The EU-Japan Year of People-to-People Exchanges in Sweden started with a manga (comic books) exhibition and a samurai exhibition. The manga exhibition held in Stockholm presented a wide range of exhibits from Hokusai to Dragon Ball. In Sweden, too, Japanese pop culture is extremely popular principally among young people. With manga constituting an important part of the pop culture, this exhibition drew a lot of media attention, including newspapers and television stations and attracted a record number of visitors to Östasiatiska Museet (The Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities), the venue of the exhibition. The samurai exhibition, an exhibition in sharp contrast to the manga exhibition, introduced the world of the samurai that spans 1,000 years, through displays of armor and artwork and through the use of audiovisuals. Many visitors from across the country flocked to Malmö Museer in the southern end of Sweden to see the exhibition, presenting clear evidence that Swedish people continue to have great interest in Japanese traditional culture.

Starting with these exhibitions, various other events such as movie screenings, concerts and dance performances were held across the country. Among those events, those that received a great deal of attention in particular were a contemporary noh performance of Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House and events that focused on the commonalities between the cultures, ideas, and swords of samurais and Vikings. These events went beyond merely introducing Japanese culture and attempted to explore the commonalities between Japanese and Northern European cultures. In addition, the parties involved with these exchange events included cultural organizations like museums and theaters as well as civil organizations and students. The organizations that carried out these events have expressed with enthusiasm how they would like to further expand the exchange programs with Japan in the coming year or how they would like to transmit Japanese culture from local communities. The name "EU-Japan Year of People-to-People Exchanges" speaks for itself; it was indeed a year filled with "people-to-people exchange programs."