On Sept. 2 the Tawoo Drummers concert launched the “Month of Japan in Ukraine.” The festival is slated to run for three months, ending on Nov. 26 with a concert featuring the ancient Japanese musical instrument tsugaru-jamisen . The Month of Japan program includes exhibits of traditional and contemporary art, master classes (origami, ikebana, tea ceremonies), concerts of classical and folk music, film screenings (a retrospective featuring 10 movies by the director Takeshi Kitano and animated cartoons), as well as sports contests and tournaments.
“This is the first time that a festival of this scope is taking place in Ukraine,” Japan’s Ambassador Matsuo Mabuchi told The Day. “It is a joint creative project between our countries, and six Japanese companies have provided financial aid. We hope this festival will help Ukrainians learn more about our country, its traditions, culture, and contemporary art. Concerts and exhibits will be staged in Kyiv and other large Ukrainian cities, including Kharkiv, Odesa, Lviv, Donetsk, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Chernihiv. We feel that Ukraine is taking a keen interest in Japan. There are 2,000 Ukrainian college students studying Japanese.
“Quite a few Ukrainians want to master martial arts, like judo, iaido, kendo, aikido; they are interested in our tea ceremonies, ikebana, and origami. Our festival will offer them such opportunities. Beauty the Japanese way has many facets. It is found in purity, brilliance of color, and divinity. People simply have to learn to live in harmony with nature. For example, when the sakura (cherry tree) blooms in Japan, thousands of people marvel at the beauty of its flowers; they are in blossom for only three days a year. We have different television channels covering the event, so many people can watch this unforgettable beauty.
“We tried to design the festival program to show various aspects of life in Japan. There is a photo exhibit entitled ‘Moments of Childhood’. It shows how our country and people have changed over the past 60 years. After we finished planning the festival program, we realized that one month wouldn’t be enough to show everything we planned, so we decided to extend the timeframe. By the way, our festival logo is symbolic: it is a flower made of two national flags, with red in the center (the Japanese flag) and blue- and-gold leaves (the Ukrainian flag). At the end of September the National Opera of Ukraine will tour several large Japanese cities. For two months the Kyiv performers will stage their famous performances, like Aida and Turandot. Their concert tour could be described as a Month of Ukraine in Japan.”
Your country was planning to help finance the reconstruction of Boryspil Airport, but the construction work has stopped.
Ambassador Mabuchi: No, work is still going on, but it is behind schedule. Drafting work is being done. After an agreement was signed by Ukraine and Japan, our country issued a credit worth 170 million dollars.
Japan is funding social, humanitarian, and cultural programs in Ukraine. But why are Japanese businessmen not willing to invest in the Ukrainian economy?
Ambassador Mabuchi: I disagree with your last statement. The number of Japanese companies operating in Ukraine is increasing every year. This is a broad question, but there are certain priority directions, including energy-saving technologies. Japanese companies could supply Ukrainian businesses with such equipment.
We will continue working in this direction and help you with your projects relating to the Chornobyl disaster; we will keep giving you cultural grants. For example, we have given the Donetsk Opera 630,000 dollars to purchase lighting equipment. Several other projects are being considered, including one to supply equipment to Ukrainian hospitals; the “Grass Roots” program (financial aid to small-scale projects). We are also keeping up technological cooperation and will hold business seminars for Ukrainian specialists. As you can see, there is a vast field of endeavor for cooperation between our countries, and I view the future with optimism.
