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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

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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

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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:

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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.

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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

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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

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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