France seizes Japan with a cultural program of several millions

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attends a press conference in Tokyo to announce the 2018 Japanismes events in France, on July 2, 2018. Image: Martin Bureau / AFP

Since impressionist artists have had to wait, first looked at the woodcuts, Tokyo is a source of inspiration and fascination for many people, which Tokyo has chosen for a massive cultural offensive

"There were other candidates, such as Moscow or Spain, but it's the French, more than anything else "From the imperial Gagaku military music to the disconcerting works of the contemporary artist Kohei Nawa, the cycle of 67 exhibitions and performances aims to showcase the dynamism of Japan, "says Korehito Masuda, director of the Japanism 2018 program, on a scale rarely seen outside the country.

The season kicks off Thursday at the La Villette exhibition complex in Paris where the collar Teamlab artists set an immersive figure "We wanted to show the continuity of Japanese traditions until today, with the integration of traditional art and technology," said Masuda

. has invested more than 30 million euros (about P2 billion) in the project, also has a more prosaic ambition: follow a concerted push from rival China for a long time to promote its artistic heritage.

Yet, specialists say in France, Japan's place in the popular imagination remains assured

Sign of French fascination for the country of the rising sun, this year's edition of Japan Expo in Paris received 250,000 visitors

. For a long time, fans of manga and Japanese starred chefs are the big names in the French gastronomic scene.

"One would have thought that with the huge cultural investments of China, the interest in Japan would suffer, but that was not the case." Michael Lucken, director of the National Institute of Oriental Languages ​​and Civilizations of France

"History of Love"

Highlighting the importance accorded to French shows by Tokyo, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was to attend the inauguration on Thursday alongside President Emmanuel Macron, before canceling because of the recent floods in Japan

"There is a love story between France and Japan" that began shortly after the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1858, said Beatrice Quette, curator of Asian collections at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris

From the composer Debussy to the poet Baudelaire to painters such as Van Gogh and Monet, 19th century artists were seduced by "Japonisme" and the possibilities

More recently Former President Jacques Chirac was a staunch supporter of Japanese art – as well as sumo wrestling – and travels. Quette said, "It has to be both beautiful and useful."

One of the highlights of the events planned for "Japanisms 2018". "Is the first European concert of Hatsune Miku, the computer-generated Japanese pop star that performs in holograms and has already filled cinemas in Asia and North America.

On the bridge is a retrospective of films from Naomi Kawase: A Japanese woman is a member of the jury of the Cannes Film Festival and has already been awarded one of the most prestigious prizes of the festival.

Representations of classical Japanese Kabuki and theater are planned, as well as concerts of electronic music and hip-hop, modern creations, ranging from 11,000-year-old pottery to the dresses of the leading brand Anrealage

To top it off, the Eiffel Tower will be bathed in red and white of the Japanese flag for two nights in September AB

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