On June 22, 2024, His Excellency Ambassador Baraka Luvanda accompanied by Embassy staff - Mr. Greyson Ishengoma and Mr. Kazuma Shirai, participated in the “The Japan-Tanzania Friendship Party" in Nagoya, co-organized by the Embassy and Tanzaniaphilia Gallery Ltd., in commemorating 60th Anniversary of Tanzania Union and 20th Anniversary of Tanzaniaphilia Gallery Ltd. The event was attended by Honorable Mr. Ryoji Satomi, Member of the House of Councilors as the guest of honor along with Mr. Sohei Yasuda, Mayor of Amami City.
The event was held at the Hotel Mielparque Nagoya attended by approximately 150 participants. Ms. Kuniko Shimizu - The CEO of Tanzaniaphilia Gallery and Honorary Representative of Tanzania for Promotions and Cultural Exchanges in Central Japan along with the General Manager of the Gallery Mr. Katsuji Mori expressed their joy and appreciation of having a successful event which enabled participants to get to hear much about Tanzania.
The event entailed a number of activities including music, live performance, Kanga Fashion Show, Amami City's Traditional Dance Performance, detailed explanation on Tingatinga Art by Tingatinga artist, songs from Tanzania and other African countries and banquet. There was also a presentation about Tanzania which made people enjoy listening to stories about a number of tourist attractions from wildlife experience, nature reserve, food, beverages, cultural heritage, beach sports, to historical art sites, Mountain climbing, air ballooning, fishing, hunting and many others
Through his speech, Ambassador Luvanda welcomed participants to the event and thanked them for finding time out of their precious weekend to attend. He further thanked Ms. Kuniko Shimizu for the great efforts put into the event who worked around the clock to put it up together in collaboration with the Embassy staff. He expressed his appreciation for her continued efforts in branding and promoting Tanzania, especially through the famous Tingatinga exhibitions and other Tanzania art works she has organized over the years.
Ambassador Luvanda expressed his appreciation to Mr. Ryuji Satomi, Member of the House of Councilors for Aichi and Tanzania’s good friend for accepting the invitation as a guest of honor and finding time to join the event. He also thanked the Mayor of Amami, Mister Sohei Yasuda for travelling all the way from Amami Island to join the party despite his busy schedule. Under his leadership, the City of Amami has been able to maintain a long partnership with Tanzania which has proven to be mutually beneficial. Thus, Amb. Luvanda assured Mister Mayor of his commitment to solidify this friendship during his time in Japan. He also acknowledged the presence of Tanzania’s dear friend, Dr. Mwantambwe Milanga from TOKUSHUKAI GROUP which has a long and historic association with Tanzania.
He concluded his remarks by introducing Tanzania's rich cultural heritage and so many unique tourist attractions to the participants and thereafter welcomed participants to pay attention to a detailed presentation by Mr. Kazuma and be free ask questions at the end. Amb. Luvanda assured to even those who have been to Tanzania before would be astonished to hear about them and will undoubtedly want to visit again.
On his part, Mr. Satomi thanked Ambassador Luvanda for co-organizing the event with Ms. Shimizu and for the decision to invite him to attend. He sincerely congratulated Ms. Shimizu for her tireless efforts to promote Tanzania work. He went on explaining about his experience of visiting in Africa and that he hopes to visit Tanzania one day. He expressed his excitement to learn more about the country through the event and committed to nurture the already existing relations with Tanzania Embassy in Japan.
During his remarks, Mayor Yasuda expressed his appreciation to the organizers for inviting him to the event. He further indicated his readiness to continue working with the Embassy and to welcome Ambassador Luvanda to Amami in November 2024.
The event generated a lot of interest during the Q and A session, with many participants expressing their initial plans to visit the Country.
