The Japanese Government has conferred the 2020 Autumn Imperial Decorations, ‘The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays’ upon Zafar Mahmood, visiting professor at the Department of Japanese Language, National University of Modern Languages (NUML) Islamabad, in recognition of his significant contribution towards the promotion of Japanese language in Pakistan and strengthening friendly relations between the two nations.
The Japanese Ambassador to Pakistan H.E. Matsuda Kuninori conferred the imperial decoration on Mahmood on Tuesday. The conferral ceremony was held at his official residence with limited participants of family and close friends of the decoration recipient.
Ambassador Kuninori congratulated Zafar on receiving the prestigious honour. He stated that language plays an important role in bridging the gap among nations and their people while fostering mutual understanding of each other’s culture, values and traditions.
“It is heartening to say that the Japanese language is becoming increasingly popular in Pakistan like Urdu is in Japan. Surely this would pave the way for further consolidating people-to-people interactions,” he hoped.
While expressing his gratitude upon receiving the Japanese Imperial decoration, Mahmood said, “I pay my sincere gratitude to His Majesty the Emperor and the Japanese Government for honouring me with this prestigious award.”
Mahmood’s ties with Japan began when he began his studies in the Nagoya University through a scholarship programme offered by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) of Japan in 1979. After graduation, he extended his stay for over 10 years working for an information technology company.
In 2000, he joined the MEXT Alumni Association of Pakistan (MAAP) and has since been working to promote educational exchanges between the two countries. Mahmood also assisted the Embassy of Japan to select talented Pakistani youth for future MEXT scholarship programmes.
He also contributed greatly to the promotion of the Japanese language in Pakistan. His venture has now taken more popularity as he has begun conducting the Japanese Language Capability Test (JLCT) in different cities of the country after becoming Pakistan’s only official agent in 2018.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 10th, 2021.
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