RIYADH, 22 September 2005 — A symposium that stressed the development of a nation which preserved its own culture and traditions was held here on Monday with the cooperation of the Japanese Embassy and the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies (KFCRIS).
The symposium, entitled: “Modernizing Society and Preserving Social and Cultural Order — the Japanese Experience,” was held at the main conference hall of the center as part of the cultural exchange program between Saudi Arabia and Japan to mark the 50th anniversary of Japanese-Saudi relations.
Three Japanese speakers addressed a Saudi audience, speaking about their country’s experiences and the challenges it faced in maintaining the Japanese identity, especially after World War II.
Dr. Yahya ibn Junaid, general manager of KFCRIS, said the symposium was significant because globalization is a threat to many countries. He said that even though modernization was a key to success for any country, it should not be carried out at the price of a nation’s customs and traditions.
Dr. Yahya cited how Japan, now one of the largest industrialized countries in the world, had managed to successfully maintain its own culture while moving ahead with modernization. The Japanese experience, he pointed out, is one to be learned from.
Yasuo Faito, the Japanese ambassador to the Kingdom, said that the symposium was an example of the fruitful cooperation between the two countries. He lauded the efforts of the late Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd in strengthening Japanese-Saudi relations, saying that the relations between Japan and the Kingdom were constantly developing, adding that the relations between the ruling families in Japan and Saudi Arabia were based on “harmony and mutual respect.”
He also congratulated the people of Saudi Arabia on the accession of King Abdullah.
The ambassador noted the visit of the prime minister of Japan to the Kingdom in May 2003 as part of his tour of the Middle East.
Professor Masayuki Yamauchi of the University of Tokyo addressed the symposium on the topic — “After Empire: The Lessons of 60 Years of Post-War Diplomacy in Japan.”
Yoshinori Imai, from Japan’s only public broadcaster, NHK, gave a speech entitled, “Social Development and the Role of the Media.” He explained the beginnings of Japanese broadcasting, emergency broadcasts, educational broadcasts, and challenges for the media as a basic social structure.
“As traditional media, television’s supremacy is coming under fierce attack from new media. We firmly believe that the broadcast media has been far ahead of the times in terms of technology, but in a short space of time, it has come to be challenged by new technologies. A common challenge for Japan, the countries of the Middle East, and indeed the entire world, is to consider what should be done if the broadcast media is to be further developed as a medium befitting the digital age. If there is no media to act as a public organ in performing the check function, there is a danger that the gap will be filled by various information manipulators and there will be interventions on various levels, by those who believe that to keep people uninformed and ill-advised is desirable. And this means detracting from the freedom and equality of society,” Yoshinori Imai said.
Hiroshi Nakaanishi of Kyoto University gave a speech entitled, “Tradition and Modernization — the Role of Politics.”
The symposium was preceded by an exhibition of photographs of visits between Saudi and Japanese officials over the past 50 years.
