This evening I was invited by Mr. Kedax Bhakta Mathema, the Ambassador of Nepal and Mrs.Mathema to meet Dr. Pramod Shrestha and Mrs. Rita Shrestha at a dinner served at the Ambassador's residence.

From left: Prof. Pramod, Tatsuro Matsuoka, Hideo Kitagawa, Akira Kawahara, Katsuya Yamada and Mrs. Pramod	From left: Front line Mrs. Pramod, Mrs. Hayashi (Chieko Annen, mezzo- soprano singer) and Mrs. Ambassador, Rear line Prof. Pramod, the Ambassador and Prof. Kunio Hayashi of Jochi University

Four of those who attended a welcome party of Mr. and Mrs. Pramod at MEGA.WEB on October 13, namely Messrs. Matsuoka, Kitagawa, Yamada and Kawahara were invited. Other than us, two professors from universities (one of them with wife) joined the dinner. At a pre-dinner cocktail, the Ambassador told us how he made efforts to promote exports of their products to Japan. The export of Nepal tea is now going well in order. At present, he is concentrating to sell shawls made of soft hairs which grow on the underbelly of an animal in Himalaya looking like goat, he said. This native shawls are much lighter and more soft compared with cashmere and are rated as the highest grade in the world by their traders.

When all of attendants took seats on a dinner table, the Ambassador rose up and made a speech in excllent English as follows. He told ”It was 1899, just a hundred years ago, when Nepalese met a Japanese first time. A Japanese monk sneaked into Nepal at the time when Nepal was a closed country just like Japan in old days. He looked like Nepalese and spoke well in Nepalese. Many Nepalese belived he was a Nepalese. He was very active and visited many villeges in Himalaya and at last he went alone to Tibet climbing up and down many mountains. It is really a coincidence that we can meet together here after one hundred years from the first entry of a Japanese to our country."

The dinner started with an hors d'oeuvre of 'momo' (something like gyoza ) and vgetable salada. The main dish was like curried rice with ingredients of beans, chickens and etc. The foods were not so hot as in Nepal. Mrs. Ambassador said they were cooked for Japanese by using less spice. She said also that soy sauce was never used. We enjoyed Nepalese foods.

She said in Nepal there were 70 languages, not dialect. Those who lived in deep valleys have survived without having any communication to the outside world. These languages have no grammer and no letter. They could not communicate each other at all. The Nepalese are spreading over the country these days and people are becoming understandable each other little by little.

About the end of dinner, the ambasador asked us to suggest what would be the best measure to get more aged tourists from Japan. He said although not a few Japanese tourists came, the most of them were youths of twenties and thirties. I replied immediately the best way might have non-stop direct flight from Tokyo to Kathmandu. At present, we have three flights a week for Kathmandu from Kansai airport which stop at Shanghi for fueling on the way.

At the after dinner social talks, the Ambassador as well as Mr. Pramod said two new high grade luxurious hotels were recently opened in Pokara and its neighberhood and eight golf courses are now available in Nepal. They recommended us so earnestly resulting in our interim promise to re-visit Nepal in November 2000.

As one of the guests was a singer, the ambassador played a CD of their native music. It sounded just like Japanese. Its meldy is almost the same as of Japanese. The sound of bamboo flute was the same as of Japanese Shakuhachi (bamboo horn.)

Although I brought my note PC "Vaio" to show my travel diary to them, I could not connect it with outside line. I gave printed copies of a page dated October 13 when we invited them to MEGA.WEB.

Mr. and Mrs. Ambassador gave us a wonderful dinner as well as Mr. and Mrs. Pramod made the party enjoyable as much as possible. We retreated from the embassy thanking their kind hospitalities. We enjoyed very much this evening.

Back to Calender