The 20th Hoi An - Japan Cultural Exchange

Present at the opening ceremony were Ta Van Ha from the Vietnamese National Assembly's Committee on Culture and Education Affairs, Mori Takero, Consul General of Japan in Da Nang, representatives of the UNESCO Office in Hanoi, Quang Nam and Hoi An leaders, and representatives of localities, organisations, and businesses from Japan.

In particular, this year's event also celebrated the involvement of Sugi Ryotaro, former Vietnam - Japan Special Ambassador, who played a vital role in the initiation of the yearly Hoi An - Japan Cultural Exchange in Hoi An back in 2003.

Giving a speech at the opening ceremony, Nguyen Van Son, Chairman of the Hoi An City People's Committee, stated that the Hoi An-Japan Cultural Exchange is of special significance. It's the 20th time Hoi An and Japanese partners have coordinated to organise the event.

The Hoi An - Japan cultural exchange has seen the increasing participation of Japanese and Vietnamese organisations and businesses.

In addition to the activities that have become distinctive highlights and unique cultural tourism products over the years, this year's event has been enriched with many new attractive experiential programs featuring various cultural colours.

On this occasion, the city celebrated the inauguration ceremony of the Japanese Covered Bridge restoration project.

The bridge is a vivid demonstration of the cooperation in cultural heritage preservation and the friendship between Hoi An, Vietnam and Japan from the past to the present and into the future.

Mori Takero, Japanese Consul General in Da Nang, expressed his deep gratitude to the individuals and organisations who have contributed to promoting the Japan - Hoi An relationship so far, especially those who have made great efforts to maintain the event in Hoi An.

During the opening ceremony, there were a lot of remarkable performances by Japanese and Vietnamese artists.

Vietnam and Japan have a longstanding tradition of friendly exchanges. Hoi An (Quang Nam) is known as one of the roots of Vietnam - Japan relations through the bustling trade activities at the Hoi An trading port in the 17th and 18th centuries and the beautiful historical bondship between Princess Ngoc Hoa and merchant Araki Sotaro from Nagasaki.

The over-400-year relationship between Japan and Hoi An is continuously inherited and nurtured by generations through the cooperation between Hoi An and Japanese organisations and localities.

The Hoi An - Japan cultural exchange is a unique cultural and artistic event that has annually been held since 2003.