At the opening ceremony, participants spent a minute’s silence in memory of victims of Typhoon Hagibis.
Speaking at the event, Mr. Kohata Hiroshi, Mayor of Fukushima City, expressed his pleasure about the friendship development between the city and Vietnam.
Mr. Kohata Hiroshi, Mayor of Fukushima City, speaking at the festival (Photo: VNA)
In his speech, Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan Vu Hong Nam expressed his deep sympathy to the people in Fukushima who suffered damage during Typhoon Hagibis, and also believed that they will soon overcome consequences of natural disasters.
In terms of the relations between Vietnam’s localities and Fukushima, he emphasized that Vietnam importing pears of this province was "a clear evidence for the friendly and cooperative relationship between the two sides, as well as showing Vietnam's cooperation and support for Fukushima”.
In addition, the Ambassador expressed his pleasure that many Vietnamese people chose Fukushima as a place to live and work, contributing to the reconstruction work of Fukushima Prefecture.
Ambassador Vu Hong Nam delivering his speech at the festival (Photo: VNA)
During the festival, many unique cultural and artistic performances were performed by Vietnamese and Japanese artists such as playing bamboo flute, dancing and especially Ao Dai performances by students from Vietnam, Japan and other countries studying in Fukushima. Besides, the visitors also enjoyed traditional Vietnamese dishes.
On the same day, Ambassador Vu Hong Nam and President of Vietnamese Buddhist Association in Japan visited nine Vietnamese trainees working at Yasuda Garment Co., Ltd. in Sukagawa city, Fukushima prefecture. They were isolated by flood after Typhoon Hagibis and were rescued by Japanese rescue workers by helicopter.
At the meeting, the ambassador expressed his pleasure that these trainees are always united and help each other in difficult times, and hoped that they will soon stabilize after the disaster.
Vietnamese and foreign students performing traditional long dresses of S-shaped country (Photo: VNA)
On this occasion, the ambassador and President of Vietnamese Buddhist Association in Japan presented donations collected from the officials, staff of the embassy and the Vietnamese Buddhist Association in Japan to the trainees.
Located nearly 300km northeast of Tokyo, Fukushima is one of the worst hit localities by Typhoon Hagibis, which hit Japan on October 12th./.