Tokyo hosts Korea-Japan Hanmadang Festival ahead of 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations

The Korea-Japan Hanmadang Festival, the largest cultural exchange event between the two countries, is set to kick off in Tokyo's Komazawa Olympic Park on Sept. 28, Korea's Culture Ministry said Friday.

Japanese females don hanbok (traditional Korean dress) at the 2023 Korea-Kapan Hanmadang Festival in Gangnam District, southern Seoul. [YONHAP]

The Korea-Japan Hanmadang Festival, the largest cultural exchange event between the two countries, is set to kick off in Tokyo's Komazawa Olympic Park on Sept. 28, Korea's Culture Ministry said Friday.

The Korea-Japan Hanmadang Festival is an annual event held in Tokyo and Seoul since 2009, commemorating the normalization of diplomatic relations between Korea and Japan in 1965, following World War II. The Seoul festival took place earlier this week.

Under the slogan "Blooming Friendship in a Festival," the Culture Ministry said the Tokyo event features a packed two-day program, marking the upcoming 60th anniversary of Korea-Japan diplomatic relations in 2025.

Events include a collaborative performance by Japanese K-pop dancers and Korea’s traditional zither gayageum player Kim Da-hye, a joint performance with four Korean-Japanese classical singers and the Korea-Japan Female Choir, a brass band parade by Narita International School students, taekwondo demonstrations by the Mirme Taekwondo School in Seoul and K-pop dance covers produced by Japanese artist LiL KyonA.

Visitors to the 2023 Korea-Kapan Hanmadang Festival in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, experience traditional Korean games while wearing hanbok. [YONHAP]

The festival will also feature a variety of booths throughout the two days where visitors can try on hanbok (Korean traditional dress), buy Korean books and taste traditional Korean dishes, as well as popular snacks like croffles and so tteok so tteok, a skewer of sausage and fried rice cakes coated in a sweet and spicy sauce.

The "K-pop Secret Concert" on day two will feature three to four K-pop acts and Japanese female trot singers. The lineup of performing artists has not yet been released. Typically the festival’s most popular event, a concert will close out the 2024 Korea-Japan Hanmadang Festival.

"This year’s Korea-Japan Hanmadang Festival in Tokyo, held ahead of the 60th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations next year, was prepared with a variety of programs to promote harmony between Koreans and Japanese," said Gong Hyung-sik, head of the Korean Cultural Center at the Korean Embassy in Japan. "We hope that cultural exchange between the two countries will further flourish through this festival."

BY LEE JIAN [lee.jian@joongang.co.kr]