ISLAMABAD, November 12 (INP): To show the rich cultural diversity and traditions of Japan, the Embassy of Japan is organizing a variety of cultural activities under the banner of “A Month of Japanese Culture” starting here from November 14.

To kick start the month-long cultural activities, Assistant Prof. Dr. Satoshi Naiki, an eminent Japanese expert on Gandhara civilization from Kyoto University, who is currently leading a Japanese Archaeological Mission in Pakistan, would deliver a lecture on the Legacy of Gandhara at the Center for Culture and Development.

Later, on November 19, “Japan Festival 2019” would be organized at the premises of the National University of Modern Languages.The day-long Japan festival would be inaugurated by Kuninori Matsuda, the Ambassador of Japan to Pakistan, together with the Rector of NUML.

Speaking of the up-coming “A Month of Japanese Culture” festivities, the Ambassador said the year 2022 would be commemorated as the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and Pakistan and there would be an enhanced interaction in all fields between the two countries.

“Culture has the power to bring people closer irrespective of their cast and creed. Since Japan and Pakistan share many cultural similarities and these month-long cultural festivities willcertainly provide a window of opportunity for the Pakistani people to discover many facets of Japanese culture and its age-old traditions”, said Ambassador Matsuda.

As a part of these cultural activities, an exhibition of photographs titled “Japan through the lens of Pakistani photographers” will be inaugurated on 21st November at the National Art Gallery of PNCA. Around 35 photographs captured by the photographers of the Photographic Society of Pakistan (PSP) would be displayed in the exhibition which they had captured during their recent visit to Japan.

Also, Japanese films would be screened at the Islamabad Club auditorium on 22nd, 26th, 27th and 29th November during the film festival being organized by the Pakistan National Council of the Arts during the Islamabad Art Festival 2019.

INP/JAVED