“Princess Anio” opera premiers in Hung Yen

The “Princess Anio” opera, which recounts a 17th century love story between a Vietnamese princess and Japanese merchant premiered in the northern mountainous province of Hung Yen on September 27.
 “Princess Anio” opera premiers in Hung Yen ảnh 1A scene of the " Princess Anio" opera (Photo: VNA)

Hung Yen (VNA) – The “Princess Anio”opera, which recounts a 17th century love story between a Vietnamese princess and Japanesemerchant premiered in the northern mountainous province of Hung Yen on September27.

The special performance aims to celebrate the 50thanniversary of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Japan (1973-2023).

The opera is based on a real story of the love between Japanese merchant Araki Sotaro and Princess Ngoc Hoa (called Princess Anio byJapanese) in Vietnam's Hoi An during the trading era of the Shuinsen in theearly 17th century.

Princess NgocHoa was the daughter of Lord Nguyen Phuc Nguyen, who reigned from 1613 to1635.  In the early 17th century, Araki went to Hoi An to trade andmet the princess. They fell in love and got married. In 1620, he took her to Nagasaki, where locals loved her for herbeautiful appearance and gentle character.

Today, locals still stage a palanquin processionceremony to welcome Princess Anio at Nagasaki Kunchi Festival.

Secretary of the provincial Party CommitteeNguyen Huu Nghia emphasised that Hung Yen has organised several practicalactivities to mark the 50th anniversary of Vietnam-Japan diplomatic relations and the opera represents the special bond and long-standing relationsin economic, commercial and cultural exchanges between Vietnam and Japan.

Over the past years, the province has stepped up foreign investment attraction and created favourable conditions to lure investors investing in the locality,including those from Japan.

So far, Hung Yen has lured 516 active foreign directinvestment (FDI) projects with a total registered investment of about 6.3 billionUSD. Japan ranks first in the number of projects with 173 with a total capital of more than 4 billion USD.

Currently, 169 FDI projects ofJapanese investors have been put into operation with a total investment capitalof about 3.26 billion USD, creating jobs for about 45,000 labourers./.

VNA

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