An year-long festival showcasing India's rich cultural heritage has been inaugrated here for the first time in 26 years, becoming one of the largest events conducted by India in Japan.
The festival represents India's major cultural foray into Japan on a large scale for the first time since 1988, almost 26 years ago, Minister of State for Culture and Tourism, Shripad Naik said here at the event yesterday.
During Prime Minister Narendra Modi's maiden visit to Japan in August, he had announced that The Festival of India in Japan would be held in this country, Naik said.
Covering 20 cities, the festival represents one of the largest events India has conducted in Japan.
The festival is being conducted in two phases - the phase-I that started today comprises of a series of dance performances by artists from Kalakshetra Foundation, Manipur Dance Academy and Kuttiyattam Kendra.
The phase-II in February next year will comprise the Buddhist Art exhibition, which will be presented in the Tokyo National Museum.
Plans are afoot to conduct the Film Festival and Food Festival during the festival in Japan.
In his opening remarks, Japanese Tourism Minister Akihiro Ohta hoped that the Buddhist Exhibition and the Buddhist circuits developed in India would result in larger Japanese Tourist inflow to the country and enhance Japanese interest in Indian historical monuments.
The year-long festival is being conducted by the Embassy of India, in collaboration with the Indian Ministry of Culture.
Ambassador of India to Japan Deepa Gopalan Wadhwa said that the event would include dance, literary, food, film festivals and an exhibition on Indian Buddhist Art, Buddhist Conferences and a Buddha Mahotsava.
