Implementation of the Japan Week in Bhutan 2024

　The Embassy of Japan in Bhutan, the Japan Culture Center, the Japan Foundation New Delhi and the JICA Bhutan Office, with the cooperation of the Royal Government of Bhutan, organized the Japan Week in Bhutan 2024, from Friday, 1 November to Sunday, 3 November 2024, to further promote cultural exchanges between Japan and Bhutan. The event was organized in cooperation with the Royal Government of Bhutan.

Flyer

1 November（Friday）, Japanese Speech Contest

　The first Japanese speech contest in Bhutan was organized by the Japan Foundation New Delhi Japanese. In Bhutan, Japanese language education is offered by one Japanese language school and the De-suung Skilling Programme (DSP), a youth employment and upskilling support programme by His Majesty the King. 13 people in total, including students studying Japanese at both the institutions mentioned above and self-taught adults, participated in the contest. It was impressive to see people diligently deliver speeches in fluent Japanese on the theme of the charms of Japan and the things they want to do in Japan. The sight of young people who had become interested in Japan through anime and self-learned Japanese, gathered up the courage to enter the contest, and performed with self-assurance was very moving.
Panasonic India sponsored the contest, and the winners were delighted to receive exciting prizes such as microwave ovens and rice cookers.

2 November（Saturday）, Japan week main event

（1）Opening Ceremony

The opening ceremony was held on a stage set up at the clock tower square in the capital city of Thimphu. From the Bhutanese side, His Excellency Mr. Chandra Bahadur Gurung, Hon’ble Minister of Infrastructure and Transport and other government officials attended as guests of honor. Various Japan-related performances were presented on the stage, providing a valuable opportunity to strengthen ties between Japan and Bhutan and to promote the charms of Japan.

The first programme was a karate performance by the Bhutan Karate Association, in which participants ranging from small children to high school students passionately demonstrated regularly practised different karate postures and forms with corresponding voices.

This was followed by a performance by DSP students studying Japanese and local Japanese people on Japanese songs popular in Bhutan. The venue was engulfed in a friendly atmosphere with some people humming and others listening to the melodies.

This was followed by a Japanese speech by the winner of the previous day's Japanese speech contest, who surprised the visitors with his fluency in difficult Japanese.

　Furthermore, the JICA Bhutan Office introduced the exchange between Shimane Prefecture and Bhutan. Ama Town, Shimane Prefecture and Bhutan have well-established exchanges, as evidenced by the mutual people-to-people exchanges through the ‘Project for Problem Based Learning (PBL) in the Kingdom of Bhutan.’ Furthermore, Hamada City in Shimane Prefecture and Bhutan have been actively promoting exchanges through the exchange of traditional handmade Japanese paper techniques and regional revitalization using art. This day was a good opportunity for Bhutanese people to learn about the exchanges between the two cities and Bhutan.

Performance of ‘Kinnyamonya,’a folk song from Ama Town, Shimane Prefecture

Commendation ceremony of an art contest based on art exchanges between Hamada City, Shimane Prefecture, and Bhutan.

　Dance performances of ‘Soranbushi’, ‘Matsuri’ and ‘Nebuta Matsuri’ by JICA members. The audience shouted in joy at the ‘Soranbushi’ performance, and the entire audience, including guests, joined in the jumping dance ‘Haneto’ in the ‘Nebuta Matsuri’ performance, which was a great success.

　After the ceremony, a demonstration of a second-hand fire engine, which was provided to Bhutan through Grant Assistance for Grassroots Projects, was held and when the firefighters sprayed water through the hose, the children gathered to hold the hoses and observed the vehicle up close, their eyes sparkling at the real fire-fighting vehicle, which they don’t have access to normally.

His Excellency Mr. Chandra Bahadur Gurung, Hon’ble Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Chargé d’affaires ad interim Mr. Ariyoshi and Foreign Secretary Ambassador Pema Choden enjoying the performance

View of Venue

（2）Booth Exhibition

Booths of JICA Bhutan Office, DSP, JAAB (Japanese Alumni Association of Bhutan) and the Embassy of Japan were displayed around the stage in the clock tower square.

　Visitors enjoyed a variety of Japanese attractions, including a ninja experience, food and drink, sightseeing and a Go board game at the JICA Bhutan Office’s booth, Japanese language classes at the DSP booth, blood donation camp at the JAAB booth and Japanese cultural experiences including Happi coats, calligraphy and origami at the Embassy booth.

3 November（Sunday）Anime Movie Screening

The Japan Foundation New Delhi organized the screening of three animation films in Thimphu. Japanese animation is popular in Bhutan and all the films were well attended, especially by young people!

Implementing bodies:

Co-organised by: Embassy of Japan in Bhutan, Japan Foundation New Delhi and JICA Bhutan Office
In Cooperation with: Royal Government of Bhutan