21, 2004

A Seminar Series to Understand the Middle East and Islam in Yamagata, co-hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Yamagata Prefecture, and the Japan Foundation, will be held on July 25 (Sun) in the Yamagata City Public Health Center, in cooperation with the City of Yamagata, the Yamagata Association for International Relations, and the Middle East Institute of Japan.
At the seminar, Dr. Musa Mohamed OMER Saeed, Sudanese Ambassador to Japan, and Mr. Kunio Katakura, former Japanese Ambassador to Egypt (Chief Representative of Islamic Studies Society 21), will give lectures, followed by question and answer sessions and discussion with the audience.
The heightened public interest in the Middle Eastern and Islamic countries after the terrorist attacks in the United States on September 11, use of force against Iraq and other factors is often related, because of its background, with terrorism and other types of misconduct.
In this situation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is conducting a Seminar Series to Understand the Middle East and Islam in regional cities of Japan to gain people's understanding of the Middle East, and the upcoming event will be the second. The purpose of this Seminar Series is to construct a basis in the minds of the people of both Japan and the Middle Eastern and Islamic countries to understand, from various viewpoints, the relations of the two regions, and the culture and philosophy of each Middle Eastern and Islamic country, to enhance the establishment of a relationship between the two regions based on mutual understanding.
The First Seminar took place on May 28 in Okayama, and the third is scheduled in September in Osaka.

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