This year marks the conclusion of the cooperation project between Japan and Kyrgyzstan for the collection, study, and preservation of archaeological finds in Central Asia. This was announced by the project leader from the Japanese side, Dr. Masashi Abe, Director of the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties (NRICP) in Tokyo, at the international seminar "Preservation of Cultural Heritage in Central Asia" taking place today in Bishkek.
This meeting of historians and archaeologists from Kyrgyzstan and Japan is being held at the main building of the National Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic (NAS KR). The seminar is the eighth annual event of the project. It is organized by the Institute of History and Cultural Heritage (IHCH) of NAS KR, the NRICP of Tokyo and Nara (Japan), with the aim of protecting the cultural heritage of the Central Asian region.
In addition to historians and archaeologists, the meeting was attended by the President of NAS KR, Academician Abdygany Erkebaev, Vice President of NAS KR, Academician A.A. Aldashev, as well as the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Japan to the Kyrgyz Republic, Takayuki Koike.
As emphasized during the meeting by Dr. Masashi Abe, this joint project of historians and archaeologists from both countries is taking place in this format for the first time. "For the first time in the history of our countries' cooperation, there is interaction and exchange of experience in specialized fields of archaeological science, such as zooarchaeology and paleobotany. On the Japanese side, both sciences are represented by our specialists Hiru Kansha and Kazuya Yamauchi," he noted. He added that, within the framework of the project, this year, archaeologists from NAS KR and the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University visited Japan for an exchange of experience. In turn, several employees and interns of the project from the Kyrgyz side have enrolled in graduate studies at the National Academy of Sciences of Kyrgyzstan.
As highlighted at the opening of the seminar by President of NAS Abdygany Erkebaev, "Since the first half of the 19th century, there has been a stable interest from other nations in the culture and history of our country. However, this interest was primarily observed from Russian researchers and, to a very small extent, from their Western European colleagues. Since the end of the last century, when Kyrgyzstan became independent, the situation has somewhat changed. Now, we are attracting interest as equal partners from various countries. First of all, those with which the Kyrgyz have long-standing ties of genetic and cultural kinship. The Japanese are among those nations related to us."
At the opening of the meeting, the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Japan in Kyrgyzstan, Takayuki Koike, expressed hope that such cooperation between our countries in the humanitarian sphere will soon serve as a prologue to closer and more fruitful partnerships in the study of the historical heritage of the Asian continent.
The seminar will last until November 1.
