Culture and Grants

May 25, 2018

May 18th, 2018

The annual "Cherry Blossom Gathering", organised by the Iceland-Japan Society, was

held at Tjörnin lakeside. These 50 cherry trees were given as a gift from the

Japan-Iceland Society in Tokyo in 2011, giving an opportunity every year for both the

Japanese and Icelandic nationals to cherish their friendship viewing the beautiful cherry

blossoms with a Japanese tradition. The members of the Japan-Iceland Society came all

the way from Japan and enjoyed the event together with the local participants.

May 16th, 2018

The granting ceremony of Scholarships from Watanabe Trust Fund was held at the

University of Iceland and Ambassador Kitagawa attended the ceremony. There are 16

students and researchers who received the grant, out of which, 13 will go to Japan and 3

will come to Iceland. We send heartfelt congratulations to all the recipients and wish you

all the best for your studies and researches!

April 12th, 2018

The 14th Japanese Presentation Contest was held at Veröld - Vigdís' house, University

of Iceland. Contestants were divided into the first-year and the second-year grade,

competing their skills to make a presentation in Japanese on their respective topics such

as family, hobby, the cultural differences between the two countries. Ambassador

Kitagawa made an opening speech and contributed as one of the judges and the Embassy

awarded prizes to the winners.

March 26th, 2018

Atomic-bombed fragments of Hiroshima were donated to the Reykjavik City, and the

ceremony took place at Hofdi House. Ambassador Kitagawa gave a speech together with

Ms. Líf Magneudóttir, President of Reykjavik City Council, followed by Mr. Kayo, the

founder of this project at the Hiroshima University. The porpose of this project is to

console the souls of the victims in Hiroshima and to pass on the experience to the current

and next generations.

March 22nd, 2018

The Embassy members visited Rimaskóli, Vogaskóli, Grunnskólinn í Hveragerði and

Fjölbrautaskóli Suðurlands, and some members of the Alumni association gave

presentations on Japan to approximately 400 students in total. After the presentations,

we received positive comments such as "I became more interested in Japan" "I want to

visit Japan someday" and so forth from students and teachers. Thank you for receiving

us!

March 16th, 2018

The Embassy hosted the 9th Reunion of the Japan Alumni Assotiation. The event was

attended by as many as 50 guests, who now work in various fields in Iceland, as well as

those Japanese students currently studying in Iceland. At the meeting, further

collaboration between the Embassy and the association was discussed to make the

association more active and attractive platform for mutual communication and

information sharing.

March 9th, 2018

The Reykjavik City Library, the Agency for Cultural Affairs of Japan and the Embassy of

Japan co-hosted an opening reception for the art exhibition “Yasuhiro Suzuki – Journey

around the neighborhood globe 2018 ” at the Reykjavik city library. Head of the library,

Ambassador Kitagawa and Mr. Suzuki made opening remarks at the reception. The event

was well received with a lot of Q&As exchanged between the guests and the artist. The

exhibition will be held until 18th of March.

February 23rd, 2018

The Japan Foundation and the Embassy of Japan co-hosted “the Japanese comedy film

weekend ” at Háskólabíó on 23-25 February. Ambassador Kitagawa made a speech at the

opening and 4 titles were screened during the weekend. Over 300 guests enjoyed the

event.

January 27th, 2018

"Japan Festival 2018" was held at Veröld, Vigdis Finbogadottir Language Center,

co-hosted by the Univesity of Iceland. The main organiser of the event was the students

of the University, who entertained the visitors with various Japan related programmes

such as J-pop dance, martial arts, and manga drawing. Embassy hosted sushi making

workshops and a rakugo show, Japanese sit-down comedy, performed by Mr. Someta

Hayashiya who came all the way from Japan for the event. The event ended with great

success atteneded by many visitors.

November 30th, 2017

The University of Iceland and Rakugo Without Borders co-organized a rakugo

performance by Master Yanagiya Kyotaro and Shunputei Shotaro at Veröld, Vigdis

Finbogadottir Language Center. This event, which was also supported by the Embassy,

was part of “Yanagiya Kyotaro Tour of Europe“and Iceland was their last stop. The show

ended with great success attended by many guests.

November 9th-10th, 2017

A delegation of Awamori overseas promotion project from Okinawa, which consists of the

members of the Cabinet Office, 3 distellers and consultants, paid a courtesy call on

Ambassador Kitagawa on the 9th of November. The Embassy supporeted the group‘s

initiative by hosting an Awamori tasting reception at the Ambassador‘s residence on the

following day, where representatives from various industries, such as restaurants and

bars, media, wine critics, memebers of Iceland-Japan chamber of commerce and heads of

diplomatic missions, attended.

October 28th, 2017

The opening of the exhibition “Japanese Design Today 100“ was held in the Hafnarborg

museum on the 28th of October. Mr. Haraldur Líndal Haraldsson, Mayor of Hafnarfjörður

city, and Ambassador Kitagawa made opening speeches. Approximately 400 guests

attended the event including government officials, members of the Parliament and heads

of missions.

October 23rd, 2017

International Women‘s Education Association, a non-profit body based in Japan, paid a

courtesy call on Ambassador Kitagawa on the 23rd of October. The purpose of their visit

is to learn about the economic, gender, education, welfare and natural resource policies in

Iceland, and they plan to visit various organizations during their stay. Ambassador

Kitagawa gave overall briefings on Icelandic socio-political environment, and active

discussions were made afterwards.

