Love Letter from Brussels
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Japan - Belgium Collaboration (No.43)
03/10/2016
The Chrysanthemum Festival
This is not the first time here that I mention the Japanese Garden of Hasselt. The authentic Japanese Garden, donated by Sister City Itami, is the biggest in Europe and has about 65,000 visitors every year. In the garden, there are beautiful blooming flowers in every season. There is also a splendid teahouse, a space for exhibitions and even a small shrine.
This year, I attended the opening of the ‘Chrysanthemum Festival’, which is held at the Japanese Garden in Hasselt every two years. It takes place from 1 to 9 October and during this festival various performances such as music and Noh-theater are planned.
On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of friendship, this year’s Chrysanthemum Festival has been organized by Japan and Belgium together.First, the Belgian floral artist Tomas De Bruyne made 5 beautiful chrysanthemum creations in the garden. Tomas is a famous young artist who also made the large-scale arrangements in the church at the Ghent Floralies in spring. As he guided us through the garden, each monument held a special concept and, when matched with the whole garden as its background, the various schemes of color and form make them magnificent.
Sasaki Naoki, who is also a floral artist, came over from Japan. He was born in the Mie-prefecture, which is why he was also in charge of part of the Ikebana for the G7 Ise-Shima Summit the other day. His work is an arrangement of a kimono together with flowers that is on display in a room of the teahouse facing the pond. It is a magnificent piece where the back of the kimono slowly transforms into an arrangement of chrysanthemum flowers of similar colors.
For this occasion, a new breed of chrysanthemum was also unveiled. This variety was named Van Rompuy, after the Friendship Ambassador of the 150 Years of Friendship between Japan and Belgium and Former President of the European Council. It is a deep purplish red chrysanthemum with an elegant shape. On that note, it was my wife that had the honor of baptizing the new flower with champagne, an important task she successfully fulfilled.
Bell of Peace and Carillon
There was also another project waiting for us at the Japanese Garden of Hasselt, besides the Chrysanthemum Festival. That was the installation of a “Bell of Peace” in the garden. At the far end of the garden, there is a small shrine. This new bell is placed on the opposite side across the shrine and the walking path. Even though the bell is small, it is a beautiful Japanese-style bell in a splendid belfry. The people of Hasselt got the idea for this bell from the “Bell of Peace” at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. On the bell, the words “By sounding this bell we pray for peace and friendship in the world” are carved both in Dutch and in Japanese.
Together with the deputy mayor of Hasselt and the governor of Limburg, I had the honor of striking the bell for the first time. Being from Hiroshima, this moment was especially emotional to me.
Speaking of bells, there was another mutual cooperation between Japan and Belgium. On September 24, my wife and I attended the International Symposium on Carillon “How bells connect Belgium and Japan”, which took place in Mechelen, the sister city of Yuki. Mechelen is well-known for its melody-producing carillon bells in the church, and on that day as well, there was a concert with both Belgian and Japanese carillon players. Under a blue sky, we enjoyed the performance while sitting at the town square looking up at the cathedral where the carillon was playing. This was a special experience. I could really imagine the performance of carillon being the murmurs of angels from up above. When we looked to where the sound was coming from, we saw the cathedral’s tower. It stood against a backdrop of bright blue sky with a few trails of planes. It really looked as if angels were flying.
As a matter of fact, the carillon is special for Hasselt too. In Itami, there is a Carillon Tower, donated by the city of Hasselt. In response to this gift, Itami donated the Japanese Garden to Hasselt.
Welcoming Their Majesties the King and Queen
Thinking back, the first event I attended outside of Brussels after taking office two years ago on September 12, was the previous Chrysanthemum Festival at the Japanese Garden of Hasselt. And now I attended this Chrysanthemum Festival as the last event in Belgium before leaving for Japan to meet Their Majesties the King and Queen as state guests in Japan.
From 10 to 15 October, His Majesty King Philippe and Her Majesty Queen Mathilde will pay a state visit to Japan (informal program on October 10). My wife and I will return to Japan in advance to welcome their Majesties.
Their visit is sure to be a climax for the anniversary of the 150 Years of Friendship. I am looking forward to talk about the visit in my next Love Letter from Brussels.