Cuisine booths attract visitors (Photo: VNA)The festival is the largest annual cultural exchange eventwith the participation of businesses from Vietnam and Japan, said SuganoYuichi, chief representative of the Japan International Cooperation Agency(JICA) in Vietnam, a sponsor of the festival.
This year’s theme means that after 50 years of buildingclose diplomatic ties, both countries will continue to work together to developfurther, he said.
The event also hosted the largest number of booths ever, withover 150 booths showcasing and selling food, consumer goods, tourism products,local specialties, educational programmes, and healthcare products.
There were also booths featuring Vietnamese and Japanesepoetry, Japanese tea ceremonies, traditional Japanese folk games, and sports,as well as Gashapon vending machine-dispensed toys for children.
Festival-goers could also engage in music and dance showsperformed by Japanese artists, such as BallistikBoyz and PsychicFever, andVietnamese singers, such as My My and Tang Duy Tan.
Cosplay activities, the re-creation of the Bon Odori and AwaOdori dance festivals, traditional Vietnamese Ao dai (long dress) shows, andother thrilling performances were also part of the event.
“That Japanese culture and products are greatly endorsed byVietnamese people, and vice versa, proves that this cooperation is gettingstronger than ever,” said Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida whileaddressing the opening ceremony via video.
Hosting around 500,000 visitors last year, the event isexpected to continue being a great way to connect people from both countries,he said.
Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang said that followinglast year's success, the festival continues to be a bridge strengthening thefriendship and mutual trust between the two countries, boosting tradepromotion, as well as promoting multifaceted cooperation and exchange./.
VNA
