From Ambassador

　　
Japan Festival　　　　　　　　                 　TV program“Smakk í Japan“　　　　　　　　　                                      Japan Tour of Iceland Symphony Orchestra
Increasing bilateral cultural exchange is one of the main emphasis of the Embassy of Japan and each year we organize a number of cultural events, such as the annual Japan Festival (which is co-hosted) with the University of Iceland, screening of Japanese movies, arts exhibitions, performances, and so on.
 
Particularly, the year 2018 has seen two special cultural exchange programs, initiated by the Icelandic side and I was quite happy to report about their success at our National Reception held in December 2018. A success I wish to share with you as well in this column.
 
The first event was the visit of one of Iceland’s most famous chefs, Ms. Hrefna Sætran’s three week visit to Japan in the middle of February. Together with a TV crew, she visited not only Tokyo but also Kyoto, Osaka and Okinawa in order to study Japanese culture and in particular Japanese cuisine.
 
She came back with a lot of new experiences, knowledge and inspiration and as a result of her travels produced the TV program “Smakk í Japan” or “The Taste of Japan” which consists of 6 different episodes, each 35 minutes long. 
 
By watching these episodes, you can get to know the expansive repertoire of Japanese food beyond “Sushi” and also appreciate the reason why “Washoku” or ”Japan's traditional cuisine” has been added to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list.
 
Another milestone event, in which Iceland took the lead, was the visit of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra to Japan in November 2018. The orchestra was accompanied by the world-renowned Conductor Mr. Ashkenazy and the popular Japanese pianist, Nobuyuki Tsujii. They performed 12 times in 11 different cities during their nearly 3 weeks stay in Japan.
 
Their schedule was quite tight but everything went smoothly and the Orchestra received incredibly positive reviews from the Japanese audiences. I am also pleased to know that the members of the Orchestra were able to enjoy their stay in Japan and I’d like to share with you the comments of Orchestra’s Managing Director, Ms. Arna Kristín Einarsdóttir.
 
【Quote】
“Our schedule was rather tight but everything went incredibly well, because everything was very well organized in Japan. We were received with much respects and very warm hospitality by the Japanese audience and Japanese people. Everything we experienced in Japan was fascinating, like beautiful concert halls, clean and well-equipped hotels, comfortable bullet train ride, delicious food, amazingly beautiful places etc. It was indeed a dream-like tour for us and I want to share our wonderful experience with as many Icelanders as possible”     
【Unquote】
 
I am sure that their visit marked a new beginning of yet deeper cultural exchange between our two countries.