Representative Dr. T.G. Arya addressing the audience

Tokyo: On 11 February 2025, Tibetans and Japanese supporters gathered at the Shinjuku Historical Museum Hall in Tokyo to observe the 112th anniversary of the 13th Dalai Lama’s reaffirmation of Tibetan Independence Day in 1913. The Students for Free Tibet (SFT) and the Tibetan Community in Japan (TCJ) organised the event to enlighten the public about the importance of this historical day and refute the Chinese claim that Tibet has been part of China since ancient times.

Tsering Dorjee, President of the SFT, and Dorjee Shiota, President of the TCJ, welcomed the participants and briefed them about the importance of the event. The Tibetan and Japanese national anthems were sung, and a minute of silence was observed for the victims of the earthquake in Tibet and for the late Kasur Gyalo Thondup, who died recently at the age of 97.

The organisers have invited Prof. Ishihama Yumiko of Waseda University and Dr. Tsewang Gyalpo Arya of the Liaison Office of H.H. the Dalai Lama for Japan and East Asia as the two guest speakers.

Professor Ishihama Yumiko made a presentation on Tibetan history, the Dalai Lamas, and Japanese visitors to Tibet in the early 20th century. She also discussed the Great Games played by the British India, Russia, and China. She commented that the talk event coincides the Japanese National Day, the day when the first Japanese Emperor Jimmu ascended the throne in 660 BC.

Representative Dr. Tsewang Gyalpo Arya talked about how Tibet has been an independent nation since ancient times and how the CCP is distorting history to assert its claim on Tibet. He informed them that the both Yuan and Qing dynasties were foreign dynasties that conquered China and that the CCP’s claim of inheriting Tibet from these two dynasties was baseless and a historical faux pas. He briefed the audience about the Chinese colonial boarding schools and how the CCP is trying to deprive the Tibetan children of their mother tongue, identity, and culture.

The talk event was attended by Tibetans and Japanese supporters, intellectuals, and the general public. Fujita Yoko of the SFT moderated the event. Information booklets on Tibet and Chinese colonial boarding schools were distributed during the event.

-Report filled by OoT, Tokyo