Vietnam and Japan have agreed to work together to organise a series of cultural activities in 2013 to mark the 40 th anniversary of diplomatic ties between both countries.

The agreement was reached during a meeting between the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and a delegation of Japanese specialists on museums and communications in Hanoi on October 24.

The Director of Kyushu National Museum, Miwa Koroku, said the museum will host two thematic exhibitions featuring Vietnam in Japan .

For an exhibition in April, the Kyushu National Museum proposed borrowing 116 objects from Vietnam ’s National History Museum and nine artifacts from the Thang Long Heritage Centre.

He said that Japan will also hold an exhibition in Vietnam , expressing his hope that Vietnam will assist Japan during the preparations.

To mark the occasion, Japan will translate a story from Japanese into the Vietnamese language especially for Vietnamese children.

While confirming that Vietnam supports Japan in organising the exhibitions, the Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Le Khanh Hai said he hoped that more cultural activities between the two countries will take place to help develop their strategic partnership in general, not only in culture, sports and tourism.

The Deputy Minister added that the Vietnamese cultural and sport sector would be ready to assist Japan’s national football team to play a number of friendly matches in Vietnam./.