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Putin and Abe to attend Tokyo’s Russian Seasons opening ceremony

The amount of VIP state guests indicates the "level of trust" between the two countries

© Toru Hanai/Pool Photo via AP

MOSCOW, May 30. /TASS/. Top Russian and Japanese officials will attend the Russian Season’s opening ceremony on June 4 in Tokyo, Russian State Secretary and Deputy Culture Minister Alexander Zhuravsky told TASS in an interview.

"Russian President Vladimir Putin has invited Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to the opening ceremony. Mr. Abe gave his consent and will attend the ceremony with his wife," Zhuravsky said. Japan’s foreign minister, education and culture minister, health, labor and welfare minister and defense minister will also attend the ceremony.

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As he put it, "the amount of VIP state guests indicates the level of trust between our countries and the great significance that both Russia and Japan attach to humanitarian cultural ties."

The Russian delegation will be led by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets and will include Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky, Bolshoi Theater’s Director Vladimir Urin, filmmaker Andrey Konchalovsky and representatives from the humanitarian government block, the deputy minister specified.

This year (2017) is being marked by the Russian Seasons international project that includes over 200 events that will be held in over 45 cities throughout Japan. Over 20 famous Russian theaters and orchestras, such as the Bolshoi Theater, the Mariinsky Theater, the Maly Drama Theater, the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra and the State Symphony Capella of Russia will tour Japan within the framework of this project. Besides, prominent exhibitions from Russian museums, circuses and Russian art festivals are scheduled on the agenda, as well.

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