Tokyo cheers up for come-back of China Festival

The first China Festival was held in 2017 at Yoyogi Park, and since then, it has become a well-established event in Japan to showcase China.

Keiichi Iwamoto, deputy director-general of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, said people-to-people exchanges between Japan and China have been decreasing in recent years mainly due to COVID-19.

"Now is the time to once again promote exchanges between the citizens of both countries to enhance mutual trust, forming the basis for maintaining peace and cooperation between the two nations," Iwamoto said.

He conveyed a message on behalf of Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi who is on an overseas trip.

"Japan and China are eternal neighbors who cannot change their geographical proximity. Precisely because of this neighborly relationship, we often face various challenges. However, it is for this reason that we must not let our dialogue and exchanges wane," Hayashi said in the message.