Opening Event to Celebrate Japan-Brazil Year of Exchange and the 100th Anniversary of Japanese Emigration to Brazil ～ Night of Traditional Music of Japan and Brazil

January 15, 2008

As part of the Japan-Brazil Year of Exchange, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will organize a concert at the Auditório Ibirapuera in Sao Paulo on January 16 (Wed). The concert will feature Brazilian musicians and Japanese traditional musicians who will be sent by the Ministry to Brazil.

The Japanese musicians are Tsugaru shamisen player Hiromitsu Agatsuma and Japanese ensemble “Rin” consisting of Ms. Mana Yoshinaga: 17-string koto, 13-string koto and shamisen (3-strings); Ms. Chie Arai: 17-string koto and shamisen (3-strings), and Ms. Tomoca Nagasu: biwa (Japanese lute) and shakuhachi (bamboo flute). The Brazilian musicians are bandolim player Hamilton de Holanda and guitarist Yamandu Costa.

Under the concept of the Japan-Brazil Year of Exchange, the Foreign Ministry chose young musicians who have introduced to the world its combination of Japanese traditional music and pop music, because it is expected that their dispatch will promote mutual understanding and further deepen the relationship of trust between the people of Japan and Brazil, mainly between the two countries’ young people, who will become the leaders of the next generation.

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