Prof.Dr Phan Huy Lê

Speaking at the certificate award ceremony, Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam Umeda Kunio said that Prof. Phan Huy Lê was not only a leading Vietnamese historian, but also a knowledgeable scholar of Japan-Vietnam relations.

According to Ambassador Umeda Kunio, one of Prof. Lê’s great contributions was his role as Vice President of the Vietnam-Japan Friendship Association since 1987 to the strengthening of friendship ties between Vietnam and Japan.

Prof. Lê participated in many cultural exchange events, including academic research activities of the two countries. The professor made great contributions to the clarification of the historical ties between Hoi An ancient town and Japan from the 16th century, contributing to the building of the foundation for the current friendship and relations between the two nations.

As President of the Vietnam Association of Historical Sciences from 1988, Prof. Phan Huy Lê also made significant contributions to the training of Vietnamese researchers in Japanese Studies. He successfully led the Vietnam-Japan conference on the 100th anniversary of the Movement of Dong Du in 2005, and the activities to mark the 70th anniversary of Phan Bội Châu’s death and the 100th anniversary of Japanese doctor Asaba Sakitaro’s death in 2010.

 “Thanks to these events, more people from the two countries have known about the Movement of Dong Du as well as the friendship between Phan Bội Châu and doctor Asaba Sakitaro”, said the Ambassador.

Prof. Phan Huy Lê also contributed greatly to the developing of the major of high-quality Japanese Studies at the Faculty of Oriental Studies, VNU University of Social Sciences and Humanities.  

According to Mrs Hoàng Như Lan – Late Prof. Phan Huy Lê’s spouse, Prof. Lê was well aware of the importance of cultural diversity and international academic cooperation. He always appreciated the role of cooperation with Japan to the promotion of international academic exchanges in Vietnam.

She said, “Since the mid-1980s, he had built academic cooperation with leading Japanese professors. Over the past 40 years, as a scholar, he had contributed much to the deepening of mutual understanding between the two countries”.