Festival offers scents of Japan

      Hanoians can experience the sight and smell of 400 blossoming cherry branches imported from Japan for the culmination this Sunday of the city's third cherry blossom festival.
The three-day Japanese Sakura festival will be held at the Quan Ngua Stadium and will feature silk blossoms on Friday and Saturday to prevent damage as happened last year.
This year's event will be bigger than last year, permanent member of the Japan-Viet Nam Cultural Exchange Association Fujisawa Satoshi says.
"There will be 100 more cherry blossom branches, plus more performers and performances."
The festival is expected to attract 200,000 people, to be accommodated in an area five-times bigger than last year.
About 400 traditional Japanese carp-shaped lanterns in red, pink and white will add colour. The lanterns symbolise luck, health and happiness. They are often used in Japan during the country's Festival of Children on May 5.
There also will be a show of hundreds of dancers from Tokyo dance troupes Super Yosakoi and Harajuku, as well as Vietnamese performers.
The stadium will host Japanese traditional games including Kendama ball throwing, Wanage bracelet throwing and Origami demonstrations, plus Japanese food stalls.
There will be live shows from Japanese and Vietnamese musicians, a Kimono show, koto (a kind of musical instrument) performance, dance, a kind of drama from Kobe City (Tama Sudare) and Japanese cold noodle (soba) making. The Japanese film, Gabai Granny from Saga, will be shown to invited guests on Friday at 8.30pm.
Japanese professors will present their research of Thang Long Imperial Citadel and analyse the influences of Japanese culture on Viet Nam.
Cherry blossom has been a symbol of Japanese culture for centuries. It flowers across the east-Asian country from January to May.
The festival will celebrate 999 years of Thang Long-Ha Noi's anniversary. It is being organised by the Viet Nam-Japan cultural exchange associations.
Celebrations at the stadium on Van Cao Street will kick off at 9am and wrap up at 6.30pm.
The first Sukura festival in 2007 was held at the Japanese language centre in Nui Truc Street, Ha Noi. About 16,000 people attended. The second festival, organised at the capital's Giang Vo Exhibition Centre attracted around 100,000 people.