Japanese royals visit Saudi pavilion at Tokyo book fair

Prince Akishino and his wife Princess Akishino visited the Saudi pavilion at Tokyo International Book Fair 2012 on Sunday. The pavilion attracted a large number of visitors.
Saudi Ambassador Dr. Abdul Aziz Turkistani and Saudi cultural attaché Dr. Essam Amanullah Bukhary received the Japanese royals.
Bukhary briefed Prince Akishino and his wife on the exhibits at the pavilion in Japanese language, especially on an illustrated show that highlighted Saudi-Japan relations.
The pictorial highlighted the visit of King Faisal to Japan in 1971 as well as the visit of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah and Crown Prince Salman in 1998 and their meeting with Emperor Akihito. Prince Akishino, who was impressed by the models of the Two Holy Mosques displayed at the pavilion, commended Saudi Arabia’s services to the millions of Muslim pilgrims who visit the Kingdom for Haj and Umrah.
The Japanese prince also visited the book corner at the pavilion and saw various titles in Arabic, English and Japanese and a number of scientific dictionaries in Japanese and Arabic published by the cultural attaché.
The pavilion also displayed the paintings of Saudi students in Japan. An Arabic calligraphy was presented to the prince as a gift.
Meanwhile, the Saudi pavilion at the international book show, which was opened by Dr. Turkistani, attracted the attention of Japanese media persons.
The Arabic calligraphy corner drew a huge crowd of Japanese visitors as their names were written in Arabic calligraphy.
There were also samples of Saudi petrol and sand and models of oil refineries.
Books displayed at the pavilion include those published by the Ministry of Education as well as Islamic books in Japanese and a directory of Saudi universities.
Visitors were also given CDs containing information and pictures of Saudi Arabia.
Speaking to Arab News, Turkistani said the Kingdom’s participation in the book fair comes in line with the cultural cooperation between the two countries.
He highlighted the strong Saudi-Japanese relations. Saudi Arabia was the guest of honor at the book fair in 2010.
Bukhary thanked Saudi students in Japan for their active participation in organizing the pavilion and for giving explanations to visitors in Japanese.
More than 800 publishing houses from Japan and 25 foreign countries are taking part in the show.
Keisuke Amano, director of the exhibition, commended Saudi Arabia for its good participation in the show by presenting a large number of books in Japanese.
As a result of these participations, Amano said, the views of Japanese people toward Saudi Arabia and its people have changed as the Japanese consider Saudi Arabia as a leading cultural and political player in the Arab world.