In June 2024, Fiona & Katsu Umetsu, our Artistic Director and Cultural Director were invited to attend a reception held in honour of the State Visit to the UK by Their Majesties The Emperor and The Empress of Japan.
The Japan Society hosted a private reception for His Majesty The Emperor alongside the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the UK, Japan Association in the UK, Nippon Club, and The Japanese Women’s Association in Great Britain. The ‘Reception with the Japanese Community and Friends of Japan’ was part of the private programme within the official state visit program and was held on Monday 24 June 2024 at the London Hilton on Park Lane.
We were honoured to be invited alongside more than 400 guests from culture and civil society, business, and science and research, along with representatives of the Imperial Household, Royal Household, and both governments, including the Ambassador of Japan to the United Kingdom, Hayashi Hajime, and the Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Japan, Julia Longbottom CMG.
His Majesty The Emperor gave a speech to the attendees in English in which he said: ‘It is the connections between people that drive our societies forward and which create the foundations for the exchanges between countries. It is my wish that our bilateral ties will grow even stronger in the years to come, building on such firm foundations as people to people connections’
We were so proud to attend this reception, alongside Yukari and Junko from the Japan Society of Northern Ireland, to celebrate the work that is being done in Northern Ireland to share Japanese culture and tradition. Our Artistic Director was so excited to meet Joji Hirota, the pioneering percussionist and taiko player who has been based in the UK since the 1970s.