Tokyo – The Japan Myanmar Pwe Taw festival of Japanese culture was held over two days on 6-7 December to mark the sixtieth anniversary of diplomatic relations between Japan and Myanmar. This festival was organised jointly by NHK, NHK Enterprises Inc., Japan International Broadcasting Inc., the Embassy of Japan in Myanmar, and MNTV.

“Pwe Taw” is Burmese for “Festival”. The typical games of Japanese festivals, such as kingyosukui (scooping for goldfish) and hoopla, were recreated at the venue. More than 40,000 people participated during the two days of events.

Myanmar TV station MNTV will start broadcasts of an NHK morning serial drama, Ama-chan, from 15 December. Visitors to the festival were given a preview of the drama with Burmese subtitles attached. Honami Kurashita, who played the role of Ellen Kyan of pop idol group GMT in Ama-chan, was also there on stage. She performed a well-known dance from the drama and lifted the whole audience with her “Je, Je, Je!” call.

There were also performances by the globe-trotting taiko drumming group, TAO, and the top male idol Sai Sai Kham Hlaing, who is now huge among young people in Myanmar. Visitors to the two-day festival were also able to try food from Japanese street stalls and enjoy Harajuku’s Kawaii fashion on stage to savour Japanese atmosphere.