Romanian Cultural Institute to open Tokyo branch next week

The official opening of the Romanian Cultural Institute (ICR) in Tokyo will take place on November 26, ICR announced.

The opening reflects "ICR's commitment to supporting and promoting Romanian culture throughout the world," the institution said.

One of the first events hosted by ICR Tokyo will be an exhibition with works from the collection of Japanese photographer Kosey Miya. The photos "capture the charm of the Maramureș region, the authenticity and beauty of the life of the people of Maramureș."

Kosei Miya was born in 1937 in Tokyo. He studied literature, art, and history, as well as ethnology, economics, and sociology. An essayist and author of documentary works, he started his career as an editor at the Weekly Book Review magazine, where he worked between 1958 and 1964. In 1965, he discovered Romania, which he visited countless times. Many of his books and two volumes of photography – Romanian Rhapsody(1986) and Europa Orientalis (1991) – are dedicated to Romania.

Another event will be a concert delivered by Japanese artist Fumiko Sakura, accompanied by pianist Eiko Tsukuda. Fumiko Sakura started playing the pan flute (nai) at the age of eight. Fascinated by the instrument's sound, she continued her studies in Romania and Switzerland. She graduated from the International Pan Flute Masterclass organized by Gheorghe Zamfir's disciples in Sibiu, and attended a dedicated course at the National University of Music in Bucharest. Fumiko founded the Japanese Association for the Romanian Pan Flute and is actively involved in the research and promotion of the instrument. She is a lecturer at the Institute of Ethnomusicology of the Tokyo College of Music (TCM) and the Doctoral School of the Tokyo Music University and Seikei University.

(Illustration: ICR)