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1
The Heart of Asia Herald—Newsletter for the Embassy of Afghanistan in Japan
The events and hap-
penings regarding
Afghan-Japan Rela-
tions.
______________
Inside this issue:
Quarterly Greetings 1
Progress & Develop-
ments in Afghanistan,
and Current Afghan-Japan
Relations 2
Feature Story:
“Afghanistan’s Melons”
3
Featured Province:
Nimroz 4
Afghans You Should
Know: Ariel J. Nasr and
PEACE scholar Shaheem
Elahi 5
Afghan Recipe & Up-
coming Events
6
March — June 2018
Volume 2, Issue 2
Quarterly Greetings to you from the Embassy
Greetings to you, dear friends,
As always, thank you for bringing your
attention to this, the latest edition of our
newsletter, The Heart of Asia Herald, published
here at the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of
Afghanistan in Tokyo. With each new issue I
hope that you feel an even stronger and
friendlier tie to my fascinating Afghanistan. She
is a country overflowing with wondrous facets
which could fill many libraries, led alone a
newsletter. Step by step, over time, I hope that
the peek inside of Afghanistan through this
newsletter acting like a window will help you feel
H.E. Ambassador H.E. Dr. Mohabbat
The Heart of Asia Herald
Dear friends and supporters of Afghanistan,
From the beginning you have helped serve as
an inspiration for the efforts of the HAH
editorial staff to continue featuring different
aspects of Afghanistan’s culture, events, and its
treasured people. Our goal has been to pique the
interest of citizens from our host-country’s many
communities to the wonders of the Heart of
Asia’s loveliest gem, the beautiful Afghanistan—
giving her a very lovely and contemporary pulse.
Please feel free to share your thoughts with us or
any other ideas you may have on how to make
the HAH more interesting and enjoyable to you.
Heart to heart, let us reach each other and make
your connection to Afghanistan
Message from “HAH” Editors:
Ramadan, a special month observed by millions of Muslims worldwide, falls on the 9th day of the
Islamic calendar. Ramadan is conducted through the process of fasting, sawm, which is to
commemorate the 1st Revelation of the Quran to Muhammad according to the Islamic faith. Fasting
is an essential element to the five pillars of Islam which forms the basis of how Muslims live their
lives. Ramadan begins at the first sighting of the new moon. Throughout roughly 29 to 30 days those
observing Ramadan fast.
Ramadan is obligatory for adult Muslims except for those that are pregnant, elderly, ill, or traveling.
This is a time where followers can spiritually reflect, pray, give to charity, and spend more time with
family and friends alike. It is not uncommon for followers to have a meal, known as the suhoor,
before dawn and another, known as the iftar just after sunset. The iftar, just as the sun as gone
down, is a moment where families and friends get together to break their fast usually after having
dates and water. Many observers also take this time to go to the mosque to pray.
The Eid al-Fitr, or Festival of the Breaking of the Fast, is a special three-day festival that marks the end of the Holy month of Ramadan. It begins when the first sight of the new moon is seen in the sky. At this time, usually followers will first have Eid prayers and then join family and friends for celebration. The festivity brings followers of the faith together to give great thanks to Allah for the help and strength that was given in the past month.
Observing the Islamic Holy Month of Ramadan
2
Security
On March 26 to the 27 of 2018,
the Tashkent Conference on
Afghanistan took place in
Uzbekistan. The Tashkent
Conference focused on regional
peace and cooperation between
Afghanistan and its neighboring
nations. The Conference also
sought to promote peace and
reconciliation with the Taliban as
well as providing support for the
National Unity Government. As a
process with Afghanistan at the
forefront, this conference
established Uzbekistan as well as
other co-adopter’s commitment
to regional economic cooperation
as well as counter-terrorism and
counter-narcotics initiatives.
Economy
The use of air corridors, is a
cheaper more effective way to
interconnects neighboring coun-
tries. It has helped Afghanistan's
to increase its export volume in
recent years.
Over the past few years the use of
air corridors has aided in evening
the balance of imports and
exports in Afghanistan. Last year
Afghanistan’s exports increased
from $614 million to $784
million. With the creation of new
air corridors this amount is
expected to increase even more.
On May 22, a new air corridor
was established between
Afghanistan and Turkey. The first
shipment contained Afghan
carpets, dried nuts, and dried
Infrastructure
The Afghan capital of Kabul has
begun moving toward the use of
solar energy, when a 30 KW solar
energy plant went active on
Tuesday May 22.
DABS, an electricity provider in
Afghanistan, has plans to expand
the project over the next two
years and hopes to be able to
produce over 500 megawatts of
electricity.
Currently DABS has the solar
panels on their roofs. However,
there are plans to get them
installed on government
buildings and residential homes,
eventually replacing hydro and
thermal power.
