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The Vietnam Pho Festival 2023, held at Yoyogi Park in Tokyo on October 7, marked a significant milestone in celebrating the seventh edition of the ‘Day of Pho’ (December 12). The event aimed to enhance the global recognition of Vietnamese culinary culture, particularly the country’s popular beef noodle soup, pho. It also commemorated the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Japan. During the opening ceremony, Le The Chu, the Editor-in-Chief of Tuoi Tre newspaper, expressed the organizers’ long-standing plan to hold a pho event abroad, with Japan being a top priority. The festival featured famous pho chefs from Vietnam who answered questions about the uniqueness of Vietnamese pho, its significance as a national dish, and its similarities to Japanese ramen noodles. Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan, Pham Quang Hieu, expressed his pride in participating in the festival, recognizing the role of culinary festivals in promoting cultural exchange and closer relationship...

From March 2023, a large poster of the “Anio Princess” opera was displayed in front of the Japanese Embassy in Hanoi. This opera, created in celebration of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Japan, captivated the attention of many pedestrians. Rescuing each other from danger The story takes place in the early 17th century. Araki Sotaro, a merchant sailing from Nagasaki to Cochinchina (now Central Vietnam), discovered a distressed boat while crossing the sea. After rescuing the ship, he found four young people on board, one of whom was Princess Ngoc Hoa. The princess requested that he teach her Japanese, with “Arigato” (Thank you) being the first word she learned. Recreation of the wedding of Princess Ngoc Hoa and a Japanese merchant in Hoi An. Their second encounter occurred ten years later, when Sotaro aided a Vietnamese mahout in subduing an unruly elephant. With exhaustion and hopelessness overtaking him as the angry animal charged, Sota...