HU lecturers to receive Japanese foreign minister's award
Two Hebrew University of Jerusalem lecturers in Japanese studies received the Japanese Foreign Minister’s Commendation Award at a ceremony, which was held on Sunday, Sept. 21 2008, at the university’s Mount Scopus campus.
The two winners of the prestigious award are Kyoji Tsujita, head of Japanese language instruction in the Department of East Asian Studies at the Hebrew University, and his wife, Mariko Tsujita, a former lecturer there. The award is being given to them for their dedication to the promotion of mutual understanding between Japan and Israel over a period of many years.
The Tsujitas represent in Israel the Japan Christian Friends of Israel organization, commonly known as Beit Shalom, consisting of tens of thousands of Japanese who support Israel through voluntarism, fund raising and other ways. Members of the organization, centered in Kyoto, study Hebrew and Bible. Among their activities are the Beit Shalom houses, which host visiting Israelis in Japan, and a museum in the Hiroshima area for the teaching of the Holocaust to children.
The Tsujitas came to Israel and lived in Jerusalem for many years, giving birth to their children there. They subsequently returned to Japan in order to give their children a Japanese education, but after their children grew up they returned to Jerusalem and to the Hebrew University. They each have master’s degrees from the Hebrew University, Kyoji in linguistics and Mariko in political science. In recent years Kyoji has coordinated Japanese language instruction at the university, while Mariko taught various subjects related to Japan.
The couple established, together with the founder of their movement, the late Rev. Takeji Otsuki, the Mizra Society of Friends of the Hebrew university in Japan. Mizra has contributed a chair in Bible studies in the name of the Rev. Otsuki at the Hebrew University. The organization also supports young researchers at the university. Father Otsuki also established a scholarship for graduates of the Department of East Asian Studies in order to enable their further studies in Japan.
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