Basketball Africa League (BAL/5Curtains came down Sunday evening on Focus Japan II, a two-day event (March 12-13) held at the City of Culture which offered a renewed opportunity to put the culture of the land of the rising sun into the limelight.

An Anime Concert – a fabulous journey into the world of Japanese Anime, was given by the Tunis Symphony Orchestra at the closing ceremony.

Focus Japan events (November 2021 and March 2022) were organised by the Tunis Opera Theatre and Japan’s embassy in celebration of the multi-faceted Japanese culture. This was as part of a close collaboration between Tunisian, Japanese and French creators.

An official ceremony was held earlier in the presence of Cultural Affairs Minister Hayet Ketat Guermazi, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of. Japan to Tunisia Shinsuke SHIMIZU and several foreign diplomats.

The minister emphasised the importance of the 2nd edition of Focus Japan which, she said, takes place as Tunisia is gearing up to host the 8th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) next August 27-28.

TICAD was launched in 1993 by the Government of Japan, in collaboration with the United Nations, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Bank (WB) and the African Union Commission (AUC). Leaders of about 50 African countries are expected to attend TICAD 8 to discuss development issues in the African Continent.

FOCUS Japan II is also an opportunity to further boost “the strong ties of friendship and relations of cultural cooperation binding Tunisia and Japan since the establishment of diplomatic relations, Hayet Ketat Guermazi added.

Japan’s ambassador said this event would “give impetus to cooperation ahead of the TICAD.”

He commended the presence of children without family support and others from rural areas, as part of collaboration between his country’s embassy and Focus Japan II partner civil society organisations.

The ambassador also highlighted the importance of this cultural event and the interest taken in the Japanese culture as a “source of joy and motivation.”

In this respect, he reminded of the event’s agenda which included a fashion day that displayed Japanese costumes. A lecture on Haruki Murakami’s works was held Saturday, in addition to the premiere screening of Japan’s Oscar-nominated Drive My Car by Ryusuke Hamaguchi.

Free of charge language classes and karate and calligraphy demonstrations topped the agenda.

Source: Tap News Agency