The seminar on patriot Phan Boi Chau of Vietnam and doctor Asaba Sakitaro from Japan takes place in Nghe An province on December 15 (Photo: VNA)Nghe An (VNA) – The special partnership between patriot Phan BoiChau of Vietnam and doctor Asaba Sakitaro from Japan is a vivid manifestationof the friendship and cooperative ties betweenthe two countries, heard an international seminar held in the central provinceof Nghe An on December 15.
The event was held by the provincial People’s Committee, Vietnam National University-Hanoiand the Japan Foundation.
Professor Nguyen Xuan Thang, Director of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy ofPolitics, highlighted that the event was significant as it was part of theactivities to celebrate 150th birthday of patriot Phan Boi Chau anddoctor Asaba Sakitaro.
Discussions at the seminar affirmed historical and cultural values in Chau’sthoughts and the relations between Chau and Sakitaro, Thang said, adding thatthe relations helped develop Vietnam-Japan friendship.
He stressed that Vietnam and Japan relations are in the finest phase since thetwo established diplomatic ties in 1973.
Scientists, researchers and scholars at the seminar presented important reportson Phan Boi Chau, the initiator of Dong Du (Travelling to the East for study)movement, his contributions to cultural exchanges between Vietnam and Japan andhis friendship with doctor Asaba Sakitaro which formed a basis forVietnam-Japan relations.
In response to the Dong Du movement, hundreds of Vietnamese students went tostudy in Japan in hope that they could help reform the country in return. Whenthe movement faced difficulties in 1908, Chau received whole-hearted supportfrom doctor Asaba Sakitaro and people in Fukuroi.
After leaving Japan, Chau continued his activities in several countries in theworld. In 1918, he returned to Japan and learnt that his friend passed awaynine years ago. Chau and people in Fukuroi raised funds for a memorial stele ofthe late doctor near his tomb.
Although the Dong Du movement failed and those students had to go home, whatAsaba and Fukuroi residents had done for Chau and his followers remains foreverin the Vietnamese people’s hearts.-VNA
VNA
