Happy Birthday to Mali!

Dancers in traditional costume. *Photo from Wikipedia August 17 is Independence Day, celebrates the proclamation of Indonesia’s independence from Japan in 1945. The earliest evidence of Islamised populations in Indonesia dates to the 13th century in northern Sumatra; other Indonesian areas gradually adopted Islam which became the dominant religion in Java and Sumatra by the end of the 16th century. For the most part, Islam overlaid and mixed with existing cultural and religious influences. Europeans such as the Portuguese arrived in Indonesia from the 16th century seeking to monopolize the sources of valuable nutmeg, cloves, and cubeb pepper in Maluku.

Interviewed & written by Isao Tokuhashi Mail to: itokuhashi@myeyestokyo.com   Mohamed Bashir (Sudan) Mutual fund employee （He’s been in Japan since 2000） Interviewees whom we’ve talked to so far told us about their life in Tokyo or Japan through their eyes. But today we introduce you to a man who can have nothing meet his eyes. His name is Mohamed Bashir from Sudan, a country in northeastern Africa. He smiles wonderfully at us but he lost his sight at age 11. He’s not been able to see anything since then. But Bashir looks very happy! While we heard his story,

Torii (鳥居, a traditional Japanese gate most commonly found at the entrance of or within a Shinto shrine) in Liberdade, São Paulo. Liberdade is home to the largest Japanese community outside Japan in the world. *Photo from Wikipedia September 7 is Independence day, celebrates the independence of Brazil from Portugal in 1822. The first European to colonize Brazil was Pedro Álvares Cabral on April 22, 1500 under the sponsorship of the Kingdom of Portugal. From the 16th to the early 19th century, Brazil was a colony and a part of the Portuguese Empire. Brazil remained a Portuguese colony until 1808,