H.E. Ambassador Hiroyuki Kishino celebrated the completion ceremony of the Project for Modernizing the Hominid Fossil Facility in the presence of Minister of Culture, H.E. Ato Amin Abdulkadir and Director General of the Ethiopian National Museum, Ato Yonas Desta, on 28 February 2012. The project included the installation of safe cabinets, microscopes and projectors donated to the National Museum of Ethiopia.

Remarking on the completion of the project for the Japanese Cultural grant-in-aid scheme donated in 2008 under the Project for Modernizing the Hominid Fossil Facility at the National Museum, H.E. Mr. Ambassador said that the project enabled the safe storage of human fossils that are “world treasure” class, and promoted international scientific research that would lead to further discoveries of such human fossils.

“The history of the human being is the biggest mystery that we still have to explore further and Africa is the cradle of mankind where Lucy was discovered for all posterity.  When we dig into this mystery and learn about our ancestors through the study of ancient fossils, we learn more about ourselves”, H.E. Ambassador Kishino said.

According to His Excellency, the cabinet and microscopes are conducive to world class anthropological research, and the storage cabinets can be used by a number of international researchers to store more findings in the future.

“The Ardipithecus ramidus, which is 4.4 million years old and one of the most important hominid fossils in the world has already been safely stored in one of the iron safe cabinets”, H.E. Ambassador Kishino remarked.

“Japan’s contribution to the scientific research is worth mentioning”, Minister of Culture and Tourism H.E. Ato Amin Abdulkadir said.

Speaking on the immense contribution of the Japanese Government in the cultural sector, H.E. Ato Amin further recalled the Aichi Expo Japan where Ethiopia’s famous 160,000 years old archeological finding, Homo Sapiens, was show-cased.

“Japan has also played a key role in organizing a special section in this museum that demonstrates the time line that truly shows Ethiopia as the unparalleled origin of the human species”, H.E. Minster Amin underlined.

He also praised Professor Gen Suwa, a tireless Japanese researcher, for his dedicated research conducted mostly in Konso, Middle Awash and Chorora.

“We are honoured to witness increased support to the research laboratory equipment for our museum, and it is my strong belief that cooperation in research and infrastructural development will continue to promote international scientific research”, H.E. Ato Amin said.

The Director General of the National Museum, Ato Yonas Desta on his part hailed Japanese Official Development Assistance (ODA) for its primary focus on Human Resource Development, Organizational Reinforcement and Institutional Capacity Building.

Professor Gen Suwa of Tokyo University, Dr. Berhane Asfaw and Dr. Yonas Beyene have briefed H.E. Ambassador Kishino about the Ardi fossils among others.