Vietnamese Japanese-language educator honored with Japan’s Order of the Rising Sun

He was sent to North Korea in 1967, at the age of 17, to study Japanese.

Emotional as he stepped up to receive the prestigious Japanese honor at a ceremony on Friday, the nearly 80-year-old Huong recalled the experiences that shaped his career and his lifelong connection with the Japanese language and culture.

In the winter of 1967, amid the fierce war in Vietnam, 17-year-old Huong was among more than a dozen Vietnamese students sent by the Vietnamese government to study in North Korea.

He returned to Vietnam in late 1972 and began teaching at Hanoi University of Foreign Languages, now Hanoi University, in early 1973.

At the time, Japanese-language education in Vietnam was still in its early stages, with a severe shortage of textbooks and teaching materials as well as a limited number of instructors.

“But with our love for the profession and belief in the importance of Japanese-language education, we worked together day by day — reading materials, compiling textbooks and developing the first training programs,” Huong recalled.

His first connection with the Japanese language began in North Korea. In 1989, he was sent to Japan for further study and research, becoming one of the first students at the Japanese Language Institute under the Japan Foundation.

After returning to Vietnam, he worked with teachers from the institute and his Vietnamese colleagues to develop Japanese-language textbooks and training programs suited to Vietnamese learners.

Another important chapter began in 2001, when Huong became involved with the Vietnam Association of Japanese Alumni and was later elected vice-chairman.

Together with the Japan Student Services Organization and other partners, the Vietnam Association of Japanese Alumni organized educational exhibitions and programs introducing Japan, its people and study opportunities there to young Vietnamese people.

“The Order of the Rising Sun is a great honor for me, but I receive this prestigious award with gratitude and humility because I understand that many people have worked alongside me and contributed to this journey,” Huong said.

Promoting people-to-people exchanges between Vietnam and Japan

When Huong was sent to North Korea to study Japanese, Vietnam and Japan had not yet established diplomatic relations.

However, according to a person who was also sent to Pyongyang at the time, Japanese was not regarded as a language that Vietnamese students were prohibited from studying.

Learning Japanese was not simply a way to understand another Asian nation, but also part of Vietnam’s efforts to prepare its people for the future.

Few of those sent to North Korea in 1967 could have imagined that six years later, Japan would become one of the first U.S. allies to establish diplomatic relations with Vietnam after the signing of the Paris Peace Accords.

At the ceremony to present the Order of the Rising Sun to Huong, Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam Ito Naoki explained why the Japanese government had decided to confer the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette, on Huong.

Among his many achievements, Ito Naoki highlighted Huong’s compilation and publication of numerous valuable Japanese-language textbooks and teaching materials.

Under Huong’s guidance at Hanoi University, generations of students have gone on to contribute to the economic development of both Vietnam and Japan, serving as a natural bridge between the two countries.

Building on the early introductory textbooks, Huong compiled the Basic Japanese Learning Dictionary in 1997.

“The dictionary became so widely used that almost every Japanese-language learner in Vietnam knew about it,” the ambassador said.

Referring to the agreement reached by the two countries’ leaders during Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae’s visit to Vietnam in May to further strengthen people-to-people exchanges, Ito Naoki said Japanese-language education would play an increasingly important role in supporting and promoting ties between Vietnam and Japan.

The Order of the Rising Sun has a history of nearly 150 years, dating back to the reign of Emperor Meiji. It is divided into several classes, each with its own designation and accompanying insignia.

The Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun is the highest class. Japan has also awarded various classes of the order to Vietnamese individuals who have made significant contributions to bilateral relations.