Goroka gets a glimpse of Japan

GOROKA got a taste of Japan at the weekend when the Japanese Embassy screened movies and showed local students the art of origami, traditional dances and quizzes over a two-day movie–fest.
The embassy’s first secretary Dr Hiromitsu Iwamoto and administrative attache Adachi Masanao, through the Centre for Melanesian Studies, entertained students last Friday and Saturday with more than three hours of movies.
Hiromitsu said the embassy decided to promote Japan in the Eastern Highlands capital since the University of Goroka (UoG) had the highest number of Japanese language learning students (52) and had organised a traditional Japanese fisherman’s dance themselves.
He said the embassy would make the movie–fest an annual event.
Hiromitsu said there would be more cultural exchange activities between UoG and the embassy; but in terms of study assistance they only offered four post graduate scholarships annually.
“We also offer scholarships to national teachers already in the field who would like to teach the Japanese language here in country,” he added.