The Bacolod City Government Center hosted a Bacolod-Japan Friendship Day event yesterday.

Among the activities that took place included performances by MassKara Festival dancers, Philippine folk dancers, and an acoustic band; cosplay events; and the presentation of a yukata, a type of kimono.

The observance is in accordance with a city ordinance that mandates the Bacolod-Japan Friendship Day take place during Obon, a Japanese festival that commemorates those who have passed. This year, the festival began on Monday, August 13, and ends tomorrow, August 16.

Last year, during the Bacolod-Japan Friendship Day cultural presentation, Bacolod City Councilor Wilson Gamboa, Jr., who authored the said ordinance, delivered the keynote address during the event.

“As early as the 12th Century, Japanese merchants were already trading with Filipinos,” he recalled. “Let us not forget, there was a Japanese samurai, who lived during the Sengoku period in the 1500s, who was converted to the Roman Catholicism and was exiled to Manila.”

He also quoted a letter written by Jose Rizal during a visit to Japan in 1888, where he marveled at the overall safety and cleanliness of the country./WDJ