National Day | My Eyes Tokyo

Happy Birthday to Seychelles!

2018-06-29

Victoria, the capital of Seychelles. *Photo from Wikipedia June 29 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Seychelles from United Kingdom in 1976. The islands were appropriated and settled by France in the 18th century. African slaves were brought to the island, and the characteristic Seychellois Creole language developed. Britain took possession of the islands in the early 19th century. The Seychelles became an independent republic in 1976. Seychelles, officially the Republic of Seychelles, is an archipelago and country in the Indian Ocean. The 115-island country lies 1,500 kilometers (932 mi) east of mainland East Africa. *Reference: Wikipedia

Happy Birthday to Djibouti!

2018-06-27

Djibouti City, the eponymous capital and largest city of Djibouti. *Photo from Wikipedia June 27 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Djibouti from France in 1977. In the late 19th century, the colony of French Somaliland was established following treaties signed by the ruling Somali and Afar sultans with the French and its railroad to Dire Dawa (and later Addis Ababa) allowed it to quickly supersede Zeila as the port for southern Ethiopia and the Ogaden. It was subsequently renamed to the French Territory of the Afars and the Issas in 1967. A decade later, the Djiboutian people voted

Happy Birthday to Madagascar!

2018-06-26

Moraingy, a traditional martial art of Madagascar. *Photo from Wikipedia June 26 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Madagascar from France in 1960. Until the late 18th century, the island of Madagascar was ruled by a fragmented assortment of shifting sociopolitical alliances. Beginning in the early 19th century, most of the island was united and ruled as the Kingdom of Madagascar by a series of Merina nobles. The monarchy collapsed in 1897 when the island was absorbed into the French colonial empire, from which the island gained independence in 1960. Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, and previously known

Happy Birthday to Mozambique!

2018-06-25

Pupils in front of their school in Mozambique. *Photo from Wikipedia June 25 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Mozambique from Portugal in 1975. Between the 1st and 5th centuries AD, Bantu-speaking peoples migrated from farther north and west. Swahili (and later Arab) commercial ports existed along the coasts until the arrival of Europeans. The area was explored by Vasco da Gama in 1498 and colonised by Portugal from 1505. The country was an important place where Somali merchants enslaved the local population, starting what is now known as the Somali slave trade. After over four centuries of Portuguese

Happy Statehood Day of Croatia and Slovenia!

2018-06-25

Ljubljana, the capital and largest city of Slovenia. *Photo from Wikipedia June 25 is Statehood Day of Croatia and Slovenia. It is a holiday that occurs to celebrate their 1991 declaration of independence from Yugoslavia. Croatia In 1918, after World War I, Croatia was included in the unrecognized State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs which seceded from Austria-Hungary and merged into the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The fascist Croatian puppet state backed by Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany existed during World War II. After the war, Croatia became a founding member and a federal constituent of the Socialist Federal Republic of

Happy National Day of Luxembourg!

2018-06-23

Old City of Luxembourg at night. Luxembourg, also known as Luxembourg City, is the capital city of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. *Photo from Wikipedia June 23 is Grand Duke’s Official Birthday, also known as Luxembourgish National Day. It is celebrated on 23 June, although this has never been the actual birthday of any ruler of Luxembourg. Although its recorded history can be traced back to Roman times, the history of Luxembourg proper is considered to begin in 963. Over the following five centuries, the powerful House of Luxembourg emerged, but its extinction put an end to the country’s independence.

Happy Birthday to Iceland!

2018-06-17

Singer-songwriter Björk, the best-known Icelandic musician. *Photo from Wikipedia Icelandic National Day, celebrates the independence of Iceland from Kingdom of Denmark in 1944. According to the ancient manuscript, the settlement of Iceland began in the year 874 AD when the Norwegian chieftain Ingólfr Arnarson became the first permanent settler on the island. In the following centuries, Norwegians, and to a lesser extent other Scandinavians, emigrated to Iceland, bringing with them thralls of Gaelic origin. The island was governed as an independent commonwealth under the “Althing”, one of the world’s oldest functioning legislative assemblies. Following a period of civil strife, Iceland

Happy Russia Day!

2018-06-12

Luzhniki Stadium, the largest football stadium in Russia. It will host 7 games of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, including the opening and the final matches. *Photo from Wikipedia June 12 is Russia Day, the national holiday of the Russian Federation. It commemorates the adoption of the Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) on June 12, 1990. Following the Russian Revolution, the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic became the largest and leading constituent of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the world’s first constitutionally socialist state. The Soviet Union played a decisive role in

Happy Birthday to the Philippines!

2018-06-12

Binondo, the oldest Chinatown in the world, in Manila, the capital of the Philippines. *Photo from Wikipedia June 12 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of the Philippines from Spain in 1898. The arrival of Ferdinand Magellan in Homonhon Island in 1521 marked the beginning of Hispanic colonization. In 1543, Spanish explorer Ruy López de Villalobos named the archipelago Las Islas Filipinas in honor of Philip II of Spain. With the arrival of Miguel López de Legazpi from Mexico City, in 1565, the first Hispanic settlement in the archipelago was established. The Philippines became part of the Spanish Empire for

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

Interviews with Tokyo People Achieving Dreams