ĐÀ NẴNG — Vietnamese and Japanese art troupes and artists will join the annual Việt Nam-Japan Culture Exchange at Đà Nẵng’s administrative centre and the Hàn River port from July 27-30.

The city said that an art troupe from Sakai, Japan will offer a prelude to the opening ceremony with a tea-making demonstration at the city’s administrative centre at 24 Trần Phú street from 9.30am to 10.30am on July 28.

Japanese businesses and local enterprises will also join an investment promotion conference in the afternoon on the same day.

A tourism promotion programme of Japan will be held at Novotel Hotel on Bạch Đằng street on July 27.

According to the city’s Foreign Affairs department, calligrapher Sakamoto Koichi, Ikebana flower arrangement Yokoi Kouen, rocker Fujii Youichirou, Saxophonist Tajima Yoshikaza and dancing team Run to the World will also join the four-day cultural exchange in Đà Nẵng.

Vietnamese and Japanese dancers will demonstrate traditional Japanese dance Yosakoi and Cơ Tu (an ethnic group) dance as well as a joint-performance flashmob.

Make-up artist Mami Yamamoto will show off skills at the event, and real Ninja from Edo Wonderland Nikko Edomura – a Japanese cultural theme park – will also have a showcase in Đà Nẵng, along with a Kimono show on stage.

Food courts displaying traditional local cuisine and Japanese cooking will be set up at the Hàn River Port on Bạch Đằng street.

Also on the occasion Japanese film Have a Song on Your Lips will be screened at Đà Nẵng’s Lê Độ Theatre.

A beauty contest and kid’s football festival will close the event on July 30.

The annual event has been seen as a favourite rendezvous for local and Japanese artists and businesses seeking a friendship and co-operation opportunity.

More than 400,000 Japanese tourists, the second largest foreign group, visited Đà Nẵng in 2016.

Local airlines operate direct routes from Đà Nẵng to Osaka, Narita and Tokyo in boosting tourism between destinations in central Việt Nam and Japan. — VNS