Two initiatives by Syria’s lovers in Japan in support of quake-affected people

Tokyo, SANA- Academic Coordinator of Arabic Studies at the University of Tokyo, Dr. Hiroyuki Aoyama, launched an initiative called “Friendship” to collect donations and help those affected by the earthquake in Syria.

The initiative was launched since the first days of the earthquake that struck Syria on the 6th of last February.

The founder of the initiative, Aoyama, noted that it was established with the help of members of a Japanese group called (Action for Peace in Syria), and it has been promoted by many Japanese media outlets.

Aoyama stated that the mechanism of the initiative depends on collecting material donations and sending them to the quake-affected people in Syria.

He added that he seeks to establish the Japanese-Syria Friendship Association.

Regarding a second initiative in which Japanese students collected in-kind assistance for students in Syria, Dr. Aoyama said that a group of students from the Japanese province of Nara expressed their willingness to collect and send relief items to Syria, by contacting the Syrian embassy and asking for its support to deliver the materials.

In her turn, student Muni Mori, who is responsible for launching the initiative, said that the influential videos that spread on social media about the earthquake disaster that struck Syria were a major reason for launching the initiative.

The Chargé d’affaires expressed his thanks for the students’ initiative, through which they reflect the nobility and morals of the Japanese people.

He pointed out to the coordination between the embassy and the campaign management to facilitate the arrival of aid to those affected by the quake in Syria.

Nisreen Othman/ Ruaa al-Jazaeri