March 11, 2006	Saturday	Safar 10, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, March 10: Japanese ambassador Nobuaki Tanaka on Friday said that his country wanted long-term cultural ties with Pakistan along with trade.

Speaking at a farewell reception hosted in the honour of 12 Pakistani students selected by the Japanese education ministry for the higher education scholarship, Mr Tanaka said he was Japan was not a mere goods producing country because there were people who made these goods and they had emotions and feelings like other human beings. “Japan has a cultural and family life with high values and norms,” he added.

He expressed the hope that the budding minds from Pakistan would further enhance their knowledge while studying in the Japanese institutions of higher education and would also taste the cultural life there, which was also a part of Asia cultures.

Sikandar Khan, a Pakistan man living in Japan for the past 43 years and a member of the same alumni said Japan’s cultural life was like an alcohol which grew on people with the passage of time.

He said the students selected for the scholarships would not only increase their knowledge but would also act as cultural ambassadors of Japan in Pakistan.