TEHRAN – The Japan Cultural Month 2021 opened online on February 28 to showcase a number of musical performances and art exhibitions for the Iranian audience.

In a platform designed by the Embassy of Japan in Tehran, Japanese artists have been invited to teach origami, the Persian service of IRNA reported on Monday.

A number of Japanese chefs and Iranian martial arts experts will organized workshops, and several documentaries produced at NHK, Japan Broadcasting Corporation, are scheduled to be screened.

The organizers are slated to hold a mini-short film competition on the theme of “What things make me as a Japanese in Tehran feel at home?”

The organizers have also asked the Iranian audience to take part in a poll to help improve the next Japanese festivals in Iran.

In order to promote mutual understanding between Iranian and Japanese people, the two countries organize mutual cultural events every year.

The Japanese capital of Tokyo in Minato City on August 2020 hosted the 3rd Iranian Film Festival, which opened by screening “Villa Dwellers”, Monir Qeidi’s debut feature film on the Iran-Iraq 1980-1988 war. 

The festival was organized by the Iranian Culture Center and Farabi Cinema Foundation in collaboration with the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan and UNIJAPAN, a non-profit organization that organizes the Tokyo International Film Festival and promotes Japanese films abroad.

In December 2017 and January 2018, the Iranian cities of Tehran and Kashan played host to the Japanese Cultural Month, which opened with a duet by Ichitaro, the renowned Japanese taiko-drummer, and shinobue virtuoso Koji Kishida at Tehran’s Arasbaran Cultural Center.

Performing Japanese folk music concerts and the Japanese tea ceremony and holding origami workshops were some of the programs arranged for the festival.

Paintings by a number of Japanese artists, photos of tourist attractions of the country, and a collection of cultural products were also showcased in an exhibition during the festival, which was organized by the Japan Foundation. 

Photo: A poster for the Japan Cultural Month 2021.

MMS/YAW