Sushi, tempura and kimono-clad ladies greeted the guests at the Japanese Embassy on Wednesday to celebrate in advance the birthday of Japanese Emperor Akihito. “We will be celebrating His Majesty’s birthday on December 23 and next year, it will be the 20th anniversary of the emperor’s reign,” said Japanese Ambassador Yukio Kitazume. “This celebration is also another way to introduce the Japanese culture to Doha. We are slowly making our presence felt here and we want to continue doing more. We were one of the sponsors at a fashion show featuring traditional and contemporary Kimonos at the Virginia Commonwealth University - Qatar, we have introduced Aikido lessons in a school in Al Sadd, we are planning on inviting Ikebana teachers to hold a workshop here in Doha and we have other plans on the list,” said Kitazume. Kitazume said he is happy that Japan’s and Qatar’s ties are stronger than ever and has thrived for more than three decades. “Qatar is a very important supplier of crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LPG) to Japan and Japan is a number one trade partner of Qatar with trade volumes continuing to increase despite the global financial crisis,” he said. The Japanese Embassy will invite five teachers in February to hold lessons in Doha on Ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arrangement. The ambassador said plans on having a piano and violin concert performed by Japanese musicians are on the way. http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&subsection=Qatar+News&month=December2008&file=Local_News2008120531851.xml

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