Japan day
The Japan-Tag Düsseldorf / NRW , also called Japan-Tag ( Japanese 日本 デ ー , Nihon-day ), is a German - Japanese festival that has been celebrated annually in May or June on the banks of the Rhine in Düsseldorf since 2002 and regularly more than half a time Attracts million visitors. This tradition is a continuation of the popular Japan Weeks 1983 and 1993 as well as the Japan Year 1999/2000, but within a narrower time frame and time frame.
Program items
The standard events of every Japan Day include a stage and sports program created by Japanese instrumentalists, choirs, J-pop and J-rock artists, and martial artists . The events are comprehensively supplemented by information offers on specifically Japanese topics such as kimono fitting, budo martial arts and an introduction to the tradition of sake .
A special highlight is the samurai army camp on the Rhine meadows, in which the military and civil life of former feudal Japan is presented as historically correct as possible; true to the original armor, weapons and the use of falcons are demonstrated.
On Japan Day, cosplayers from all over Europe can be found on the promenade along the Rhine , whose costumes are largely based on mangas . They are one of the highlights of the day. The finale is introduced in the late evening with a bon dance , in which all visitors are invited to participate and for which Japanese jackets ( happis ) and Japanese fans are distributed. A Japanese themed fireworks display concludes the festival .
Martial arts performance 2016
Fireworks in 2014
Cosplay 2016
Rheinuferpromenade 2016
History of Japan Day
The Japan Day in Düsseldorf took place for the first time in 2002 and has since been held once a year together with the Chiba Prefecture as a community partnership . Only in 2006 the festival had to be canceled due to a storm warning. In 2011 Japan Day was supposed to take place on May 28, but was postponed to October 15 by the organizers due to the Tōhoku earthquake and the effects of the tsunami in March 2011.
With around 750,000 visitors on the 13th Japan Day in Düsseldorf, the event experienced its largest influx of visitors in 2014. The cosplayers increasingly dominated the scene , offering their Free Hugs , the free hugs, in very large numbers, sometimes in long human chains.
The 15th Japan Day in Düsseldorf took place on May 21, 2016 and, according to the tourism association - as in 2014 - attracted around 750,000 spectators to the capital of North Rhine-Westphalia.
The number of visitors varies widely. While the German media spoke of a new visitor record with an estimated 750,000 people after the 2016 event, the Japanese Consulate General in Düsseldorf reported more than a million visitors in 2007.
Japan Day 2020, scheduled for May 16, 2020, has been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic . The next Japan Day is scheduled for May 29, 2021.
Web links
supporting documents
- ↑ 750,000 visitors experience Japan on the Rhine ( Memento from December 17, 2014 in the Internet Archive ). Official website of Japan Day in Düsseldorf.
- ↑ Over 600,000 visitors The "heart of Japan" beat in Düsseldorf . Rheinische Post from May 26, 2013. Last accessed May 26, 2013
- ↑ The marathon, jazz rally and Japan Day are canceled in Düsseldorf in 2020. In: Westdeutsche Zeitung . March 24, 2020, accessed March 31, 2020 .