Meeting with His Imperial
Highness the Crown Prince
On June 13, His Excellency Am-
bassador Dr. Bashir Mohabbat
had the honor and pleasure of
meeting with His Imperial High-
ness the Crown Prince at the
Crown Prince’s palace in Tokyo
for a special event.
H.E. Dr. Mohabbat sincerely
thanked His Imperial Highness
the Crown Prince for the invita-
tion to the event and for his gen-
erous hospitality. In return, His
Imperial Highness the Crown
Princess thanked H.E. Dr. Mo-
habbat for his attendance and
kind words.
Visit by Special
Representative of UN
Secretary-General
On April 10, His Excellency
Ambassador Dr. Bashir
Mohabbat had the honor and
privilege of meeting with Mr.
Tadamichi Yamamoto, Special
Representative for the UN
Secretary-General.
H.E. Dr. Mohabbat thanked him
for the UN’s continuous support
and efforts to bring about peace
and security in Afghanistan.
Among several other topics, the
international support of the
Kabul Process II and the
Tashkent Conference was also
brought up as well as the
continued progress from the
National Unity Government.
Minato World Carnival
On March 25, the interns at the
Embassy of Afghanistan had the
pleasure of taking part in the
annual Minato City World
Carnival. The event brings
together many of the over 70
embassies that are in Minato
City. Over 1000 visitors came to
the two booths that the embassy
hosted to learn more about
Afghanistan.
The embassy was also fortunate
enough to get stage time and the
interns performed the “National
Dance” of Afghanistan — The
Attan. It was an absolute
pleasure of the embassy to be
able to further strengthen friend-
ly relations with all of those that
attended.
Afghan-Japan Relations:
Afghan Progress:
3
The Heart of Asia Herald—Newsletter for the Embassy of Afghanistan in Japan
...in taste of the taste of honey; it
has the hue of brocade, and it has fragrance as that of fresh al-
oe. (poet at the court of Mahmud of Ghazni)
Nimroz
Melons
In 2017 there was an 80 percent in-crease in watermelon yields in south-western Nimroz province, partly thanks to the abundance of water be-cause the rivers and canals were in full flow for 6 months
Many of the fruits are exported to neighbouring countries or sent to other areas such as Herat, Kandahar, Ghaz-ni, and Kabul.
In the past, they were among the most prized export commodity of fresh fruit and also accounted for a portion of dried exports.
Afghan melons have a long history of re-gional mobility and one of the most fa-mous examples is of the Mughals trying to preserve the favourite parts of their diet after shifting their capital from Ka-bul to Agra/Delhi
The number of varieties of melons in Af-ghanistan is estimated to be 38
A superstition around melons is that the Gorgak Melon is grown only for the per-sonal usage of the farmer. Selling one is
considered bad luck!
Some of the most famous melon varieties are Sawzmaghz, Zormati, Qashoqi, Kan-dak, and Arkani. Production of any of these special melons is seen as an artistic accomplishment.
The export of Watermelons to different parts of Afghanistan and neighboring countries have earned Farah province one billion Afghanis in revenue (data 2018).
Watermelons are not a nutritionally dense food because they are almost 90 percent water, but they do offer small amounts of Vitamins A and C and potas-sium. The White Wonder watermelon has only trace amounts of lycopene.
4
Bordering Iran and Pakistan, Nimroz is the fifth largest province with vast agricultural lands and
swaths of deserts. Nimruz means “mid-day” or half-day” in Persian and Balochi. This name is
thought to originate from the meridian cutting the world in half through this region.
Wheat, corn, melon, and watermelon, are some of the most cultivated crops in this province.
Notable Figures from Nimruz include MP Dost Mohammad Khan, founder of Barackzai dynasty
and a prominent ruler of Afghanistan during the First Anglo-Afghan War.
The ethnic makeup is a combination of Baloch, Barakzai, Brahui, Kuchi, Noorzai, Tajik, and
Uzbeks. The city of Zaranj is the provincial capital of the province of Nimruz and contains the
Zaranj Airport. The most sparsely populated province in Afghanistan, the Nimruz Province is al-
so located in the Sistan Basin. This basin contains some key archeological sites including the
Shahr-i-Sokhta (meaning “Burnt City”).
In 2017 the number of women working in government offices has increased within this province
and over 50,000 people took part in the elections in Nimroz with 40 percent of them being wom-
en. About 80 percent of its inhabitants are farmers, mostly growing wheat, barley and melons.
Nimroz is also a popular pastoral destination for the Kuchi, a group of people who live a tradi-
tionally migratory lifestyle and raise livestock.
