Visitors enjoy a water puppet show in the festival (Source: VNA)Tokyo(VNA) – A Vietnam Festival with thetheme of “Feel Vietnam” took place in Yokohama city of Kanagawa Prefecture onSeptember 16 and 17, marking it as one of the largest Vietnamese festivals in Japan.
The event wasattended by Vietnamese Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen NgocThien, Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan Nguyen Quoc Cuong, Governor of Kanagawa prefecture Kuroiwa Yuji, anda large number of local residents, overseasVietnamese in Japan and international tourists.
Addressing theopening ceremony, Kuroiwa Yuji highlighted the scale of the 2017 festival, expressing his hopethat the annual event will contribute to deepening relations between Vietnamand the Japanese prefecture.
Minister Thien spokehighly of the traditional friendship between Vietnam and Japan, affirming thatJapan is a long-term and important partner of Vietnam.
Therefore,the relationship between Vietnam and Kanagawa prefecture will continue developing strongly in all fields in the future, Thien said.
According to the minister, Vietnamwelcomed over 700,000 Japanese tourists in 2016, whilemore than 200,000Vietnamese holiday-makers visited Japan.
He expressed his hopethat the two nations will continue sharing valuesof the traditionalcultures to bring their people closer to each other.
The festival featuredover 100 stalls showcasing cultural products, food, handicrafts andspecialties of Vietnamese localities.
Anexhibition space affirming Vietnam’s sovereignty over Hoang Sa (Paracel)and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos was also organised during the festival.
Theevent attracted around 500,000 visitors and contribute to theenhancement of theVietnam-Japan friendship while expanding economic and touristexchanges.-VNA
VNA
