Nationalist Phan Boi Chau remembered in Japan

Fukuroi city in Japan’s Fukuoka prefecture, on Sept. 11 hosted an event to commemorate the 70 th death anniversary of Phan Boi Chau - the initiator of Vietnam’s Dong Du (Visit the East) Movement, and the 100 th death anniversary of Asaba Sakitaro, a local supporter of the Vietnamese revolutionaries.

Present at the event, Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan Nguyen Phu Binh recalled that a century ago in response to Phan Boi Chau-initiated Dong Du movement, hundreds of Vietnamese students went to study in Japan in hope that they could help reform the country at their return.

These pioneers met with a lot of difficulties in Japan , however, they got whole-hearted assistance from Asaba Sakitaro, a medical doctor as well as people in Fukuroi, the ambassador remembered.

Although the Dong Du movement failed and those students had to go home, what doctor Asaba and Fukuroi residents had done for Chau and his followers remain forever in the Vietnamese people’s hearts, the diplomat stressed.

“Over more than 100 years, the world as well as Vietnam and Japan have seen many changes. The two countries have become each other’s strategic partner and their relationship has never been as good as it is now,” Binh said.

He expressed his gratitude to Fukuroi residents for caring for doctor Asaba’s tomb and the stele in memory of doctor Asaba that Phan Boi Chau erected in the compound of Jorin Umeyama pagoda during his visit to Japan in 1918.

The diplomat also expressed his hope that Fukuroi will increase its exchange of activities with the central city of Hue and other localities in Vietnam .

Fukuroi Mayor Hideyuki Harada affirmed that by organising this event, his city wants to boost its ties with Vietnam and said he hoped the Japan-Vietnam ties will continue to develop in the coming time.

During the event, the participants heard Professor Shiraishi Masaya from the Waseda University ( Tokyo ) presenting his research on history of the Dong Du movement and its supporters in the early 20 th century./.