Days of Japanese Culture in Astrakhan

The event has been arranged jointly by the Embassy of Japan in Russia and by Astrakhan State University.

The Days of Japanese Culture in Astrakhan have been held for five years already. People of Astrakhan also know it as the Festival of Japanese Films.

This year, the Unit of Russian-Asian Cooperation of ASU decided not to arrange just a film festival; it decided to organize a number of extra events dedicated to the Japanese culture. As 2018 has been declared as the Year of Japan in Russia and the Year of Russia in Japan, the Embassy of Japan in Russia and the Japanese Foundation developed a large-scale cultural program in Astrakhan.

Mr. Masanori Takaguchi, First Secretary of the Japanese Embassy in Russia, has been the distinguished guest at the event. He visited our University; he met our Vice Rector for International Relations, as well as faculty and students of our Chair of Asian Languages. Then he gave a welcoming speech at the Illusion Cinema Theater in Astrakhan. The theater foyer hosted master classes in calligraphy and origami, the photo exposition “Japan as a Country of Contrasts”, a flower terrarium exposition, and a thematic photo session. Two films were demonstrated: “Fairy Tale about Samurai Cuisine” and “Nobody Will Protect Me”.

As part of the Days of Japanese Culture in Astrakhan, the Art Salon of ASU hosted master classes in the Japanese calligraphy by Ms. Kaori Ishijima. The participants of those master classes enjoyed an elegant and unusual manner of writing hieroglyphs: Mr. Ishijima creates masterpieces on huge canvases, flitting up and down the canvas and touching it slightly with a brush.

The Unit of Russian-Asian Cooperation of ASU hopes that all the participants of this event were pleased with its master classes and demonstration of films; we promise to arrange new interesting events for anyone interested in the Japanese culture.