Titled "Viet Nam-Japan: Together to a New Horizon", the exhibition features pictures taken by journalists from Vietnam News Agencies (VNA) and Kyodo News Agency and is divided into two parts. VNA general director Nguyen Duc Loi and President and Editor-in-Chief of Kyodo News Masaki Fukuyama attend the photo exhibition.—VNA/VNS Photo

HA NOI — Nearly 80 photos capturing the comprehensive relationship between Viet Nam and Japan over the past four decades went on display yesterday at a landmark photo exhibition to celebrate the 40th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

Titled "Viet Nam-Japan: Together to a New Horizon", the exhibition features pictures taken by journalists from Vietnam News Agencies (VNA) and Kyodo News Agency and is divided into two parts.

The first shows images of co-operation between the two countries in various fields, including politics, economics, culture, education, science and technology.

Some of the most valuable historic photos taken by VNA journalists vividly express the increasingly close relationship between the two countries, building a steady foundation for the present strategic partnership between the two countries, according to Pham Tien Dung, head of the VNA's Photography Department.

Bushido festival: A horse race with riders acting as samurai warriors, dressed in traditional Japanese armour - an event to perform the Soma Nomaoi Festival of Fukushima Prefecture. The wild horse chase festival is said to date back more than 1,000 years. — KYODO Photo

The second part of the exhibition is given over to Kyodo News Agency photographs featuring Japan's beautiful landscapes, friendly people and diversified culture.

Addressing the opening ceremony yesterday, VNA general director Nguyen Duc Loi said he hoped the exhibition would bring audiences the most inspiring images on the special relationship and explore both countries' beauty and indomitable people, further strengthening their ties.

"I am most impressed by the photo of Japanese people queuing in a demonstration to protest the US bombings of Ha Noi and Hai Phong in 1972," said viewer Nguyen Duc Thanh, from the Union of Ha Noi Friendship Organisations. "I never knew that Japanese people had supported Vietnamese for so long."

Masaki Fukuyama, president of Kyodo, said exchanges between the people of the two countries had intensified across the fields of politics, diplomacy and economy, as well as in the private sector and at grass-roots level.

Seeing eye to eye: Thousands of Japanese people take part in a demonstration to protest the US troops' bombing of Ha Noi and Hai Phong, asking them to end the war in Viet Nam. — File Photo

"Since last summer, Vietnamese football ace Le Cong Vinh has been playing for Consadole Sapporo, a J-League club based in northern Japan's Sapporo," he said.

"His photo will be showcased at the joint exhibition focused on VNA images to be held at the Kyodo headquarters in December," he said.

This exhibition in Tokyo will mark the 30th anniversary of the two agencies' decision to mutually station permanent correspondents in Ha Noi and Tokyo.

The Ha Noi exhibition runs until November 14 at the VNA Headquarters at 5 Ly Thuong Kiet Street. — VNS