VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnamese and Japanese art troupes and artists will join the annual Viet Nam-Japan Culture Exchange at Da Nang’s administrative centre and the Han River port from July 27-30.

Young Vietnamese and Japanese show off Japanese traditional costumes. — Photos:  Cong Thanh/VNS

The city said that an art troupe from Sakai, Japan will offer a prelude to the opening ceremony with a tea-making demonstration at the city’s administrative centre at 24 Tran Phu Street from 9.30am to 10.30am on July 28.

Japanese businesses and local enterprises will also join an investment promotion conference in the afternoon on the same day.

A tourism promotion programme of Japan will be held at Novotel Hotel on Bach Dang Street on July 27.

According to the city’s Foreign Affairs department, calligrapher Sakamoto Koichi, Ikebana flower arrangement Yokoi Kouen, rocker Fujii Youichirou, Saxophonist Tajima Yoshikaza and dancing team Run to the World will also join the four-day cultural exchange in Da Nang.

Vietnamese and Japanese dancers will demonstrate traditional Japanese dance Yosakoi and Co Tu (an ethnic group) dance as well as a joint-performance flashmob.

Make-up artist Mami Yamamoto will show off skills at the event, and real Ninja from Edo Wonderland Nikko Edomura – a Japanese cultural theme park – will also have a showcase in Da Nang, along with a Kimono show on stage.

Food courts displaying traditional local cuisine and Japanese cooking will be set up at the Han River Port on Bach Dang Street.

Also on the occasion Japanese film Have a Song on Your Lips will be screened at Da Nang’s Le Do Theatre.

A beauty contest and kid’s football festival will close the event on July 30.

The annual event has been seen as a favourite rendezvous for local and Japanese artists and businesses seeking a friendship and co-operation opportunity.

More than 400,000 Japanese tourists, the second largest foreign group, visited Da Nang in 2016.

Local airlines operate direct routes from Da Nang to Osaka, Narita and Tokyo in boosting tourism between destinations in central Viet Nam and Japan. 

A Japanese expat makes Japanese green tea, matcha, at a fair in Da Nang. Vietnamese students wear kimono during the Vietnamese-Japanese Cultural Exchange event in Da Nang City.

VNS