The Japan-Vietnam Support Association and the Vietnamese Association in Kansai, Japan-Vietnam Friendship Association in Osaka, last week organized a musical programme “Que Huong” (Homeland) Programme 2024 in Higashi Osaka city, Kansai region, attracting about 1,000 Vietnamese and Japanese people, VNA reported.

Singers from Vietnam and Vietnamese people living in Kansai performed at the event. Notably, Vietnamese singers sang a popular Vietnamese song “Diem xua” by famous composer Trinh Cong Son in Japanese and a well-known Japanese song titled “Sukiyaki”.

Vietnamese and Japanese people at the "Que huong" (Homeland) Programme 2024 in Higashi Osaka city, Japan's Kansai region.

Speaking at the event, Mayor of Higashi Osaka city Noda Yoshikazu said that cultural exchange activities between Vietnam and Japan like the music programme can help tighten the friendship between the two countries. He hoped that more Vietnamese people will come to live and work in the city.

Consul General of Vietnam in Osaka Nguyen Minh Son said that the event is of great significance to the Vietnamese community in the Kansai region because few major cultural events have been held for the Vietnamese community in the region.

Son expressed his thanks to the event organizers and sponsors for their efforts to bring a spiritual gift to Vietnamese people living far from home and create an opportunity to unite the community.

The second edition of the event is slated for January next year, making it an annual event to tighten the friendship between Vietnamese and Japanese people in the Kansai region.

A performance at the event.

Le Thuong, head of the Overseas Vietnamese Association in Kansai, said that the event is held annually with the desire to bring spiritual dishes of the homeland to people far away from home.

"The event brings a hometown atmosphere, warmth and solidarity, with artists from Vietnam such as MC Dai Nghia, singers Hanh Nguyen, Anh Ngoc, and Truong The Vinh. In addition, the program also has the participation of Vietnamese people in Kansai in supporting dance performances such as ao dai and hat dancings, the most special of which is the song "Love Vietnamese" by singer Anh Ngoc performing with a dance group of Vietnamese children at a Vietnamese class in the Kansai. This is a great effort of the organizing committee as well as the program participants who spent their few days off to practice," Thuong said.

Currently, there are approximately 90,000 Vietnamese people living, studying, and working in Kansai.

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