The grand opening of the Vietnam Festival in Kanagawa Prefecture in 2025

Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Ho An Phong, Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan Pham Quang Hieu and Governor of Kanagawa Prefecture Kuroiwa Yuji declared the festival open. (Photo: Xuan Giao/VNA)

On September 13, the Vietnam Festival in Kanagawa province (Japan) 2025 opened in the port city of Yokohama, about 50km from Tokyo.

This is the 9th year the Vietnam festival and the 11th year (not counting the two years of interruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic) held in this locality.

Attending the opening ceremony were Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan Pham Quang Hieu, Governor of Kanagawa Prefecture Kuroiwa Yuji, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Ho An Phong, along with officials of the Kanagawa Prefecture government, Vietnamese people living, working and studying in the province and local people.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan Pham Quang Hieu emphasized that the Vietnam Festival in Kanagawa province, after nine times of organization, has gradually become a meeting place for cultural exchange and a bridge for people-to-people exchange between Vietnam and Japan.

The Ambassador expressed his hope that this event will spread not only to more than 40,000 Vietnamese people living, working and studying in Kanagawa province, but also to many Japanese people who love the country and people of Vietnam.

For his part, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Ho An Phong said that the event is a unique and effective cultural and artistic exchange initiative between Vietnam and Japan at the local level.

Culture has no high or low, no borders, and the exchange between distinctive cultures will create diversity and richness, helping to bring people of the two countries closer together.

Japanese tourists experience making Vietnamese lanterns and star lanterns. (Photo: Pham Tuan/VNA)

Sharing with a reporter from Vietnam News Agency, Ms. Osato, a resident of Yokohama city, said this was her first time coming to this festival and she was very impressed with traditional Vietnamese handicraft products such as rattan and bamboo products.

In addition, Vietnamese coffee, pho, and bread are delicious. Vietnamese dishes are very suitable for Japanese tastes.

Mr. Nakao, from Gunma province, who traveled nearly 300km from 5am to Yokohama, shared that this was his second time attending the Vietnam festival and he felt very happy to be able to experience Vietnamese culture.

Vietnamese food is delicious, especially pho, sweet soup, and bread. Due to work, I haven't been able to come to Vietnam, but festivals like this are an opportunity for Vietnamese culture to become closer to the Japanese people.

As a Vietnamese working as a nurse in Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture, Ms. Luc Thanh Loan said that this was her first time attending the Vietnamese festival in Kanagawa Prefecture and she felt the atmosphere here was very cheerful and bustling, the Vietnamese food was delicious, helping to ease her homesickness.

Kanagawa Governor Kuroiwa Yuji visits Vietnam's handmade bamboo and rattan booth. (Photo: Xuan Giao/VNA)

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Kanagawa Governor Kuroiwa Yuji emphasized that cultural exchange activities between Kanagawa and Vietnam through organizing festivals have been very active in recent years.

In addition to the 9 times of Vietnam festival in Kanagawa, the provincial government also organizes Kanagawa festivals in Vietnam and this coming November will be the 6th time. This has positively contributed to the political , economic and cultural cooperation between the two countries.

Typically, in 2015, when the festival was first held, there were no Vietnamese enterprises connecting with Kanagawa province, but up to now there have been 21 enterprises, and in the opposite direction, there are also 32 Kanagawa enterprises investing and doing business in Vietnam.

Commercial Counselor Ta Duc Minh directly introduces Vietnamese products to Japanese tourists. (Photo: Xuan Giao/VNA)

The 9th Vietnam Festival in Kanagawa has about 100 booths introducing the beauty of culture, traditional cuisine, and regional specialties of Vietnam. In particular, Kanagawa people are very excited with the special performances of the water puppetry troupe from Vietnam.

Despite the gloomy weather and occasional light rain, many visitors still came to attend the opening ceremony and enjoy the vibrant atmosphere of the festival.

The annual Vietnam Festival in Kanagawa has truly become a unique spiritual food for Vietnamese and local people.

Taking place over two days, September 13-14, the festival is expected to attract hundreds of thousands of visitors to visit and experience Vietnamese culture and cuisine./.