【Photo Diary】 (1) Visit to Azerbaijan and Portugal
Published on July 12, 2022
I would like to share with you some of the photographs taken during my visit to Azerbaijan and Portugal between June 23 and July 7, 2022. I traveled to Baku to join the True Colors Festival where a variety of musicians and dancers with disabilities from Japan and Azerbaijan performed marking the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. In Lisbon, I attended the United Nations Ocean Conference.
[June 24, Baku, Azerbaijan]
From left: Mr. Ilgar Rahimov, president of the National Paralympic Committee of Azerbaijan; an interpreter; Mr. Ichiro Kabasawa, executive director of The Nippon Foundation; and the author.
With artists who performed at the True Colors Festival. From left: Mr. Showji Kawasaki, a guitarist; the author; Ms. Akiko Tomida, a taiko (Japanese drum) percussionist; and Mr. Yusuke Anazawa, a violinist.
Visiting the Paralympics Sports Complex.
With visually impaired judoka, including Paralympic medalists.
With Mr. Parvin Mammadow (right), an Azerbaijan Paralympic powerlifter who won a bronze medal in the Men’s 49kg at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, and female powerlifter Ms. Zahza Dodoshova.
Observing archery practice.
Scene from the True Colors Festival in Azerbaijan.
Scene from the True Colors Festival in Azerbaijan.
With Ms. Nazrin Mirzazada, a Sasakawa fellow (class of 2016) who studied at the International Maritime Law Institute (IMLI) in Malta under The Nippon Foundation’s fellowship program. She is now chief legal adviser at the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technology.
[June 25, Baku, Azerbaijan]
Receiving a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test for the novel coronavirus at my hotel.
[June 26, Baku, Azerbaijan]
With Mr. Rufat Hajili, head of the International Relations and Marketing Department, National Paralympic Committee of Azerbaijan. He came to Heydar Aliyev International Airport to see me off when I took a 7 a.m. flight from Baku to Istanbul. His wife, Ms. Sevda Valiyeva, won a gold medal at the Paralympic games in Tokyo!
