MET Column | My Eyes Tokyo

Happy Birthday to Sweden!

2018-06-06

Stockholm, the capital of Sweden and the most populous city in the Nordic countries. *Photo from Wikipedia June 6 is National Day of Sweden. This event does signify the end of the Danish-ruled Kalmar Union, so in a sense it is a marking of Swedish independence, though the event occurred so long ago that it does not have as strong of a presence in the social consciousness as does. The tradition of celebrating this date began 1916 at the Stockholm Olympic Stadium, in honor of the election of King Gustav Vasa in 1523, as this was considered the foundation of

Happy Birthday to Tonga!

2018-06-04

Downtown Nukuʻalofa. Nukuʻalofa is the capital of Tonga. *Photo from Wikipedia June 4 is Tonga’s Emancipation Day or Independence Day, commemorates the abolition of serfdom in Tonga in 1862, and the independence of Tonga from the British protectorate in 1970. Tonga became known in the West as the “Friendly Islands” because of the congenial reception accorded to Captain James Cook on his first visit in 1773. He arrived at the time of the ʻinasi festival, the yearly donation of the First Fruits to the Tuʻi Tonga (the islands’ paramount chief) and so received an invitation to the festivities. According to

Happy Birthday to Samoa!

2018-06-01

A Samoan family. *Photo from Wikipedia June 1 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Samoa from New Zealand in 1962. The Samoan Islands were first settled some 3,500 years ago as part of the Austronesian expansion. European exploration first reached the islands in the early 18th century. Louis-Antoine de Bougainville named them Navigator Islands in 1768. The United States Exploring Expedition (1838-42) reached Samoa in 1839. In 1855 J.C. Godeffroy & Sohn, a German trading company, expanded its trading business into the archipelago. The Samoan Civil War of 1886-1894 devolved into the Samoan crisis between colonial powers, followed by

Happy National Day of Ethiopia!

2018-05-28

Community health care workers in Ethiopia. *Photo from Wikipedia May 28 is Downfall of the Derg Day, a National Day of Ethiopia. The Derg is the short name of the Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces, Police, and Territorial Army that ruled Ethiopia from 1974 to 1987. It took power following the ousting of Emperor Haile Selassie I. Tracing its roots to the 2nd millennium BC, Ethiopia was a monarchy for most of its history. During the first centuries AD, the Kingdom of Aksum maintained a unified civilization in the region, followed by the Ethiopian Empire around 1137. Ethiopia derived

Happy Birthday to Georgia!

2018-05-26

Open air cafes in Old Tbilisi. Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia. *Photo from Wikipedia May 26 is Georgia’s Independence Day, commemorates the day of the First Republic in 1918. It commemorates the 26 May 1918 adoption of the Act of Independence, which established the Democratic Republic of Georgia in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution of 1917. The Georgians adopted Christianity in the early 4th century. A unified Kingdom of Georgia reached the peak of its political and economic strength during the reign of King David IV and Queen Tamar in the 12th and early

Happy Birthday to Guyana!

2018-05-26

A rice field on Guyana’s coastal plain. Agriculture is one of the main economic activities in Guyana. *Photo from Wikipedia May 26 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Guyana from the United Kingdom in 1966. Originally inhabited by several indigenous groups, Guyana was settled by the Dutch before coming under British control in the late 18th century. It was governed as British Guiana, with mostly a plantation style economy until the 1950s. It gained independence in 1966, and officially became a republic within the Commonwealth of Nations in 1970. Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a sovereign

Happy Birthday to Jordan!

2018-05-25

Jordanian school girls reading in a public school. Jordan’s total youth female literacy rate (15 – 24 years) was 99.37% in 2015. *Photo from Wikipedia May 25 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Jordan from the United Kingdom in 1946. Rulers include the Nabataean Kingdom, the Roman Empire, and the Ottoman Empire. After the Great Arab Revolt against the Ottomans in 1916 during World War I, the Ottoman Empire was partitioned by Britain and France. The Emirate of Transjordan was established in 1921 by the then Emir Abdullah I and it became a British protectorate. In 1946, Jordan became

Happy Birthday to Eritrea!

2018-05-24

Saho women in traditional attire. The Saho are an ethnic group who are principally concentrated in Eritrea, with some also living in adjacent parts of Ethiopia. *Photo from Wikipedia May 24 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Eritrea from Ethiopia in 1993. he Kingdom of Aksum, covering much of modern-day Eritrea and northern Ethiopia, rose somewhere around the first or second centuries and adopted Christianity around the time Islam had spread through Egypt and the Levant. In medieval times much of Eritrea fell under the Medri Bahri kingdom. The creation of modern-day Eritrea is a result of the incorporation

Happy Birthday to Yemen!

2018-05-22

Old City of Sana’a, the largest city in Yemen. Old City was declared a World Heritage Site by the United Nations in 1986. *Photo from Wikipedia May 22 is Unity Day, celebrates the unification of North and South Yemen into the Republic of Yemen in 1990. Yemen was the home of the Sabaeans (biblical Sheba), a trading state that flourished for over a thousand years and also included parts of modern-day Ethiopia and Eritrea. In 275 AD, the region came under the rule of the later Jewish-influenced Himyarite Kingdom. Christianity arrived in the fourth century, whereas Judaism and local paganism

Happy Birthday to East Timor!

2018-05-20

The Portuguese School of Díli, the capital and largest city of East Timor. *Photo from Wikipedia May 20 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of East Timor from Indonesia in 2002. East Timor was colonised by Portugal in the 16th century, and was known as Portuguese Timor until November 28, 1975, when the Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor (FRETILIN) declared the territory’s independence. Nine days later, it was invaded and occupied by Indonesia and was declared Indonesia’s 27th province the following year. The Indonesian occupation of East Timor was characterized by a highly violent decades-long conflict between separatist

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