The Japanese city of Kagoshima has held its second ‘Napoli Festa’, a tribute to its sister city Naples. For the occasion, the central ‘Napoli dori’ (Naples Street) was closed to traffic and turned into an exhibition area for holiday packages and products from Naples and other parts of Italy. Concerts and talk shows on Naples and Kagoshima were staged in the middle of the street. One show was presented by Girolamo Panzetta, an Italian celebrity from Naples who lives and works in Japan and is well-known on the Japanese media.
The event, organised in collaboration with the Consulate General in Osaka, the local Chamber of Commerce and the Italian Institute of Culture in Osaka, is part of the celebrations for the 150th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations between Italy and Japan. More than 40,000 people braved the bad weather to visit the festival.
Speaking at the event, Italy’s Consul General in Osaka, Marco Lombardi, emphasised the amazing similarities between Naples and Kagoshima, such as the fact that both cities are situated on a bay, next to a volcano: the Vesuvius and Sakurajima. Mr Lombardi added that 2016 is a very special year for Italy and Japan, which are making the best of the anniversary to deepen mutual understanding and boost cultural and economic exchange.
