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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and his wife, Akie Abe, on Tuesday visited the National Village Museum "Dimitrie Gusti", with the Prime Minister showing a lot of interest in the Orthodox cult and paintings on wood and glass and also in the pottery technique.
The Japanese guests, welcomed by the Minister of Culture, Lucian Romascanu, and by the Director of the Village Museum, Paulina Popoiu, visited then the Japanese Cherry Trees Alley, created on the occasion of the visit in 2009 of Their Imperial Excellencies Prince Akishino and Princess Kiko, Casa Sant, where they were showed the techniques of making textiles and bead strings, and the Dragomiresti church, in front of which a popular craftsman from Horezu offered a demonstration of his artistry in working with the clay, in which Shinzo Abe also showed to be very interested.
"First of all, he asked many interesting questions about all that means Orthodox cult and about paintings on wood and glass, he was impressed by the pan-pipe song of Miss Narcisa Baleanu, who had this courtesy of playing the pan-pipe in the Dragomiresti Church. Everything happened very fast. The wife was very discreet," stated Paulina Popoiu, in the end of the visit.
Minister Lucian Romascanu specified that he reiterated Romania's will to open a representative office of the Romanian Cultural Institute in Tokyo.
"We talked about the museum, about its objectives, nothing special. While exchanging a few words with His Excellency I reiterated our will to open a representative office of the Romanian Cultural Institute in Tokyo and to also have one of Japan in Bucharest. We already had some preliminary talks with Mr. Ambassador and the premises seem to be favourable," said Romascanu.
In the end of their visit, the Japanese guests, among whom there was also the wife of the Japanese Ambassador to Bucharest, received a platter of clay made in Baia Mare and a pan-pipe, an album of the Village Museum and a brochure with the visited monuments.
