Africa | My Eyes Tokyo

If I hadn’t come to Japan, I would’ve been dead already.

April 16 2023

日本語 Interviewed by Isao Tokuhashi Edited by Jennifer A. Hoff info@myeyestokyo.com Samuel Aning (a.k.a NANA YAW POP) Actor/Businessperson One day in April this year (2023), we were invited to an offline gathering organized by a newly established English school in Yokohama. The main purpose of the event was for English conversation learners to enjoy communicating in English while enjoying delicious dishes. There were several foreign nationals and one of them was Samuel Aning from Ghana, known as “POP,” who has been active in the Japanese entertainment industry for many years. Our seats happened to be next to POP’s and

Happy Birthday to Namibia!

March 21 2019

Children in Namibia. *Photo from Wikipedia March 21 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Namibia from South African mandate in 1990. In the late 19th century during European colonization, the German Empire established rule over most of the territory as a protectorate in 1884. It began to develop infrastructure and farming, and maintained this German colony until 1915, when South African forces defeated its military. After the end of World War I, in 1920 the League of Nations mandated the country to the United Kingdom, under administration by South Africa. It imposed its laws, including racial classifications and rules.

Happy Birthday to Tunisia!

March 20 2019

Tunis, the capital and the largest city of Tunisia. *Photo from Wikipedia March 20 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Tunisia from France in 1956. In ancient times, Tunisia was primarily inhabited by Berbers. Phoenician immigration began in the 12th century BC; these immigrants founded Carthage. A major mercantile power and a military rival of the Roman Republic, Carthage was defeated by the Romans in 146 BC. The Romans, who would occupy Tunisia for most of the next eight hundred years, introduced Christianity and left architectural legacies. After several attempts starting in 647, the Arabs conquered the whole of

Happy Birthday to Mauritius!

March 12 2019

Port-Louis, the Capital of Mauritius. *Photo from Wikipedia March 12 is National Day, celebrates the independence of Mauritius from the UK in 1968. The island of Mauritius was visited during the Middle Ages by the Arabs and then by the Portuguese. The island was uninhabited until the Dutch Republic established a colony in 1638, with the Dutch naming the island after Prince Maurice van Nassau. The Dutch colony was abandoned in 1710, and, five years later, the island became a French colony and was named Isle de France. Due to its strategic position, Mauritius was known as the “star and

Happy Birthday to Ghana!

March 06 2019

Traditional chiefs in Ghana in 2015. *Photo from Wikipedia March 6 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Ghana from the UK in 1957. The territory of present-day Ghana has been inhabited for millennia, with the first permanent state dating back to the 11th century. Numerous kingdoms and empires emerged over the centuries, of which the most powerful was the Kingdom of Ashanti. Beginning in the 15th century, numerous European powers contested the area for trading rights, with the British ultimately establishing control of the coast by the late 19th century. Following over a century of native resistance, Ghana’s current

Happy Birthday to Gambia!

February 18 2019

Market in Serekunda, the largest city in The Gambia. *Photo from Wikipedia February 18 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of the Gambia from the United Kingdom in 1965. The Gambia shares historical roots with many other West African nations in the slave trade, which was the key factor in the placing and keeping of a colony on the Gambia River, first by the Portuguese, during which era it was A Gâmbia, and later, on May 25, 1765, the Gambia was made a part of the British colony when the government formally assumed control, establishing the Province of Senegambia. On

Happy Birthday to Cameroon!

January 01 2019

School children in Cameroon *Photo from Wikipedia January 1 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Cameroon from France in 1960. Portuguese explorers reached the coast in the 15th century and named the area Rio dos Camarões (“Shrimp River”), which became Cameroon in English. Cameroon became a German colony in 1884 known as Kamerun. After World War I, the territory was divided between France and the United Kingdom as League of Nations mandates. The Union des Populations du Cameroun (UPC) political party advocated independence, but was outlawed by France in the 1950s, leading to the Cameroonian Independence War. In 1960,

Happy Birthday to Sudan!

January 01 2019

Sudanese women *Photo from Wikipedia January 1 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Sudan from United Kingdom in 1956. he early history of the Kingdom of Kush located in what is now northern Sudan along the Nile is intertwined with the history of ancient Egypt, in which it was united politically over several periods. By virtue of its proximity to ancient Egypt, the Sudan participated in the wider history of the Near East inasmuch as it was Christianized by the 6th century and Islamized in the 7th. The modern Republic of Sudan was formed in 1956 and inherited its

Happy Birthday to Kenya!

December 12 2018

Kenyan women. *Photo from Wikipedia December 12 is Jamhuri Day, celebrates the independence of Kenya from Britain in 1963. Throughout the centuries, the Kenyan Coast has played host to many merchants and explorers. In 1414, the Chinese trader and explorer Zheng He (鄭和) representing the Ming Dynasty visited the East African coast. Also Malindi (important Swahili settlement since the 14th century) authorities welcomed the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama in 1498. The colonial history of Kenya dates from the establishment of a German protectorate over the Sultan of Zanzibar’s coastal possessions in 1885, followed by the arrival of the Imperial British

Happy Birthday to Tanganyika (Tanzania)!

December 09 2018

A busy market in Dar es Salaam, the former capital as well as the most populous city in Tanzania. *Photo from Wikipedia December 9 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Tanganyika from Britain in 1961. Tanganyika was a sovereign state that existed from 1961 until 1964. It was situated between the Indian Ocean and the African Great Lakes. Before that, Tanganyika was a territory administered by the United Kingdom from 1916 until 1961. Prior to that, the territory was part of the German colony of “German East Africa”. The African Great Lakes nation of Tanzania dates formally from 1964,

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