A delegation from the EU-Japan Festival Committee will be visiting Chemnitz from Wednesday to Friday, 1 to 3 July. The focus will be on projects supported by the committee during Chemnitz’s year as European Capital of Culture in 2025, as well as discussions on possible future collaborations.
The delegation is led by Makoto Takashima, the 33rd Chair of the EU-Japan Festival Committee. He is also Chairman of the Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG) and of the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), one of Japan’s largest banking groups. The delegation includes, amongst others, Jiro Kogi, Secretary-General of the EU-Japan Fest Committee, and Saori Hakoda, the Committee’s Programme Director.
The EU-Japan Festival Committee has been supporting European Capitals of Culture for many years and promotes cultural exchange between Japan and Europe. This work is made possible, amongst other things, by the support of Japanese companies such as Toyota, Mitsubishi, Hitachi, Sumitomo and Mitsui.
The delegation has already visited several Capital of Culture projects involving Japanese participation. At the Garagen Campus, the delegation met the internationally renowned architect Kengo Kuma. Among other things, the international summer school ‘Archipelago Chemnitz – Making the City’ was presented there, in which students and lecturers from Chemnitz, Tokyo, Manchester, Saarbrücken and Weimar took part. The EU–Japan Festival Committee had provided financial support for both the summer school and the exhibition ‘Beyond Geometry. Frei Otto × Kengo Kuma’ at the Chemnitz Art Collections.
The programme also included a musical exchange between Chemnitz and Kagoshima at the Municipal Music School. In addition, the delegation visited the Capital of Culture region, viewed artworks along the Purple Path and learnt about the collaboration between the 38 local authorities during the Capital of Culture year.
On Friday 3 July, Lord Mayor Sven Schulze will welcome the delegation at the Town Hall. Saxony’s Minister-President Michael Kretschmer and Japan’s Deputy Ambassador, Kunihiko Kawazu, are also expected to attend. At around 4.50 pm, representatives of the delegation will sign the Golden Book of the City of Chemnitz.
In the evening, the delegation will also attend the dance performance “Shintai to Shintai” at the Hartmannfabrik. The production was created during the European Capital of Culture year 2025 and brings together the Japanese choreographer Yoko Ando and the Chemnitz-based group Tanzende Nachbarn.
