Africa | My Eyes Tokyo

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 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 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 Cameroon!

2018-05-20

Market in Yaoundé, the capital of Cameroon. *Photo from Wikipedia May 20 is Cameroon’s National Day, creation of a unitary state in 1972. 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.

Happy Birthday to Togo!

2018-04-27

Dancers in Togo. *Photo from Wikipedia April 27 is the Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Togo from France in 1960. Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a country in West Africa bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. From the 11th to the 16th century, various tribes entered the region from all directions. From the 16th century to the 18th century, the coastal region was a major trading center for Europeans in search of slaves, earning Togo and the surrounding region the name “The Slave Coast”. In 1884, Germany declared

Happy South Africa’s Freedom Day!

2018-04-27

Frederik de Klerk and Nelson Mandela, two of the driving forces in ending apartheid. *Photo from Wikipedia April 27 is the Freedom Day, which celebrates freedom and commemorates the first post-apartheid elections held on that day in 1994. The elections were the first non-racial national elections where everyone of voting age of over 18 from any race group, including foreign citizens permanently resident in South Africa, were allowed to vote. Previously, under the apartheid regime, non-whites had only limited rights to vote. On the first commemoration of the holiday, President Nelson Mandela addressed Parliament: “As dawn ushered in this day,

Happy Birthday to Sierra Leone!

2018-04-27

Main street in the east end of Freetown, the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. *Photo from Wikipedia April 27 is the Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Sierra Leone from United Kingdom in 1961. Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north-east, Liberia to the south-east, and the Atlantic Ocean to the south-west. The Afro-European colony was founded by a British organization for freed American slaves on March 11, 1792. There were about 1,192 African Americans who were relocated from Nova Scotia to Sierra

Happy Birthday to Tanzania!

2018-04-26

The market in Dar es Salaam, the former capital as well as the most populous city in Tanzania. *Photo from Wikipedia April 26 is the Union Day, which is Tanzania’s national day commemorating the unification of Tanganyika and the People’s Republic of Zanzibar in 1964. Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a sovereign state in eastern Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Kenya and Uganda to the north; Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west; Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south; and the Indian Ocean to the east. European

Voice of the Day Vol.3 – Madagascar Embassy

2016-06-26

Interviewed by Isao Tokuhashi Mail to: info@myeyestokyo.com This interview series celebrates each national day in the world through an interview. The third episode is brought to you from Madagascar, which celebrates the independence of the country from France on June 26. In commemoration of the day, we asked the Embassy of Madagascar for an interview and received answers from them. 日本語 Q1. Where is your embassy located in Tokyo? The Madagascar Embassy is beautifully located at 2-3-23, Moto-azabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo, near the Arisugawa Park and the Aiiku Clinic, just about 7mn from Hiroo Station. *MAP Q2. What are

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