Find out what’s big in Japan as the sun rises on our friendship
If the Rugby World Cup has whetted your appetite for Japanese culture, there’s far more to explore, says Japan’s ambassador to the UK, Koji Tsuruoka
ALL eyes and hopes are pinned on Alun Wyn’s stand-out Welsh team as they storm through the Rugby World Cup at the moment.
I’ve been cheering on Japan’s national team, the Brave Blossoms, as we hoped to match some of your success!
If watching the competition in Japan has whetted your appetite to sample more of its culture, you may be interested in a whole host of experiences taking place now within your local community.
The Japan-UK Season of Culture includes more than 400 events across the UK which have been created by cultural institutions, sporting organisations, enthusiasts and more, all keen to explore Japanese culture and share this with new audiences.
A celebration of our friendship with Wales and the UK as a whole, the season sees a host of Japaninspired events taking place across Wales – from drama and Japan exchange programmes to the coal mining paintings of Sakubei Yamamoto now being exhibited at National Coal Museum until the end of 2020 and the Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival at Aberystwyth Arts Centre.
From November 9, MOSTYN in Llandudno will be hosting 30 Ways to Get to the Moon – a major exhibition of the work of the internationally acclaimed Japanese artist Nobuko Tsuchiya for the first time in Wales.
Working primarily with sculpture, Tsuchiya uses a wide range of materials, often including household objects, to explore viewers’ relationship with space.
The season takes place during a period when global attention will be facing towards Japan as we host two major sporting events – from the current Rugby World Cup to the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games in summer 2020.
As part of the UK’s and Japan’s shared belief in collaboration between our two countries, the British Council is delivering an exciting UK arts, language and education programme of events in Japan over the next year.
One such event is London’s National Gallery tour of Japan in 2020 – the biggest in the gallery’s history. This will allow many people in my country to see many of your cultural treasures, including the wonders of Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, for the very first time.
The warmth of Japan’s friendship with Wales and the UK in general has long been underpinned by dynamic economic ties. Japan is the secondlargest non-EU investor in the UK after the US.
Now, Wales has one of the highest concentrations of Japanese manufacturing investment in Europe, employing 5,700 people at 23 Japanese companies.
Culturally, Japan continues to value and nurture its strong ties with Wales, too.
Only this summer I was delighted to attend the relaunch of the Japanese Garden at the National Botanic Garden of Wales.
It was restored by the Japanese Garden Society, a group of British people who love Japanese gardens, in cooperation with the National Botanic Garden of Wales, funded by donations from Welsh businesses, including Japanese firms based in Wales.
Although the Japanese government’s role in the project has of necessity been modest, I think it is an honour that we have been able to contribute to this endeavour which has deepened the bonds between Japan and the UK.
The Japan-UK Season of Culture builds these bonds which have grown between our countries for over a century, to enable you to discover more about the rich diversity of Japanese culture.
When we exchange ideas, we all prosper culturally and economically.
Our two countries are increasingly collaborating in areas of advanced technology as well.
You will have much to see in the months ahead.
I hope the Japan-UK Season of Culture, in addition to the sporting spectacles, will make you even more intrigued by Japan and eager to find out more our country and its people. ■ For more information, see the Japan-UK Season of Culture 20192020 website at www.uk.embjapan.go.jp/SeasonCulture/index. html.