Embassy holds reception to launch Japanese Week

The Japanese Embassy in Ghana on Friday held a reception, alongside a film festival to officially launch Japan Week in Accra.

In his address, Mr Naoto Nikai, Japanese Ambassador to Ghana, said Japan Week is an opportunity to showcase the Japanese culture and in essence share the Japanese culture with all.

“It is a platform for Japanese and Ghanaians and other nationals to meet and interact with each other. This will bring unity and cultural understanding,” he stated.

The Ambassador said in a world where it has become easier and faster to come into contact with people of different cultures, it is very important to have ways of bringing cultural understanding between people of different cultures.

“I am pleased to realize that Ghanaians, like the rest of the world, are increasingly developing interest in Japanese animation and movies.

“I am told the Japanese drama series “Oshin” which was first shown in Ghana in the 90s was loved by many Ghanaians and kept them glued to their television sets.

“And many Ghanaians these days, especially the Ghanaian youth, have become lovers of Japanese animation,” he said.

Mr Nikai said movies play an important role in the society: “they can be used to tell the story of the society and portray the culture of its people”.

He said movies could also be used to express the aspirations of a people and to change the society.

“It is my earnest hope that Japan Week will bring the peoples of Japan and Ghana closer together and further deepen the already cordial relations between Ghana and Japan,” the Ambassador said.

Guests at the reception were made of Japanese nationals, members of the diplomatic community, Mr Isaac Osei, Member of Parliament for Subin, Mr Mohammed Nurudeen Issahaq, Acting Director Editorials, Ghana News Agency, among others.

They were entertained with the Japanese movie entitled “Always: Sunset on Third Street,” which is a 2005 film co-written and directed by the Japanese filmmaker Takashi Yamazaki, based on Ryohei Saigan’s long-running Sanchome no Yuhi. It was chosen as Best Film at the Japan Academy Prize ceremony.

The plot takes place in a small community in post-war Tokyo, and follows the interweaving story threads of a number of the community's residents over the course of a single year as Tokyo Tower is being built.