From May 14 to 18, 2019, the Japan-Russia Regional Festival was held in St. Petersburg, organized by the Consulate General of Japan in St. Petersburg with the assistance of the representative of the Japanese organization for the development of foreign trade JETRO and the Japanese center in St. Petersburg, administrations of Japanese cities and regions, as well as the Committee for External Relations of St. Petersburg.
The festival was the final event of the Russia-Japan cross year in St. Petersburg which was attended by representatives of the regions of Japan: Hokkaido, Gifu and Okinawa, Osaka, Sakat, Fukuoka and Kanazawa. The event included a large business and cultural program.
On May 14, the Technopark of St. Petersburg and representatives of the city of Fukuoka held a competition for presentations of Japanese-Russian startup projects (Fukuoka Startup Day). A business session was also held as part of the event, during which startups were able to communicate with experts from two countries and establish partnerships.
The winner of the competition from St. Petersburg - the ROBBO company - will take part in the annual international summit WARAKU SAMMIT, which will be held in autumn 2019 in Fukuoka, and will also receive a subsidy from the Japanese side to open an office in Japan.
On May 16, in Smolny, a meeting between Member of the Government of St. Petersburg - Representative of the Governor of St. Petersburg in the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg Shesterikov Yu.B. and a delegation of the regions of Japan (Hokkaido Prefecture, Gifu Prefecture, Sakata, Osaka) was held.
As part of the meeting, the program of the Japan-Russian Regional Festival was presented. In addition, the parties discussed the results of joint work: at present, cooperation between St. Petersburg and partners in Japan is actively developing in the field of startups, small and medium-sized enterprises, tourism, culture, school exchanges and urban infrastructure.
In addition, within the framework of the festival business seminars on the following topics were organized: "Regions of Japan: variety of food products", "Urban infrastructure" and "Japanese-Russian inbound and outbound tourism." Companies and representatives of executive bodies of state power from St. Petersburg and regions of Japan shared their opinions and held business negotiations. As part of the tourism seminar, an agreement was signed to open a Visit Peterburg office in Tokyo.
On May 18, a cultural and tourist fair was held at the ''Peter Raduga'' shopping mall. Each region of Japan presented its own specific features. Hokkaido Prefecture presented the residents of St. Petersburg with the tourist attractiveness of the region, Gifu Prefecture introduced places for outdoor activities, Okinawa Prefecture offered cane brown sugar, Sapporo presented food products and famous cookies, Sakata showed decorative items, Kanazawa talked about the sights of its territories.
The Japanese vocal and instrumental group Ryukyu Chimdon Gakudan, which organically combines the music of Ryukyu, Yamato, Asia and Jazz-pop, performed within the framework of the fair for Petersburgers. Pupils of geisho maiko from Sakata presented traditional songs and dances. The performance of the bunraku theater “Ningyo Joruri” from Hokkaido took place, in which three puppeteers control one doll. Also, the guests of the fair saw the shows of a group of Japanese drummers, took part in master classes on making ikebana, origami, putting on a kimono. The Japanese chef demonstrated the preparation of national dishes and conducted a tasting.