NIIGATA, Japan -- (BUSINESS WIRE) --

The Cultural Cities of East Asia commenced based on the agreement in the Japan-China-ROK Meeting of Ministers of Culture. This project selects three cities in Japan, China and the ROK to hold various cultural and artistic events with the aim of promoting artistic and cultural development in the East Asia region and enabling the three countries to foster mutual understanding and sense of unity in the region. The project also enhances the ability to convey the highly diverse cultures in East Asia.

Niigata is home to a rich lifestyle with an abundance of water and soil. It has a world-renowned food culture centered on rice as well as deeply-rooted regional traditional performing arts. As a port town, it has also adopted foreign cultures and grew own culture of “Omotenashi (hospitality)”. Niigata's "Cultural Creative City Niigata" urban development initiatives based on this background which takes advantage of creativity of culture and the arts have been praised in Japan, and Niigata was designated as Japan's second Cultural City of East Asia in 2015 following Yokohama in 2014.

The three cities, Niigata city of Japan, Cheongju City of ROK and Qingdao City of China will mutually implement various entertainment, artistic and food culture exchanges, and Niigata will host a variety of events incorporating Chinese and Korean culture and arts.

In this time, we announce the attractions of the spring events that will be held from now: "Art Mix Japan 2015", "La Folle Journée de Niigata 2015" and "Port City Niigata Spring Festival 2015 ~Lights, Music and Dance~", are introduced below.

Event summary:

Art Mix Japan 2015
Art Mix Japan 2015 is a festival to "freely enjoy and learn about" the traditional culture of Japan from leading artists. Traditional Japanese performing arts such as Noh and Kabuki will gather in Niigata. As the performances are short and inexpensive, it will be possible to view many leading performing arts at once. These performances will be held in Niigata's halls and established restaurants, some of the best in Japan, under the theme of "roots" in 2015 to allow visitors to feel the genealogy of Japanese culture which developed independently under the influence of the continental culture.
Date: April 25 (Sat) and 26 (Sun), 2015
Website: http://artmixjapan.com/

La Folle Journée de Niigata 2015
La Folle Journée is a completely new music festival born in the French port city of Nantes in 1995 that overturned classic common sense of the past. La Folle Journée has attracted a great deal of attention as one of classical music festivals, with many concerts held from morning to night that visitors can listen to at a low price. One of the attractions of La Folle Journée de Niigata is the fusion of the classical music and the Japanese-style architecture of the RYUTOPIA Noh theatre, Enki-kan, The Saito Family Summer Villa, and Former Ozawa Family House. Projection mapping will be implemented and Niigata food and flower prepared, so visitors will be able to fully feel the city of Niigata.
Date: May 8 (Fri) to 10 (Sun), 2015
* Preview: April 26 (Sun)
Website: http://lfjn.jp/

Port City Niigata Spring Festival 2015 ~Lights, Music and Dance~
Light and video production, in addition to magical projection mapping utilizing the buildings and waterfront space that symbolizes the history and culture of Port City Niigata, will be linked with cultural events. These cultural events include La Folle Journée de Niigata 2015, performances of local artists such as the Noism2 dance group, and performances of Chinese, Korean and Japanese artists carried out as a special "Cultural Cities of East Asia" project.
* Noism2; Trainee group of the dancers who have contracted with RYUTOPIA Niigata City Performing Arts Center
Date: April 29 (Wed) to May 10 (Sun), 2015
*Some part of illuminations will start on April 10 (Fri)
Website: http://www.city.niigata.lg.jp/kanko/bunka/harufesta/

What are Cultural Cities of East Asia?

The Cultural Cities of East Asia commenced based on the agreement in the Japan-China-ROK Meeting of Ministers of Culture. This project selects three cities in Japan, China and the ROK to hold various cultural and artistic events with the aim of promoting artistic and cultural development in the East Asia region and enabling the three countries to foster mutual understanding and sense of unity in the region. The project also enhances the ability to convey the highly diverse cultures in East Asia. Cultural Cities of East Asia in 2015 are Niigata city of Japan along with Cheongju City of ROK and Qingdao City of China. Niigata-born Japanese ballad singer Sachiko Kobayashi and "Negicco", the female idol music group formed in Niigata have been appointed as cultural ambassadors for " Culture City of East Asia 2015 NIIGATA"

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/multimedia/home/20150329005064/en/

 

CONTACT:

Please direct any media inquiries regarding this matter to the following contact
Culture City of East Asia 2015 NIIGATA
Shinji Suzuki / Kikkawa, +81-25-226-2554
ea.bunka@city.niigata.lg.jp
FAX: +81-25-230-0450