The 8^th Viet Nam - Japan Festival kicked off at the Bien Dong (Sea Park) Park, Son Tra District, Da Nang on Thursday evening as a joint coordination between the Da Nang Department of Foreign Affairs and the Consulate General of Japan in Da Nang and leaders of Japanese governments.

Da Nang Party Committee Secretary Nguyen Van Quang (left) and People's Committee Vice Chairman Ho Ky Minh attended the opening ceremony of the Viet Nam - Japan Festival in 2023. Photo: X.D

Present at the event were representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Viet Nam, Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam Yamada Takio, Consul General of Japan in Da Nang Yakabe Yoshinori. On the Da Nang side, Da Nang Party Central Committee Secretary Nguyen Van Quang and People's Committee Vice Chairman Ho Ky Minh attended the event.

Addressing the opening ceremony, People's Committee Vice Chairman Ho Ky Minh said that over the years, cooperation between Da Nang and Japanese localities has continuously developed, achieved many practical results, became a bright spot in the Viet Nam - Japan extensive strategic partnership.

Till date, Da Nang has cooperated with 20 Japanese cities and provinces, especially having established friendly relationships and official cooperation with 4 Japanese cities, namely Kawasaki, Sakai, Yokohama and Kisarazu.

Japan has always been one of the leading partners in Da Nang. Japanese - invested projects in the city, actively contributing to promoting the Da Nang socio-economic development through technology transfer, human resource training, product diversification and competitiveness improvement.

Da Nang People's Committee Vice Chairman Ho Ky Minh delivered a speech at the opening ceremony of the Viet Nam - Japan Festival 2023. Photo: X.D

An important highlight in the picture of cultural exchange, enhancing friendship and understanding about Japan is the Viet Nam - Japan Festival, which was held for the first time in 2014.

Through 7 organisation occasions, this much-awaited festival has become an annual cultural event that is meaningful not only for Da Nang people, Japanese people living and working in the city but also for tourists near and far.

“I hope all citizens and tourists will accompany this event so as to contribute to creating a foundation for the development of bilateral relations in the next 50 years and after. The support given by the people of the two countries will create a premise for the sublimation of diplomatic relations and a boom in economic cooperation”, Vice Chairman Minh said.

This year, the festival is lasting from July 13 to 16 at East Sea Park, featuring 80 booths from major domestic and foreign brands, as well as a variety of companion activities, spanning many fields such as culture, education, tourism, sports and business promotion activities.

In particular, there are many cultural exchange activities between the two countries, notably the 4-night art programme continuously introducing Vietnamese folk art and musical instruments and Japanese tea ceremony, calligraphy, flower arrangement, thereby giving the audience the best possible cultural performances by Vietnamese and Japanese artistes and artisans.

In addition, the festival also features special performances such as ‘Giant sushi roll’ by chef Hoshi Phan, Japanese wrestling performance, cartoon character costume contest, exchanges with Japanese actors, singers and manga artists.

Da Nang Party Committee Secretary Nguyen Van Quang (right) and Japanese Ambassador to Viet Nam Yamada Takio visited booths at the Viet Nam - Japan Festival . Photo: X.D

Da Nang Party Committee Secretary Nguyen Van Quang (left) visited booths and posed for souvenir photos with Japanese Ambassador to Viet Nam Yamada Takio at the Viet Nam - Japan Festival. Photo: X.D.

Delegates performed a traditional Japanese Sake Barrel-Breaking Ceremony at the opening ceremony of the Viet Nam - Japan Festival. Photo: X.D

Coming to the festival, people had the opportunity to enjoy the typical Japanese dishes. Photo: X.D

The decorative miniatures at the festival attracted a large number of people for visiting and taking souvenir photos. Photo: X.D

Reporting by X.DUNG - Translating by A.THU