Italy-Japan – Tokyo celebrates 150 years of relations

Events to celebrate the 150th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Italy and Japan are continuing in Tokyo. With the opening of a retrospective dedicated to Caravaggio, Italy is taking centre-stage in Ueno, the cultural centre of the Japanese capital, where a Botticelli exhibition is also underway and has already attracted over 150,000 visitors. Then in mid-March, at the Auditorium, Riccardo Muti will conduct a concert of the 150th Anniversary Orchestra, comprising young Italian and Japanese musicians. In addition, a Giorgio Morandi exhibition recently opened at the Tokyo Station Gallery, displaying a hundred works by the artist, a 20th century Italian icon, while the Edo Tokyo Museum is hosting an exhibition on Leonardo Da Vinci with his Codex on the Flight of Birds and the Madonna of the Yarnwinder, one of the artist’s masterpieces. This rich agenda of events, which offers the Japanese public a broad cross-section of Italian culture and way of life, also including sports, promotional and scientific events, is the result of the synergistic cooperation of  Italian institutions, coordinated by the embassy, and with the valuable contribution of their Japanese partners.