The opening ceremony was attended by senior Vietnamese and Japanese leaders including former President Truong Tan Sang, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Nguyen Van Duoc, Standing Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Vu.
As for Japanese representatives, Special Advisor to the Japan-Vietnam Parliamentary Friendship Alliance, Honorary Chairman of the organizing board of the Japan-Vietnam Festival 2025 Takebe Tsutomu, Member of the House of Councilors of Japan cum Chairwoman of the organizing board of the Japan-Vietnam Festival 2025 Hashimoto Seiko, and State Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan Miyaji Takuma joined the event.
In his opening speech, Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Nguyen Van Duoc highlighted that since its inception in 2013 marking 40 years of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Japan, the festival has become a solid bridge of friendship between the two nations, bringing citizens of both nations closer together.
The Vietnam - Japan Festival in Ho Chi Minh City 2025 celebrated a decade of success in Ho Chi Minh City and marked the second year of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between Vietnam and Japan, opening more opportunities for investment, cultural exchange, and strengthening solidarity, driving both nations toward shared goals in sustainable development and prosperity.
Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Nguyen Van Duoc also emphasized that Metro Line No.1 will be inaugurated on March 9, serving as a symbolic milestone in urban infrastructure cooperation between the two countries, contributing to the development of Ho Chi Minh City urban infrastructure.
According to Special Advisor to the Japan-Vietnam Parliamentary Friendship Alliance, Honorary Chairman of the organizing board of the Japan-Vietnam Festival 2025 Takebe Tsutomu, the festival has played a crucial role in fostering exchanges and mutual understanding between organizations, businesses, and people from both countries across various fields of economy, culture, society and education.
This year’s festival featured over 100 booths showcasing Vietnamese and Japanese products, special event areas and a wide variety of activities.
The organizing board set a target of attracting around 450,000 turns of visitors, surpassing last year’s record of 420,000 attendees.
The two-day festival includes a series of activities comprising trade, cuisine and tourism exhibitions; Vietnamese and Japanese product promotions; business forums and tourism promotion conferences; Japanese cultural experiences consisting of traditional sports; calligraphy; Ao Dai fashion shows, and cosplay parades; exchanges with popular Japanese animated characters.
Particularly, on the occasion of the 10th Vietnam - Japan Festival in Ho Chi Minh City, the Ho Chi Minh City Festival in Japan is expected to be held for the first time in Tokyo on November 1- November 2, 2025.
