Sept. 17 - To honor America's 2.5 million Muslims and our many Muslim friends living in Japan, Ambassador Roos hosted an Iftar this year at his home.

Iftar refers to the evening meal when Muslims break the fast after sunset during the holy month of Ramadan. American Muslims come from many different countries, so they bring different cultural traditions about Iftar when they emigrate to America. However, one tradition that many American Muslim communities share is to break the fast together with family and friends.

We worked closely with Islamic religious leaders to create a festive atmosphere at the Ambassador's home while preparing foods to serve in accord with Islamic dietary rules. At precisely 6:19 p.m. an Imam offered a prayer and announced that the sun had set. Then Ambassador Roos invited everyone to the Great Room where his staff offered drinks such as water and juices, as well as snacks such as dates, yogurt, vegetable soup and boiled eggs for our guests to break their fast.

Then we moved to the diningroom for a wonderful buffet meal consisting of halal foods from many different countries. Ann and I particularly enjoyed the wonderful bastilla (pigeon pie) from Morocco, baba ganouj (mashed eggplant with olive oil and garlic) from Egypt, and the lamb curry from South Asia. There were too many different dishes to taste them all. We then returned to the Great Room to eat and relax with many Ambassadors and their spouses from Africa, the Middle East and South and East Asia, as well as Muslim community leaders living in Japan.

After our meal, Ambassador Roos made some short remarks commenting on President Obama's desire to reach out to the Islamic world in friendship. The Dean of the Islamic diplomatic corps, Ambassador Jean-Christian Obame from Gabon, responded with a gracious toast of appreciation. This year marked the fifth time that a U.S. Ambassador in Japan has hosted an Iftar during the holy month of Ramadan, and it is becoming a wonderful Embassy Tokyo tradition.

Until next time,

Jim