After winning a Japanese award last month, St. Petersburg State University has renewed its resolve to play a key role in promoting Japanese studies and language training in Russia.</PARAGRAPH>
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<TD><FONT SIZE='1'><B> Viktor Rybin, head of the Japanese Philology Department at St. Petersburg State University, speaks
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<PARAGRAPH>'We are very encouraged that our efforts have drawn such recognition,' Viktor Rybin, head of the university's Japanese Philology Department, said after receiving the Japan Foundation Special Prize for Japanese-Language Education.</PARAGRAPH>
<PARAGRAPH>'Russian interest in Japan, such as cars, food, 'manga' –
, martial arts, and novels by Haruki Murakami, shows no signs of abating," he said during a visit to Tokyo. "We will keep pursuing our mission to boost Russian understanding of Japan."
Rybin believes the award honors not only Japanese-language training at the university but the 300-year history of Japanese studies in Russia, which find their roots in St. Petersburg.
The university has produced a number of prominent Japanologists. They include Nikolai Konrad, who helped translate "Hojo-ki" ("The Ten Foot Square Hut") and "Ise Monogatari" ("Tales of Ise") into Russian, and Serge Elisseeff, a Harvard University professor known for teaching former U.S. Ambassador to Japan Edwin Reischauer, among others.
Elisseeff became the first Westerner to undergo higher education in Japan. He graduated from Tokyo Imperial University in 1912, specializing in works by haiku master Matsuo Basho.
