Ho Chi Minh City to host a series of activities featuring Japanese culture and education

Hanoi (VNA) – Ho Chi Minh City will host a series of activities featuring Japanese
culture and education that will last for a month, starting on Nov. 10.

The Month of Japanese Culture, part of the Japan-Mekong Year 2009, is co-organised
by the Japanese Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City and relevant Vietnamese agencies,
according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Highlights of the programme will be performances by the Okinawa-Chura art troupe,
Japanese films, and the Wa-daiko drum performance and robot show.

The Japan-Mekong Year is also celebrated through the Mekong-Japan Tourism Days which
will take place in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho from December 1-5.

During the Tourism Days, a symposium will be held on promoting sustainable tourism
in the Mekong Delta, as well as a trade fair, a Mekong-Japan culture-tourism photo
exhibition, and a Mekong-Japan traditional art exchange programme.

The 2009 Japan-Mekong Year is held under an initiative adopted at the 2008
Mekong-Japan Ministerial Meeting.

In the context of steadily expanding relations between Japan and five Mekong
river countries, more than 50 exchange activities are planned to take place in
Japan , Cambodia , Laos , Myanmar , Thailand and Vietnam .

Among those countries, Vietnam has received special attention from Japan in terms of
cooperation and aid—Japan has devoted 50 percent of its ODA for Mekong river
countries to Vietnam.-Enditem