Province Focus: Nimroz
The Baloch are an ethnic minority in Afghanistan, but makeup
around 61 percent of the ethnic population in Nimroz. They
live mainly in the Balochistan region of the southeastern-most edge of the Iranian plateau. Today
Afghan Baloch live primarily in four southern provinces including Helmand, Nimruz, Farah and
Kandahar, where their daily life is often disrupted by several challenges.
The official language of the Baloch is Balochi, a language that, until about 150 years ago,
remained unwritten. The population of the Afghan Baloch very unclear, but it is extimated to
make up about 2% of Afghanistan’s total population.
The Baloch
5
The Heart of Asia Herald—Newsletter for the Embassy of Afghanistan in Japan
Ariel J. Nasr is an independent Afghan-Canadian
filmmaker born in Halix Regional Municipality, Canada. Originally he was an aspiring farmer. However, after suffering from
a repetitive strain injury and eventual chronic tendonitis which he received
from chainsaw work, he decided to give university a try. Nasr attended the University of King’s College in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and in 2005 he
graduated with Bachelor of Arts degrees in History of Science and Technology (HOST) and Classics.
Soon after graduating, he moved to his father’s homeland of Afghanistan where he co-founded a
NGO called the Afghan Film Project through which he helped young filmmakers in Afghanistan learn their craft. During this time, Ariel’s credits began to grow as he wrote and directed films such
as Good Morning Kandahar (2008), The Boxing Girls of Kabul (2012) for which he won the Canadian
Screen Award for Best Short Documentary, The Long Way Home (2017), and In the Name of All Canadians (2017). However, his true moment of recognition came when he produced the short film
Buzakashi Boys (2012), a coming of age story of two you young Afghan boys set in Kabul. Upon re-
lease of the film, awards flowed in, most notably with a Nomination for the Academy Award for Best Short Film. This made Buzkashi Boys the first and only film from Afghanistan to receive a nomina-
tion for an Academy Award, Hollywood’s highest honor.
This month’s exemplary Peace Scholar is from the province of Takhar. Shaheem Elahi is an
instructor at the Kabul University with the faculty of veterinary science. Ms. Elahi had previously studied the characterization of Pathogenic Bacteria as
a reach student at Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology.
And since 2015, she has been working towards her doctorate at the United Graduate School of Veterinary Sciences, Gifu University.
Ms. Elahi’s thesis centers on the “characteristics of enterotoxin
production and growth of Staphylococcus Aureas under environmental stresses.”
Staphylococcus Aureus is one of the major pathogens affecting humans and animals and leads to staphylococcal food poisoning (SFP). She hopes “to find the best ways to control SFP, which is still a
serious problem in human life [all] over the world.”
Ms. Elahi aspires to one day be “useful for the human being globally” and then be able “to serve [her]
people through [her] education and professional knowledge” which she received here in Japan.
When asked about what she has learned about Japanese culture, Ms. Elahi replied that “the very special thing in Japanese culture is their polite manners. Its people are very respectful, helpful and
honest. She added that, “Japanese people have many festivals that bring happiness to the citizens.
Among them, I like the annual ‘Kurayami Matsuri’ which is a notable event.”
We with Ms. Elahi great success in her endeavors at the United Graduate School of Veterinary Sciences, Gifu University
Current
MEXT
Scholar
Film Writer,
Director &
Producer
Ariel J. Nasr
Shaheem Elahi
6
Upcoming Events
Please watch for more notice about these upcoming events on our
Facebook page!
September
8th • Shinmei Iki-iki plaza festival 2018: 1k visitors are expected • location: Plaza
Shinmei • Activities: drinks and dance.
23th • Mitaka Misshop Festival: 50K visitors are expected • location: Inokashira
Park • Activities: food, dance and culture.
29-30th • Global International Festival 2018: 700K visitors are expected • loca-
tion: ODAIBA• EmbaActivities: drinks and dance.
Directions:
● In a bowl, whisk well the cream to thicken, then add milk and mix.
● Add honey, sugar, vanilla, Sweet melon puree into a blender or food processor, add to
the cream mixture, and mix well.
● Freeze in serving bowl or into individual bowls till sets. Scoop and serve it on ice-cream
Find us online at: www.afghanembassy.jp.org
Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram: @AfghanistanInJp
Cream—237mL
Whole Milk—119mL
Honey—75g
Sugar—60g
Vanilla Essence—15mL
Melon Puree—64g
Crushed Pistachio - 15g
Ingredients
Embassy of Afghanistan
in Japan
2-2-1 Azabudai
Minato-ku Tokyo
106-0041 Japan
Phone: (+81)-3-5574-7611
Editors in Chief:
Mr. A. Agah and Ms. A. Diaz
Editors:
Rachel Warner
Amber Olson
Callian Stokes
Joshua Emero
Arturo Sparapano
Japanese Editors:
Megumi Kitazato
Moe Nakanishi
Sweet Melon Ice Cream