'Sri Lanka Festival' strengthens Japanese, Lanka bonds

As Sri Lanka and Japan celebrate 60 years of diplomatic relations, the two countries also hope their economic and cultural relations grow stronger and closer in the years to come. The diplomatic representatives of the two countries shared this view during annual 'Sri Lanka Festival' held in Tokyo on September 8 and 9.

Sri Lanka Ambassador in Japan Retired Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda said the two countries have shown their solidarity towards each other in both good and bad times and have always come forward to assist each other in difficult times.

Karannagoda said at the opening ceremony of the festival that Japan has increased its funds to Sri Lanka by 175 million US dollars and the volume of new Japanese investments are also increasing.

Former UN diplomat and now the Japanese government representative for Peace-Building, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction in Sri Lanka Yasushi Akashi said he was quite happy to be part of this event and the Sri Lanka Festival has become a popular event among both Sri Lankans and Japanese people. He added that Sri Lanka Ambassador in Japan is doing a great job to further strengthen relations between the two countries.

He also said Sri Lanka has a great opportunity to improve its economy. "I am happy about the recent improvements of peace and national unity in the island. Also the reconstruction and rehabilitation work in the recent past have progressed in a satisfactory way under the present leadership," Akashi who visited Sri Lanka a few days ago noted. Japan's Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Hirofumi Hirano and a host of Japanese dignitaries and Sri Lakan Parliamentarians attended the opening ceremony. The theme of this year's festival 'Miracle Island - Sri Lanka Wonder of Asia' - aimed at promoting the image of Sri Lanka among the Japanese people, projecting the country as an attractive destination for trade and tourism and cultural bonds. Over 100 stalls promoted Sri Lanka tea, food, clothes and ayurveda and tourism opportunities. The Sri Lanka Festival 2012 was held at the Yoyogi Park in central Tokyo, and it brought together thousands of Japanese and Sri Lankans living in Japan who enjoyed a solid combination of Sri Lankan culture, art and food at the same venue. Popular Sri Lankan artistes, such as, the Channa-Upuli dance troupe and Bathiya and Santhush Group together with the students of Sri Lanka-Japan Education and Cultural Centre - Kotte enthralled the crowd with a number of performances.

The food stall owners said thousands of meals were sold during the two days of the festival. "Japanese people love our spicy food," said Chinthaka of Randiva Foods. Another major attraction was the thambili stall which managed by Thilak Chandra - a successful entrepreneur based in Japan. "I air-freighted three tonnes of thambili - especially for the festival and the entire stock was sold out before the end of the festival," he said.

Tokyo's present weather is scorching and Thilak gave the perfect answer for it by selling 'cool thambili'. Anton Wicky, a long-time Tokyo resident and popular Japanese TV personality originally from Mount Lavinia - was the co-host.