Princess Hitachi and Akie Abe visit Sri Lankan stall in Tokyo

Saturday, 30 August 2014 06:02 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Embassy of Sri Lanka in Japan participated in a Charity Bazaar organised by the Asia-Pacific Ladies Friendship Society (ALFS) in Tokyo. The ALFS, a charitable organisation founded in 1968 by Mutsuko Miki, spouse of former Prime Minister Takeo Miki, encompasses 26 countries from the Asia-Pacific region.

The key objectives of the ALFS are to strengthen mutual understanding and deepen the friendship among women of the Asia-Pacific region as well as to conduct charitable and philanthropic functionaries and donate those funds to the member countries of ALFS. The current President of the ALFS is Haruko Komura, the spouse of the Vice President of the Liberal Democratic Party and the former Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, Masahiko Komura. The Seva Vanitha Unit of the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Japan organised a Sri Lankan stall at the said Charity Bazaar consisting of Ceylon tea, handicrafts, traditional Sri Lankan food and other products of Sri Lanka, among others. The Chief Guest of the ALFS Charity Bazaar was Princess Hanako Hitachi, the spouse of the brother of the Emperor of Japan and the Guest of Honour was Akie Abe, spouse of the Prime Minister of Japan. Both Princess Hitachi and Akie Abe visited the Sri Lankan stall at the Charity Bazaar. The Ambassador Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda and Ashoka Karannagoda took this opportunity to explain the diverse kinds of tea grown in different parts of the country and other handicrafts and products of Sri Lanka to the Chief Guests and to the visiting participants at the ALFS Charity Bazaar. In the past, ALFS had gifted medical equipment to the Cancer Hospital in Maharagama and to Lady Ridgeway Hospital in Colombo.