'Kizuna': A festival to celebrate Indo-Japan friendly exchange

To commemorate 2017 as the year of friendly exchange between India and Japan, a cultural festival showcasing Japanese movies, stage performances and traditional food, has been organised here.
Kizuna festival, organised by the center for Japanese Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University in collaboration with the Embassy of Japan and Japan Foundation, seeks to promote cultural collaboration between the two nations.
"We seek to promote youth exchanges between India and Japan through such initiatives. The festival comprises of many cultural demonstrations from traditional to modern.
"People will be able to have a slice of traditional Japanese culture while sitting in India," Mizuho Hayakawa Director, Japan Information Center, Embassy of Japan, said.

The two-day festival incorporates "Yatai" (Japanese food stalls), Japanese Bon Festival dance (Bon-odori), and "Furu- honichi"-- book stalls sharing diverse knowledge on different facets of Japanese cuisine, language and culture.
Hayakawa says that "people-to-people exchange" will help in building a strong cultural bridge between the two nations.

"Japan and India enjoy a long lasting relationship which traces its roots back to the 8th century. And we are now even forging for closer relationship in many areas including culture. In order to further strengthen this relationship, it is important to enhance people-to-people exchange," she said.
To boost tourism and help Indian students, Japan recently opened 13 new visa application centers at different locations.

"Our decision to open 13 new visa application centers throughout the country is expected to help talented young Indians who play an important role in developing the relationship between the two countries," Hayakawa said.
The Embassy is also active on social media platforms like Facebook to promote the real essence of the country in India.
"Even if one doesn't have a chance to visit Japan, the Indian community can have real life experiences of country's rich cultural heritage on our website or the Facebook page," Hayakawa said.
Special workshops on Japanese calligraphy and art, titled "Shodo" and "Origami", will be also be a part of the event.