Albania celebrates Japanese Cultural Days

TIRANA, June 12 – Japanese art and culture were introduced to the Albanian public through music, literature and movies for three consecutive days last week in the Japanese Cultural Days. Japanese Nobel Prize winners for Literature Jasunari Kavabata, Kenzaburo Oe had some of their masterpieces read while conductor Toshio Yanagisawa of the Balkan Chamber Orchestra performed in a concert. The Japanese cinema was featured with the “Tokyo Story” movie. The event which took place from June 5 to 7 in Tirana was organized by the Japanese embassy in Tirana and Art Kontakt.
The performance by the Balkan Chamber Orchestra, founded in 2007 by Japanese conductor Toshio Yanagisawa with musicians from Serbia, Albania, Macedonia, Bosnia, Greece, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey, was the special event in this year’s celebrations of Japanese Culture in Albania.
The mosaic of Japanese literature was introduced by Albanian actress Ema Andrea in the “From White Ůto Sunrise” event bringing out the soul of Japanese culture through short stories of narrative masters. “Albanian actress Ema Andrea called our senses and emotions through these Japanese verses,” organizers said. “Tokyo Story,” a 1953 Japanese film directed by Yasujir