The honour was bestowed in recognition of Khalil’s significant contributions to strengthening Japan-Egypt relations and fostering friendship between the two countries.

The Japanese government announced the award on 29 April, and a formal decoration ceremony was held on 7 August at the residence of the Japanese Ambassador to Egypt Oka Hiroshi.

Japanese Ambassador Oka Hiroshi expressed his honour in hosting the ceremony to confer the prestigious Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon, upon Professor Karam Khalil on behalf of the Japanese government.

In his inaugural speech, he emphasized that the move comes in recognition of Professor Khalil’s exceptional contributions to strengthening Japan-Egypt relations through his promotion of Japanese language education.

He highlighted Khalil's academic journey, beginning as a student in the third cohort at Cairo University's Department of Japanese Language and Literature.

Following the completion of his doctorate at Japan's Tsukuba University, Khalil returned to Egypt as a pioneer in Japanese language teaching, dedicating over three decades to educating students at various Egyptian universities.

Khalil has had a long history of teaching Japanese in Egypt since 1985, making significant contributions to academic cooperation between Japan and Egypt.

He has taught at numerous institutions, including the Japanese Language Department at the Faculty of Arts, Cairo University; the Japanese Language Program, the Department of Asian Languages and Translation, Faculty of Languages and Translation, King Saud University, Saudi Arabia.

He also worked at the Japanese Language Department at the Faculties of Languages at Ain Shams and Aswan Universities; and at the Japanese Language Department, Faculty of Languages and Translation at Al-Ahram Canadian University.

Professor Karam Khalil with his colleagues, Japan's ambassdor Oka Hiroshi and his wife at their residence

The coronation ceremony was attended by a number of distinguished guests, including Professor Karam’s colleagues from his Japanese language studies, colleagues in teaching Japanese language and literature, members of the Japanese community in Egypt, and those involved in academic exchange between the two countries.

Former Ambassador of Egypt to Japan, Hisham Badr, General Coordinator of Egypt’s Initiative for Smart Green Projects, was also among the attendees.

During the ceremony, members of the Japanese Department Graduates Association at Cairo University, which Professor Karam helped found, presented him with a certificate of recognition.

The event was enhanced by a joint performance from professional flautist Safaa El-Guindy and her childhood friend, Japanese pianist Islam Kano, in celebration of the occasion.

The grand finale was a captivating performance by Japanese artist Yuzu, who played classical Japanese music on the traditional shamisen instrument.