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Egypt’s Al-Azhar, Coptic Church Call for Confronting Extremism

Dignitaries at Monday's event. (Al-Azhar press office)
Dignitaries at Monday's event. (Al-Azhar press office)
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Egypt’s Al-Azhar, Coptic Church Call for Confronting Extremism

Dignitaries at Monday's event. (Al-Azhar press office)
Dignitaries at Monday's event. (Al-Azhar press office)

Participants at a conference organized by Egypt’s Al-Azhar and the Coptic Church underscored on Monday the pivotal role played by the Egyptian Family House in countering terrorism and maintaining a unified national fabric.

At the event marking the 10th anniversary of the founding the Egyptian Family House, they stressed “the need to confront terrorism and extremism and raise awareness of the values of citizenship.”

The conference was attended by Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, Coptic Orthodox Church Pope Tawadros II, former president Adly Mansour and Justice Minister Omar Marwan on behalf of Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, as well as several other ministers, ambassadors, diplomats, Islamic scholars and heads of Egyptian churches.

Al-Azhar and churches across Egypt established the Egyptian Family House to allow religious institutions to contribute to the state’s national, security and political efforts in protecting the nation, said al-Tayeb.

“Al-Azhar’s recognition of religious institutions inside and outside Egypt aims at bringing together humane values between divine religions,” he added.

Pope Tawadros, for his part, said that “the term ‘family house’ reflects good morals.”

The world is currently facing tough challenges caused by the pandemic, which led to rifts among people due to the social distancing measures, he remarked, stressing the importance of cooperation to counter all challenges.

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Varieties

Tokyo Police Care for Lost Umbrellas, Keys, Flying Squirrels

This photo taken on August 2, 2024 shows thousands of umbrellas in containers at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Lost and Found Center in the Iidabashi area of central Tokyo. (Photo by Richard A. Brooks / AFP)
This photo taken on August 2, 2024 shows thousands of umbrellas in containers at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Lost and Found Center in the Iidabashi area of central Tokyo. (Photo by Richard A. Brooks / AFP)
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Tokyo Police Care for Lost Umbrellas, Keys, Flying Squirrels

This photo taken on August 2, 2024 shows thousands of umbrellas in containers at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Lost and Found Center in the Iidabashi area of central Tokyo. (Photo by Richard A. Brooks / AFP)
This photo taken on August 2, 2024 shows thousands of umbrellas in containers at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Lost and Found Center in the Iidabashi area of central Tokyo. (Photo by Richard A. Brooks / AFP)

Lost your umbrella, keys, or perhaps a flying squirrel? In Tokyo, the police are almost certainly taking meticulous care of it.

In Japan, lost items are rarely disconnected from their owners for long, even in a mega city like Tokyo -- population 14 million.

"Foreign visitors are often surprised to get their things back," said Hiroshi Fujii, a 67-year-old tour guide at Tokyo's vast police lost-and-found center.

"But in Japan, there's always an expectation that we will."

It's a "national trait" to report items found in public places in Japan, he told AFP. "We pass down this custom of reporting things we picked up, from parents to children."

Around 80 staff at the police center in Tokyo's central Iidabashi district ensure items are well organized using a database system, its director Harumi Shoji told AFP.

Everything is tagged and sorted to hasten a return to its rightful owner.

ID cards and driving licenses are most frequently lost, Shoji said.

- Flying squirrels, iguanas -

But dogs, cats and even flying squirrels and iguanas have been dropped off at police stations, where officers look after them "with great sensitivity" -- consulting books, online articles and vets for advice.

More than four million items were handed in to Tokyo Metropolitan Police last year, with about 70 percent of valuables such as wallets, phones and important documents successfully reunited with their owners.

"Even if it's just a key, we enter details such as the mascot keychain it's attached to," Shoji said in a room filled with belongings, including a large Cookie Monster stuffed toy.

Over the course of one afternoon, dozens of people came to collect or search for their lost property at the center, which receives items left with train station staff or at small local police stations across Tokyo if they are not claimed within two weeks.

If no one turns up at the police facility within three months, the unwanted item is sold or discarded.

The number of lost items handled by the center is increasing as Japan welcomes a record influx of tourists post-pandemic, and as gadgets become smaller, Shoji said.

Wireless earphones and hand-held fans are an increasingly frequent sight at the lost-and-found center, which has been operating since the 1950s.

But a whopping 200 square meters is dedicated to lost umbrellas -- 300,000 of which were brought in last year, with only 3,700 of them returned, Shoji said.

"We have a designated floor for umbrellas... during the rainy season, there are so many umbrellas that the umbrella trolley is overflowing and we have to store them in two tiers."