It wasn't just a crossroads of words, but of thoughts, visions, and cultures: two distant worlds, yet eager to compare and understand each other. But above all, thanks to the efforts of Eu Japan Fest, they can pursue joint projects in the near future.

The meeting was conducted in a different way than the annual meetings organized by the EU Japan Fest to bring together ECOCs with Japanese artists. Typically, ECOC representatives presented their programs to a large audience of Japanese artists, with whom they had the opportunity to immediately engage at small tables set up on the edges of the conference room for each ECOC. These relationships have allowed for the development of interesting and fruitful collaborative projects over the years. The "Meet up Ecoc" platform, built during the challenging pandemic period, has been an invaluable resource for the ECOCs, and its development into the "Meet up Ecoc - Face to Face" platform, featuring speakers from the Japanese cultural world, has opened a window of great interest for the ECOCs, helping them to better understand each other.

The thematic division used on the second day allowed for greater concreteness in the relationships that were created, facilitated by the alternating presentations of the specific ECOC programs with Japanese speakers who illustrated the state of the art in the individual fields. The chosen fields are those typical of creativity: traditional crafts, media and visual arts, performing arts and art urbanism. After each session, participants could engage in networking and one-to-one matching, thus creating personal relationships that can yield interesting results in the future.

The first day was introduced by the 33rd Chairman of the Eu Japan Fest Japan Committee, Mr. Makoto Takashima, Chairman of the Board of Sumitomo Banking Corporation who said that “In these challenging and unpredictable times, it is more important than ever that as like-minded countries, Europe and Japan strengthen even further their precious relationship.  There are many dimensions to this relationship including diplomatic, business and trade, education, and science and technological cooperation. But among these, culture stands out because the personal interactions that develop through cultural activities transcend borders and lead to friendship and mutual understanding.  EU-Japan Fest takes the leading role in building bridges between Europe and Japan, by offering a platform where creative individuals can interact and generate new value for a brighter future.”

The birth of the European Capitals of Culture, their meaning, their operations over the years, and the social and economic importance of the title were explained by Deputy Secretary General Jiro Kogi to an audience of interested Japanese artists. He then illustrated the policy that EU Japan Fest has followed since 1993 to support cultural exchange between Japan and Europe: with attention to the talent and personal qualities of young people, activities directed towards the self-reliance of community citizens and artists, the formation of global networks in culture and the arts and joint efforts undertaken in their context, and finally activities that preserve traditional culture, as well as activities that extend it. He explained the ways in which this commendable non-governmental organization, funded by major Japanese private companies, operates today: supporting Japan-related programs in ECOCs, from preparation and implementation to legacy development ("ECOC project support"); supporting travel (airfare) for artists engaging in creative exchange to further develop Europe-Japan cultural networks ("Mobility support"); operating an online databank and hold matching events in Japan to foster new collaborations between Ecocs and Japan /Meet up Ecoc!). Mr Jiro Kogi recalled that Eu Japan Fest moves in all directions always having culture as a platform as its objective, aware of the importance of untangling global issues through culture and arts. Its support is directed towards: empowering youth to explore the world and build a brighter, more peaceful future; drawing on the richness of traditional cultures to create a "Nature-Positive" future; fostering a more "Diverse, Equitable and Inclusive" society through culture; looking for social regeneration, revitalizing cities and regions though culture to make them more "Regenerative".

Thus began the first day, which continued with a presentation by Ms. Christina Jaritsch, Head of Legacy Project and International Networking at Bad Ischl-Salzkammergut 2024, Austria ("Ecoc in action: What it brings to people and places") and a look at Japan's current cultural landscape by Makoto Yokohari, Project Professor, Interdisciplinary Research, University of Tokyo, and Yukiko Shikata, Director, Towada SArt Center, President of AICA Japan. The European Capitals of Culture from 2025 to 2029 then presented their programs, and finally, a face-to-face meeting between attendees and representatives of the Ecocs was held to explore potential collaborations.

In our section dedicated to Eu Japan Fest, you will find all the talks from the two days in the coming days, while I will try to enter into the spirit of the second day with another article ("Creative connection!"), which allowed us to build personal relationships through the in-depth exploration of specific topics.

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