On July 3 and 4, representatives from Chemnitz (Germany), Oulu (Finland), Trenčín (Slovakia), Liepāja (Latvia), Évora (Portugal), Budweis (Czechia), Bourges (France), Skopje (North Macedonia) and Lublin (Poland) will be in Tokyo to present their programs to interested Japanese artists. Participants can explore the forefront of ECoC and discover new possibilities for collaboration between Japan and Europe. This event will be a springboard for new co-creation across diverse fields such as contemporary art, music, performing arts, architecture, and crafts.

On the first day, July 3rd, there will be a talk event exploring the latest developments in the European Capitals of Culture, which serve as "platforms for creatively transforming people, communities, and economies through culture". The event will also examine the current state of Japanese culture and society, aiming to pave the way toward future innovation through culture.

The meeting will take place at 3×3 Lab Future (1F, Otemon Tower – ENEOS Building, 1-1-2 Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo) and will be opened by Makoto TAKASHIMA, Chairperson of the 33rd EU–Japan Fest, EU-Japan Fest Japan Committee (Chairman of the Board, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation). Christina Jaritsch Bad Ischl-Salzkammergut 2024 European Capital of Culture (Austria) who will explain ”What Does ECoC Bring?”. ”The Current State of Japanese Society and Culture” will be illustrated by Makoto Yokohari, Project Professor, Organization for Interdisciplinary Research Projects, the University of Tokyo and Yukiko Shikata, Director of Towada Art Center, President of AICA Japan.

Then it will be the turn of the representatives of the European Capitals of Culture until 2029 who will present the activities planned with particular attention to the relationships they intend to establish with the Japanese artistic world.

On July 4th, the day defined as “Creative connection”, the intention is to connect artists from Japan with the European Capitals of Culture (2024–2029) in pursuit of new Japan-Europe collaborations. Matching sessions will be held in four fields: “Traditional Crafts,” “Media/Visual Arts,” “Performing Arts (Dance/Theater),” and “Art Urbanism.”

For the “Traditional crafts” session, Takanori Kawai, Managing Director, The Association for the Promotion of Traditional Craft Industries and Izumi Hayashi, Curator at the Museum of Modern Ceramic Art, Gifu will speak. For “Media/Visual arts”, Yasuko Yubisui, Curator, NTT InterCommunication Center [ICC] and Hiroko Kimura-Myokam, Curator, Archivist, Representative of Eizo Workshop G.K.. For “Performing arts (Dance/Theater)” presentations will be given by Eri Karatsu Artistic Director and Executive Director of Aichi Prefectural Art Theater / Artistic Director of Dance Base Yokohama, Yukako Ogura, Program Director, ROHM Theatre Kyoto and Hiroaki Umeda, Choreographer, Dancer, Visual Artist. For “Art Urbanism”, Yukako Ishikawa, Urbanist / Co-Director, for Cities / Director, Social Green Design / watage and Taisuke Koyama – Photographer / Representative of Tokyo Photographic Research.

Contributions from representatives of the European Capitals of Culture will be possible in each session and, most importantly, people attending the two days can engage directly with ECoC representatives at dedicated booths within the venue.

Ecocnews will be present to be able to to tell these two important days for the relations between the European and Japanese cultural worlds.

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