Syria’s lovers in Japan launch two initiatives to support people affected by earthquake 

Since the early days of the earthquake that hit Syria on the 6th of last February, Dr. Hiroyuki Aoyama, Academic Coordinator for Arab and Middle Eastern Studies at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, launched an initiative called “Friendship” to collect donations and help those affected by the earthquake.

The founder of the initiative, which was launched on the 17th of last February, Dr. Aoyama, noted that it was established with the help of members of a Japanese group called (Action for Peace in Syria), and it was published on many Japanese media outlets. He indicated that the name of the initiative belongs to a Japanese association that worked to help the Syrians during the terrorist war against Syria until 2021, and to establish the Japanese-Syrian Friendship Association.

Dr. Aoyama stated that the mechanism of action of the initiative depends on collecting material donations and sending them to those affected by the earthquake in Syria.

Regarding a second initiative in which Japanese students collected in-kind aid for students in Syria, Dr. Aoyama stated that a group of students from Nishi Yamatogakuen School in the Japanese province of Nara expressed their willingness, sympathy and enthusiasm to collect and send relief materials to Syria, by contacting the Syrian embassy and requesting its support to deliver materials.

In her turn, the student, Moni Mori, who is responsible for launching the initiative titled (Make People Smile), said that the influential videos that spread on social media about the disaster of the earthquake that hit Syria were a major reason for launching the initiative, expressing her strong desire to help the affected people, especially children.

Mori added: “I decided, in cooperation with a large group of my school friends, to send as much support as we could to the children of the affected areas, and we launched the initial name of the initiative “Make People Smile”. The initiative received response from more than 20 Japanese companies, which were contacted via mail. The students also organized a fundraising campaign in a famous tourist place called “Todaji” temple in Nara district.”

Mori highlighted the support of the Syrian Embassy in Japan, where Chargé d’Affaires Muhammad Najib Elji visited their school, was briefed on the work of the initiative and discussed with them the available options for shipping this aid and the efforts that can be made in this regard.

Mori expressed her great love for Syria and her family’s admiration for all Syrian products, especially laurel soap, which is made in Aleppo and its distinctive scent is loved by the Japanese, pointing out that what she watches from video clips about Syria left a beautiful and wonderful impression on her.

For his part, the Chargé d’Affaires expressed his thanks for the students’ initiative, through which they reflect the nobility and morals of their people, pointing to the coordination between the embassy and the campaign management to facilitate the arrival of aid to the affected people in Syria.

Inas Abdulkareem