Under the supervision of the Dean of the College of Arts, Prof. Dr. Majid Abdul Hameed Al Kaabi, and in the presence of the Assistant Dean for Scientific Affairs, Dr. Haider Abdul Reda Al-Tamimi and Prof. Dr. Mishaal Mufreh Zaher, the College of Arts hosted on Monday, November 1st, 2021, Mr. Atsumu Okada, President of the Middle East Forum in Tokyo, at the conference hall /College of Arts/University of Basrah.
In his lecture, presented to postgraduate students in the Department of History, entitled (The Image of the Iraqi Human and His History in Japanese Memory), the Orientalist Okada touched upon on several axes, the most important of which are:
1- He referred to the issue of his successive visit to all the cities of Iraq, especially Basrah, and an impression of each trip in terms of urban and economic development, social openness, and the gradual urbanization of society during recent years.
2- Comparing the situation in Japan after the end of World War II (1939-1945) and the situation in Iraq after 2003 and its impact on the nature of the Japanese and Iraqi peoples at various political, economic, and social levels, with its success in Japan and its failure - unfortunately - in Iraq.
3- He touched upon the Japanese people's lack of knowledge of the truth about the situation in Iraq due to the misleading of world opinion and news agencies and their procrastination of some facts by shedding light on terrorism and violence in Iraq without addressing the flourishing aspects in this country of heritage and civilization.
4- Announcing his books on Iraq and referring to the book that will soon see the light on the history and present of Basrah, and in this regard, he thanked the Deanship of the College of Arts represented by its Dean, Dr. Majid Abdul Hameed, and the Basrah local government for their great cooperation in facilitating his task in writing this book.
5- He touched on the glimpses, customs, and traditions of the Iraqi and Basri society in particular in terms of hospitality and kindness.
6- He referred to the importance of his translation of the book (Social Glimpses from the Modern History of Iraq by Dr. Ali Al-Wardi) and the importance of this book in understanding the nature and composition of the Iraqi people.
7- In the end, the discussion was opened for the postgraduate students in the history department who expressed their admiration for Mr. Okada's lecture and demanded that it be repeated soon and he declared his readiness to accept any invitation from the college dean to give lectures on the common denominator of Japanese and Iraqi history.
