(Photo: Japan Embassy, Colombo)

Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister, Mahinda Rajapaksa, has expressed his appreciation to Japan for its long-standing support for Sri Lanka’s national television broadcaster, SLRC.

Mr Rajapaksa presented a token of appreciation to the Japanese Ambassador, Mizukoshi Hideaki, at a function in Colombo on 11 March marking SLRC’s recent 40th anniversary.

SLRC was launched in February 1982 with financial support and expertise from Japan. Since then, its facilities and equipment have been upgraded with continuous Japanese support, using Japanese technology.

At the function, Mr Mizukoshi expressed his gratitude for the long cooperation between Japan and SLRC.

Hr recalled how popular the Japanese drama series Oshin had been when screened on SLRC in the 1980s and hoped a new icon of friendship, the “next Oshin”, would be found who would bridge and blend the hearts of the two peoples as one.

Oshin, which portrays the life of a businesswoman from childhood to old age, originally aired on Japan’s public broadcaster, NHK, in 1983-1984. It was shown in more than 60 other countries and was particularly popular in Asia.