Dubai, United Arab Emirates (CNN)– The Japanese ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Fumio Iwai, entered into an argument with tweeters, following he was asked, through his Twitter account, why the bride’s name was not mentioned in a wedding invitation.
The controversy began with a tweet by the Japanese ambassador, Thursday, in which he said: “I recently attended the wedding of the son of my old Saudi friend, and I noticed that the name of the bride is not mentioned in the invitation. Is this usually or differs from one family to another?”
The Japanese ambassador’s tweet collected regarding 2,000 comments, many of them criticizing the ambassador’s question or responses with other questions regarding Japanese customs or allegations that the ambassador responded to. He stressed that the reason for the question was a “strong desire” to learn more regarding the society in which he resides.
On Friday, the Japanese ambassador said in another tweet: “I realized through the debate between you that my understanding of your society is still very short and at the same time I realized that just asking an innocent question on the social media platform may lead to undesirable results sometimes. The proverb says: O stranger, be a writer and you have realized its meaning through this experience.”
This tweet collected regarding 1,200 comments, many of which welcomed the ambassador, his question and his desire to understand Saudi society more, and they also criticized the comments that attacked the ambassador because of his question.
@FumioIwai May God bless you with light, Ambassador, we love you and your question is nothing in it and you are not strange. You are one of us and us, and any unwelcome response represents only itself.
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