Officials and  staff of Japan Foundation Vientiane pose for a group photo at the booth for the UYD Dance contest at the National Culture Hall.

Japan Foundation booth at UYD 2022 attracts many visitors

The Japan Foundation was one of the sponsors of the Lao Youth Festival 2022 or UYD 2022 and its booth promoting Japanese culture attracted many visitors.
The visitors could experience wearing the Yukata or unlined cotton summer kimono, and win a Japanese gift by playing games.
Many Lao people, including children, women and men, flocked to the booth. Many tried wearing the Yukata, and enjoyed taking photos and selfies with backdrops depicting a Japanese autumn and a Momiji tree.
Four Japanese language assistant teachers, known as “Nihongo Partners”, helped people wear the Yukata. The teachers have been dispatched to four secondary schools in Vientiane by the Japan Foundation.
Mr Yosuke Kusakabe, the Director of the Japan Foundation Vientiane Office, said: “Our Foundation conducts programmes in three major areas - arts and cultural exchanges, Japanese language education overseas, and Japanese studies and international dialogue.
“We are very delighted this time, because we could extend our activities directly and widely to Laos’s young generations through Cosplay events and so on. The activities did not attract only students who learn the Japanese language.”
The Japan Foundation will soon organise the 6th Japanese Film Festival. Eight films, ranging from suspense and animation to romantic comedy and historical drama, will be screened at the festival in February 2023.
This festival is very popular and usually attracts many Lao and foreign movie lovers every year. Details of the festival will be announced soon.            

By Sisouphan Amphonephong
(Latest Update October 26, 2022)