October 14th, 2017

The annual International forum, Arctic Cricle, was held at the Harpa Concert Hall from

13th to 15th of October. On the 14th, the Japanese Government organized a reception

“Japan Night“ in the concert hall and Mr. Keiji Ide, Ambassador in charge of Arctic Affairs,

Mr. Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, the former President and Mr. Yasuhiko Kitagawa,

Ambassador of Japan to Iceland made opening speeches. There was a performance by a

professional Tsugaru Shamisen player Mr. Ichikawa Hibiki and a Japanese folk singer, Ms.

Akari Mochizuki along with a sushi demonstration by the Embassy's chef and sake tasting.

About 1000 guests participated in the event enjoying these programmes. The reception

was a great opportunity to introduce both Japan's Arctic policy and the traditonal culture

to government officials and academics who gathered from all over the world.

June 16th, 2017

The annual program for children from 12 to 16 years old "University of the young " was

held at the University of Iceland. In this program, participants can learn various subjects

such as foreign languages including the Japanese language, philosophy, history, chemistry

and more. The Embassy cooperated with the University of Iceland by demonstrating a

form of calligraphy and providing the “Nipponia“ magazine.

May 27th, 2017

The annual " Multicultural Parade " held by Reykjavik City took place between

Hallgrímskirkja and the Harpa, where after the parade, the embassy set up a Japan booth

and demonstrated a Japanese calligraphy, Origami and traditional toys.

May 19th, 2017

The annual "Cherry Blossom Gathering" was held at Tjörnin lakeside by the

Iceland-Japan Society. These 50 cherry blossoms were gifts from the Japan-Iceland

Society and the attendees both from Japan and Iceland cherished their friendship at the

gathering. The Japan-Iceland Society member came all the way from Japan again and

enjoyed the event together with the guests.

April 27th, 2017

The granting ceremony of Scholarships from Watanabe Trust Fund was held at the

University of Iceland and Ambassador Kitagawa attended the ceremony. A total of 13

students and researchers received the grant and 9 will leave for Japan from Iceland and 4

will leave for Iceland from Japan to study or do research.

April 25th, 2017

The 9th Japanese Speech Contest was held at the Hamrahlíð College. Contestants were

divided into 2 divisions; those who have studied the Japanese language more than one

year and those who have studied the Japanese language less than one year, and

competed their skills to make speech in Japanese on their respective topics such as

Japan's cultural influence in Iceland and Icelandic sweets. The Embassy supported the

event, such as providing prizes.

April 5th, 2017

The 13th Japanese Presentation Contest was held at the University of Iceland.

Contestants were divided into the first-year and the second-year grade, and competed

their skills to make presentation in Japanese on their respective topics such as anime and

sumo.Ambassador Kitagawa served as a judge and the Embassy supported the event,

such as providing prizes.

March 30th, 2017

The Eighth Alumni Meeting was held at the Ambassador's residence. About 40 former

Icelandic students in Japan attended the meeting and had a pleasant conversation about

experiences in Japan and activities after returning home, while enjoying Japanese food.

March 23rd・27th, 2017

The embassy members visited the Réttarholtsskóli and Menntaskólinn við Hamrahlíð and

a board member of the Alumni association gave presentations on Japan to approximately

150 students.

February 25th, 2017

The opening of the exhibition ‘The dolls of Japan’ was held in the Gerðuberg Culture

House on the 25th of February. Ms. Elsa Yeoman, Reykjavik city councillor and

Ambassador Kitagawa made opening speeches and approximately 150 guests including Mr.

Benedikt Jóhannesson, Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, attended the opening.

February 18th, 2017

Ambassador Kitagawa visited the Reykjavik city cultural centers on ‘World Children’s

Day’. This year, the day had a Japanese theme and Origami, Ju-jitsu, Manga, Kimono, Kite

and so forth were introduced.

January 28th, 2017

The University of Iceland and the Embassy of Japan held the 13th Japan Festival. At the

opening ceremony, Ambassador Kitagawa awarded the Japanese Foreign Minister‘s

commendation to Ms. Gunnella Thorgeirsdottir, the Head of Japanese Language and

Culture of the University, in recognition of her distinguished service in contributing to

promoting mutual understanding between two countries. Over 2,000 visitors enjoyed

Japanese culture such as Ikebana and cosplay. Thank you very much for coming!

December 16th, 2016

December 15th, 2016

The opening ceremony of the exhibition hosted by Johan Sigmarsson in collaboration with

Embassy of Japan was held in Harpa. About 100 guests viewed the art works including the

ones which use the roofing tiles from the Genbaku Dome / Atomic Bomb Dome in

Hiroshima. The President Johanesson and Ambassador Kitagawa made speeches during

the ceremony.

November 18th, 2016

The Japan Foundation and the Embassy of Japan co-hosted “the Japanese Film Days” at

Háskólabíó on 18-19 November. Ambassador Kitagawa made a speech at the opening.

October 26th, 2016

A Shakuhachi player, Mr.Yosuke Irie held a solo concert at Tónskóli Sigursveins in

Reykjavík. About 100 guests, including the Governor of Central Bank of Iceland, attended

the concert and it ended successfully. On the previous day, Mr. Irie did a lecture and

demonstration at the National Art Academy as well.

September 24th, 2016

The Sakurama Family of the Konparu School, led by Mr. Ujin Sakurama, performed NOH

play “Hashibenkei” and Kyogen play “Obagazake” at Háskólabíó. About 300 guests,

including the Icelandic parliamentarians attended the performance and it ended

successfully. On the previous day, the family did a lecture and demonstration at the

University of Iceland and the National Art Academy in which former President, H.E. Vigdís

Finnbogadóttir participated.