Japan to introduce her culture in Cameroon

The Japanese Ambassador to Cameroon, Kunio Okamura and the President of the Japanese International Cooperation Agency, JICA, Umemoto Shinji, have unveiled plans to gradually introduce Japanese culture in Cameroon.

They disclosed their plans during the Japanese Cultural Day during which Japanese volunteers thrilled the audience with martial art, a film, Swing Girls, and a musical concert featuring ‘Dragon Ball’ at the French Cultural Centre in Yaounde.

The presentations were punctuated by a photo session in the Yakata costume (a robe held together by a strap and a butterfly shaped OB behind).

Appreciating the day, Umemoto Shinji said he was glad to discover that Cameroonians like Japanese cartoons strips like Dragon Ball, adding that it was magical to see the audience join in to sing ‘Cha-la Head Cha-La’.

It is against this backdrop that Umemoto expressed the need to gradually introduce Japanese’s culture in Cameroon, given the small Japanese population of about 100,000 compared to other nationalities.

Umemoto said in collaboration with the Japanese Ambassador, there are plans to build a Japanese Cultural Centre in future.

Besides culture, JICA is involved in community development in rural areas, helping farmers to boost rice production and teachers sent to teach information technologies in colleges.

He announced the 10th anniversary of Japanese volunteers to be celebrated in May 2016, stating that, for the past 10 years, about 108 volunteers have been sent to Cameroon, with about 28 active in different domains.

The 10th anniversary of Japanese volunteering would be an opportunity to take stock and collect information on good practices. He said Japanese children education methodology is geared at nourishing emotional and artistic development through artwork, sports and songs which instill confidence and enable children to express themselves freely.