A series of workshops that were organized in cooperation between the Office of the University President Assistant for Graduate Affairs and the International Youth Exchange Program (Zajel) were successfully concluded.

  The workshops aimed to have the Palestinian students acquainted with the world’s cultures and benefit fro their experiences, traditions and customs resulting in better global understanding and mutual respect between the world’s nations.

Three workshops were organized in which Mr. Yuhki Ohnogi delivered a number of presentations that described the Japanese culture and tradition including the Origami (The Japanese paper folding art) as well as the role of education in the extensive development that took place in Japan.

In the first workshop, Mr. Ohnogi introduced the audience to the different traditions and customs in Japan which distinguish Japan from other countries. He also spoke about the Japanese way of life, architecture, religion, history, as well as the two-century isolation of the country from the rest of the world and the prohibition of international trade during this period. This isolation was intended to make the country self-dependant resulting in the world’s miracle we know today as Japan.

  In the second workshop Mr. Ohnogi spoke about the Japanese paper folding art (The Origami) which is in fact a mirror for the Japanese culture, history and philosophy. Sixty students were trained on this art which they described as interesting and entertaining.

Moreover, in order to familiarize the students with the Japanese experience and the role of education in the development that took place in Japan, Mr. Ohnogi delivered a presentation in which he described the Japanese unique experience and the role of its philosophy in shaping the present and future of the Japanese as well as its economical miracle.

He explained the Japanese educational experience which helped the Japanese overcome the various difficulties, challenges and disasters that it witnessed over the last seventy years.

  In his presentation also, Mr. Ohnogi spoke about the three major disasters that the Japanese modern history has witnessed the first of which was the World War II disaster which ended with the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki cities when a nuclear bomb was dropped on them which brought casualties to almost 90,000 – 140,000. The second disaster was the Kobe earthquake, and finally the tsunami.

These disasters were able to destroy the infrastructure in Japan but yet failed to destroy the educational structure as it succeeded in preserving the culture and tradition of the Japanese people in the most difficult situations and contributed to the shaping of the present and future of Japan and its economical miracle.

Furthermore, Mr. Ohnogi spoke about the reason behind Japan’s ability to recover and resume its normal life even after the strongest of disasters which is the educational system in the country. He described the schools in Japan and their role in human development that aims to provide the students with the experience and diverse opportunities. Students in Japan, as he explained, attend diverse applied classes in various fields including environment, music, engineering, cooking…etc, and as soon as they attend high school they learn society and family structure and are taught to respect the other.

Such principles in teaching help these students work in a harmonic social environment leading them to better understand their culture and tradition. He also spoke about the vertical work environment, the respect of the company where he works, to defend it, protect its interests, and to place public interest on his list of priorities.

This philosophy is the key that helps the Japanese nation to survive in time of peril and disaster. When the three major disastrous events took place, the Japanese favored public interest on personal one; this made the Japanese people act like one person and worked together to recover from the disasters.

Maysar Abu Khalil, a student at the Faculty of Media, said the workshops were very helpful and informative and enabled her to become acquainted with the Japanese culture. It also helped them, as she reported, to become familiar with the Japanese experience and ability to face and overcome disasters, in addition to the morals that characterize the Japanese way of life.