Vietnamese Festival in Japan's Kanagawa prefecture opens

The leaders of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Vietnamese Embassy in Japan and the Standing Deputy Secretary of the Bac Ninh Provincial Party Committee and Kanagawa prefecture announce the opening of the Festival.

Participants at the ceremony were Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vietnam Trinh Thi Thuy; Vietnamese Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Japan Pham Quang Hieu; Governor of Kanagawa Prefecture Kuroiwa Yuji; Standing Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee and Chairman of the Provincial People's Council Nguyen Quoc Chung; Members of the Bac Ninh delegation.

The leaders visit the booth of Dong Ho Folk Paintings at the Festival.

The Vietnamese Festival – 2023 in Kanagawa prefecture was jointly held by the Vietnamese Embassy in Japan and Kanagawa Prefecture, which is part of the overall activities to mark the 50th anniversary of Vietnam-Japan diplomatic relations. The Festival was held on a large scale at Zou-no-hana Park in Yokohama Port with over 100 booths, promoting Vietnam culture, tourism, cuisines, and destinations.

In addition, there were many street activities such as: Circus, Chau Van singing, Bac Ninh Quan Ho folk songs, Dong Ho folk paintings; performance of Samurai, Karate, Koi music..., drawing a large number of visitors as well as creating a feeling of closeness between Vietnamese and Japanese people.

Leaders of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vietnam, the Embassy of Vietnam, Bac Ninh province and Kanagawa prefecture at the Festival.

Speaking at the Festival, Standing Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee and Chairman of the Provincial People's Council Nguyen Quoc Chung expressed his delight and impression of Kanagawa prefecture’s comprehensive and thoughtful preparations during the opening ceremony. With numerous various activities rich in the two peoples' cultural identities, it will be an opportunity for Vietnamese and Japanese people, thereby contributing to strengthening solidarity and mutual understanding between the two countries in general, and Bac Ninh province in particular.

Leaders experience the craft of making Dong Ho folk paintings at the Festival.

Bac Ninh province brought two cultural heritages including Bac Ninh Quan Ho Folk Songs and Dong Ho Folk Painting Craft - which is being submitted to UNESCO for recognition of Dong Ho painting as an intangible cultural heritage in need of urgent safeguarding to the Vietnamese Festival – 2023 in Kanagawa prefecture. The smooth and loving melodies of Bac Ninh Quan Ho Folk Songs as well as the distinctive and unique painting-making processes of Dong Ho Folk Paintings could help to enrich the Vietnam Festival in Kanagawa prefecture - 2023.

Overview of the program.

On this occasion, Chung and Bac Ninh delegation along with leaders of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Vietnamese Embassy in Japan and the Governor of Kanagawa Prefecture visited the booths of Bac Ninh province as well as other provinces and cities of Vietnam and Japan.

Vietnamese Festival - 2023 in Kanagawa prefecture took place in 2 days (September 9 - 10, 2023) with many unique traditional cultural activities of Vietnam - Japan.