Great honor for Japan to host first Russian Seasons - ambassador

MOSCOW, March 1 /TASS/. Japan's Ambassador to Russia Toyohisa Kozuki has expressed gratitude that the first Russian Seasons will take place in his country this June, he told TASS on Wednesday at the press conference dedicated to the event. "We are honored that Japan has been selected as the first country for the Russian seasons. I want to express my gratitude to the Russian side for that decision," Ambassador Kozuki noted. The diplomat said that the Seasons will open with the Bolshoi Theater tour. "It is a good opening to the Russian seasons, since they are associated with the Diaghilev Seasons, which revived ballet in Europe, Kozuki said. The Bolshoi Ballet is scheduled to perform in Japan from May 31 to June 19 and will cover five cities - Tokyo, Hiroshima, Otsu, Nagoya and Osaka. Last month, Bolshoi Theater General Director Vladimir Urin spoke at length about the upcoming tour. "Of course, Swan Lake will open the tour. It is the signature of the Russian Ballet that every Japanese citizen must see...that is what they think in the Land of the Rising Sun," said Urin, explaining that the theater always takes its best shows to Japan and this year it is Giselle (directed by Yuri Grigorovich) and Flames of Paris (directed by Alexei Ratmansky) in addition to Swan Lake. "The Bolshoi Theater is loved throughout Japan. There is a unique audience there, which greets our performances with a special warmth, so it is a great pleasure to perform before them," Urin concluded. Ambassador Kozuki also shared some history of Russian ballet in Japan. "In 1922, the great Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova visited Japan with the Diaghilev troupe. It was the first foreign ballet tour in Japan," he emphasized. "We can say that the Japanese ballet was revived by the Russians," the diplomat continued. In 1927, Anna Pavlova opened Japan's first ballet school, and the same year, exactly 60 years ago, the Bolshoi Theater came to Japan for the first time. The Russian Seasons will be made up of other cultural events, including a number of Hermitage exhibitions, between March 18 and June 18. Kozuki said that the two previous Hermitage exhibitions in Japan were seen by nearly 1.5 million people. "I’ve been a fan of fine art since childhood, and I was 19 when I first visited the Hermitage," the ambassador said, adding that that visit made a lasting impression upon him. "Thanks to the current exhibitions, many Japanese people will be able to get acquainted with works of the Hermitage collection," he explained. Kozuki also recalled that last December, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to hold a cross-cultural year of Russia in Japan and Japan in Russia in 2018. "We would like to introduce the Russian people to Japanese art and culture through Japanese cultural events in Russia," the envoy said. Read more