Book Donation in Korca Library by Japanese Ambassador

TIRANA – The Ambassador of Japan to Albania Makoto Ito, donated in a small handover ceremony a collection of 74 books to the “Thimi Mitko” Library in Korca on the 12th of June.The books were provided by the Nippon Foundation in the framework of the Read Japan “100 Books for Understanding Contemporary Japan” book donation program aiming to provide readers around the world with an accurate picture of Japan, said a press release issued by the Japanese Embassy on Friday. The handover ceremony was organized at the premises of the “Thimi Mitko” Library in Korҫa and was attended by Mayor Sotiraq Filo and the Director of “Thimi Mitko” Library , Ms. Jorida Tollkuci.
This collection of books, has been selected by Japanese and foreign scholars, and covers five main categories: politics and international relations, economy and business, society and culture, literature and arts, as well as history and aims to promote the understanding of Japan to foreign opinion leaders and researchers.
Ambassador Ito said in his speech in the occasion that this donation would help the readers of the “Thimi Mitko” Library gain a more comprehensive understanding of Japan’s society, history and culture, and at the same time would help strengthening the cultural ties between our countries.
During his stay in Korҫa, the Ambassador also visited the “Bratko” Museum of Oriental Arts accompanied by Mayor Filo, which is the only Asian museum in Albania that has been exhibiting fragments of Japan’s History and Culture for the last 17 years. The new director of the museum, Ms. Bojana Shukulli thanked the Ambassador for his support to the “Bratko Museum”.
Since the opening of the Embassy in 2017, relations between Japan and Albania have been strengthening and cooperation with Albanian institutions has been expanding. The relations of the Embassy with the city of Korҫa, southeastern Albania, have also strengthened during these past three years. The Embassy donated last year €80,000 to the Korҫa Municipality for purchasing 89 gardening equipment and machineries, in the framework of the “Grant Assistance for Grass-roots Human Security Projects”, in order to improve the quality of its greening servicesand park maintenance services at the “Rinia” Park.
Cultural ties have also strengthened, as per initiative of Mayor Filo has been constructed in Korҫa the “Japanese Garden”, which is the very first of its kind. In addition, last year, “Japan’s Culture Day” was organized in Korҫa inviting Japanese artists to perform at the Old Bazaar. /argumentum.al