The two co-chairmen on the Vietnam Festival 2019 executive committee, Vietnamese Ambassador Vu Hong Nam (third from right) and Former State Minister and founder of Vietnam Festival Iwao Matsuda (third from left), pose with (from left) Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Norikazu Suzuki; Satsuki Katayama, minister for regional revitalization and women's empowerment; Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's wife, Akie; and Komeito leader Natsuo Yamaguchi during the ribbon-cutting ceremony for Vietnam Festival 2019 at Yoyogi Park on June 8. | YOSHIAKI MIURA
The two co-chairmen on the Vietnam Festival 2019 executive committee, Vietnamese Ambassador Vu Hong Nam (third from right) and Former State Minister and founder of Vietnam Festival Iwao Matsuda (third from left), pose with (from left) Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Norikazu Suzuki; Satsuki Katayama, minister for regional revitalization and women's empowerment; Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's wife, Akie; and Komeito leader Natsuo Yamaguchi during the ribbon-cutting ceremony for Vietnam Festival 2019 at Yoyogi Park on June 8. | YOSHIAKI MIURA

On June 7, during a reception at Hillside Banquet, Tokyo to celebrate Portugal's national day, the Portuguese Embasy awarded the Kyoto University of Foreign Studies' (KUFS) Department of Brazilian and Portuguese Studies with the third Joana Abranches Pinto Award. Portuguese Ambassador Francisco Xavier Esteves (right) poses with Yoshikazu Morita, chancellor and chair of the KUFS board of governors (center) and Seishiro Eto, chairman of the Japan-Portugal Parliamentary Friendship League. The award is funded by donations from former Vice-Consul Joana Abranches and is conferred to persons or groups who contribute to strengthening relations between the two countries, particularly in terms of culture. | YOSHIAKI MIURA
On June 7, during a reception at Hillside Banquet, Tokyo to celebrate Portugal's national day, the Portuguese Embasy awarded the Kyoto University of Foreign Studies' (KUFS) Department of Brazilian and Portuguese Studies with the third Joana Abranches Pinto Award. Portuguese Ambassador Francisco Xavier Esteves (right) poses with Yoshikazu Morita, chancellor and chair of the KUFS board of governors (center) and Seishiro Eto, chairman of the Japan-Portugal Parliamentary Friendship League. The award is funded by donations from former Vice-Consul Joana Abranches and is conferred to persons or groups who contribute to strengthening relations between the two countries, particularly in terms of culture. | YOSHIAKI MIURA

Paraguayan artist Rafael Gross-Brown’s ‘‘Sumergido en Setouchi’’ art exhibition was shown at the Instituto Cervantes de Tokio from May 30 to June 11. The pieces were the product of Gross-Brown’s five-week stay in Onomichi, Hiroshima Prefecture. On June 6, art program coordinator Juan Felipe Botero (far left) visited the exhibition with (from second from left) Instituto Cervantes de Tokio Director Victor Ugarte, Paraguayan Ambassador Raul Florentin-Antola and Japan Times Chairperson Minako Suematsu. | YOSHIAKI MIURA
Paraguayan artist Rafael Gross-Brown’s ‘‘Sumergido en Setouchi’’ art exhibition was shown at the Instituto Cervantes de Tokio from May 30 to June 11. The pieces were the product of Gross-Brown’s five-week stay in Onomichi, Hiroshima Prefecture. On June 6, art program coordinator Juan Felipe Botero (far left) visited the exhibition with (from second from left) Instituto Cervantes de Tokio Director Victor Ugarte, Paraguayan Ambassador Raul Florentin-Antola and Japan Times Chairperson Minako Suematsu. | YOSHIAKI MIURA