Madeleine Jalil Umewaka, of MJU public relations, was at Narita Airport early Wednesday morning. She was there to welcome the Special Olympics team of 12 athletes from her native Lebanon, and travel with them to Iida in Nagano Prefecture.
"Iida is hosting Lebanon as part of the 8th Special Olympics World Winter Games, which open Sunday and run through March 5 in Nagano," she explains, meeting at a favorite haunt, the Cerulean Hotel in Tokyo's Shibuya.
"But I shall not only be helping Lebanon, but all the participating Arab nations." So saying, she begins to reel off the list: the United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Qatar, Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia, Syria, Kuwait and, yes, even Iraq. "In such difficult circumstances it's amazing that Iraq is sending 10 athletes. I'm sure spectators will rise to the occasion, give them a special cheer when they enter the stadium."