Visit of the Ambassador to Antwerp

On November 28, Ambassador Shimokawa paid his first visit to the city of Antwerp, where he exchanged ideas with the city’s Director of External Relations, Mr. Tom Verbelen. The Ambassador said that since Nippon Yusen opened a regular sea route in 1896, Japan and Antwerp have a wide range of economic cooperation relationships and, as shown by the Sister Port Relationship between the Port of Antwerp and the Port of Nagoya, the two cities still continue to have close ties. Director Verbelen said that Antwerp and Japan’s relation is developing of course not only in the economic field, but in various fields. For instance, the Olympic and Paralympic Games of Tokyo 2020 coincide with the 100th anniversary of the Olympic Games of Antwerp, and furthermore, Antwerp’s largest museum MAS is currently holding an exhibition entitled Cool Japan, which is attracting a great number of visitors. Ambassador Shimokawa, together with the members of the Belgium Japan Association and Chamber of Commerce (BJA), went on to visit with great interest the exhibition “Cool Japan”. The exhibition “Cool Japan” introduces from different angles, especially the influence of traditional Japanese medieval culture, such as ukiyo-e and samurai culture, on contemporary Japanese pop culture.