Tokyo (VNA) – The Vietnamese communities in Japan’s Saitama prefecture and the UK’s London marked the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday with celebrations that bridge cultural distances and preserve traditional heritage.
The first-ever Vietnamese Tet festival in Omiya city, Saitama, unfolded on January 25-26, providing an opportunity for Japanese friends to enjoy Vietnam’s traditional culture and cuisine.
Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan Pham Quang Hieu underscored the significance of the event, which helped the overseas Vietnamese (OVs) to reconnect with their roots and honour the nation’s cultural values.
He laid stress on the flourishing Vietnam – Japan relations over the recent past, with exchanges and cooperation between their localities being a highlight and a pillar of bilateral ties. Saitama is one of the Japanese localities hosting the largest number of Vietnamese people, more than 40,000, who have made positive contributions to the economic development and cultural diversity in the prefecture.
The festival featured various cultural performances like an Ao dai fashion show, folk music, and lion dances. Culinary stalls offered such delicacies as banh chung (sticky rice cake), pho, and banh mi.
In London, more than 200 Vietnamese expatriates gathered for a Tet celebration hosted by the Vietnamese Embassy in the UK.
Ambassador Do Minh Hung hailed the community’s efforts to preserve the homeland's cultural identity, affirming that the Party and State always view OVs as an inseparable part of the nation and have worked to complete policies for them, creating a foundation to consolidate the great national solidarity bloc while helping the OVs have a stable legal status and contribute to the homeland.
He also shared updates about Vietnam’s socio-economic progress, noting the country’s impressive economic growth of over 7% last year and its ranking among the world’s top 35 economies.
The diplomat briefed the community on the robust development of the Vietnam – UK relations in the past year, particularly in the areas of trade – investment, education – training, and defence – security. He attributed such achievements partly to the OVs in the UK, expressing his hope that they will continue preserving the traditional cultural values as well as contributing to the host nation and the homeland.
The London event featured musical performances by Vietnamese students, a festive atmosphere, and a lottery drawing with prizes including Tet delicacies and flight tickets to Vietnam./.
