DA NANG  (VNS) — The central city and its Japanese business association will host the Viet Nam-Japan Culture Exchange and Cuisine Festival on July 16-17, vice director of the city's Foreign Affairs Department Mai Dang Hieu said yesterday.

An art troupe from Kawasaki, drum group from Ottawara and kite art group from Misuke will perform with students from Japanese-language colleges in Da Nang. Artists will demonstrate martial arts, Bon Odori and bamboo pole dances, while Vietnamese and Japanese restaurants offer specialties from Japan and the central region of Viet Nam. Participants can even try on kimono and yukata.

The event, which aims to boost friendship between Viet Nam and Japan, marks the launching of a new direct flight between Da Nang and Tokyo's Narita Airport.

The central city's people's committee has allocated an area of 7,000sq.m in Ngu Hanh Son district for a Viet Nam-Japan Cultural Friendship Centre. The first of its kind in the central region, it will provide a space for Vietnamese and Japanese people to exchange cultural performances, fashion shows and bonsai exhibitions. The centre will also organise Japanese language courses. — VNS