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Guests who attended the dinner.
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Japanese in Brunei celebrating at the dinner.
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Mr Hara Satoshi, Ambassador of Japan to Brunei Darussalam,
hosted a dinner party last Tuesday to celebrate the New Year
2003 with Japanese residents in Brunei.
For the Japanese, New Year's
Day, 1st January, is the most important day in the year, when
all the Japanese families celebrate the arrival of the coming
year with a fresh mind and spirit while wishing the new year to
bring about happiness and good health.
In his remarks at the dinner,
Ambassador HARA expressed his delight that Brunei-Japan
relations have steadfastly expanded in the last few decades
through not only the gas and oil trade, but also through
people-to-people exchanges.
Last year especially, Japan was
honoured by visits from His Royal Highness The Crown Prince, and
His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed. Many dignitaries from Japan
also visited the Sultanate, including the Speaker of the
Japanese Parliament, the Foreign and Economic Ministers, and
just last week, the Senior Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs.
Regarding the "Asean-Japan
Exchange Year 2003", which was advocated by Prime Minister
Koizumi last January, Ambassador Hara said that this initiative
presents a new opportunity for all Bruneians and Japanese to
further develop their close ties.
Many events and programmes are
scheduled to take place both in Brunei and Japan throughout
2003, particularly during May, the month designated to Brunei
for their exchange year activities. Ambassador Hara encouraged
all Japanese residents to make use of these opportunities and
participate in these events and programmes.
The dinner party was held at
Japanese Ambassador's residence at Jalan Kota Batu, and around
50 Japanese attendants at the party enjoyed the evening through
playing games and eating Japanese new year delicacies such as
gomame (similar to pusu), kazunoko (herring roe) and the most
important food of mochi(pounded rice cake), in addition to
well-known sushi and tempura.
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