Year of Japan in Turkey begins today

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and his Japanese counterpart Katsuya Okada will officially inaugurate Turkey’s Year of Japan today with a ceremony at the Ankara headquarters of the Turkish-Japanese Culture Association. During the one-year event, Ankara and Istanbul will host many cultural activities such as concerts, exhibits, traditional Japanese shadow theatre, and fireworks shows in a bid to make Japanese culture better known among Turkish audiences. Turkey declared 2010 the Year of Japan as a gesture returning Japan’s declaration making 2003 the Year of Turkey. Arriving in Istanbul yesterday, Okada visited Hagia Sophia and the Topkapi Museum, and was briefed about Marmaray, a Turkish-Japanese joint undersea project to bridge the two sides of the Bosporus to ease the city’s traffic problems.