TOKYO, December 10. /TASS/. Events of the Russian Seasons were organized in Japan’s 42 cities and attracted more than 3.5 million people since beginning of the current year, Russia’s Deputy Minister of Culture Alexander Zhuravsky said in an interview with TASS on Sunday.
At the same time, he continued, the Russian Seasons were very important in establishing relations between cultural figures and the companies, working in this sphere, he added.
"Those are very valuable relations and contacts with Japan’s major producing companies, there are horizontal relations and partner ties between Russian organizations and Japanese big distribution platforms," he said. Those contacts will develop further, he continued, as the coming year would be the Year of Japan in Russia and the Year of Russia in Japan.
The Russian Seasons’ closing ceremony will take place on Sunday evening at the Tokyo Suntory Hall. The Mariinsky Theatre’s Symphony Orchestra and pianist Denis Matsuev, conductor Valery Gergiev, will play for the Japanese audience Rachmaninov’s Piano Concertos No. 3 and 4. The deputy minister of culture will deliver a welcome speech.
On December 11 and 12, during the Russian Seasons’ closing events, the Japanese audience will see a few animated films, including Cheburashka, which is very popular in Japan.