Japanese Emperor Naruhito (L)
Credit: Reuters Photo
It’s the Japanese emperor Naruhito’s 65th birthday celebrations, and the event in Bengaluru to commemorate that moment was worthy of one seen at coronations.
A crowd of approximately 300, featuring the zeitgeist of Japanese culture, while still carefully blending it with what Bengaluru has to offer, gathered yesterday at the Ritz Carlton on Residency Road.
Nakane Tsutomu, the consul general of Japan in Bengaluru hosted the Japanese National Day reception, enabling the intermingling of Japanese and Indian cultures by bringing together industrialists, and bureaucrats from across various sectors.
The event began with a sake barrel-breaking ceremony, and the people who took part in it were Karnataka’s Minister for Large and Medium Industries MB Patil, Selvakumar, principal secretary for commerce and industries, Geetanjali Kirloskar, chairperson and managing director of Kirloskar systems, B Dayanand, commissioner of police Bengaluru, and Nobuaki Yahiro, president of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, among others.
This was followed by a powerful drumming demonstration by the Bangalore Wadaiko Kai, and a Kobudo demonstration by Yuki Okajima and Praveenken SV.
There were also stalls by Japanese companies such as Nissin, Cannon, and Japan Airlines.
While the bonhomie was palpable, the evening hit the high note when musical group Royal Echo gathered on stage with over 20 artistes and came up with an endearing rendition of Dr Rajkumar’s ‘Hutidare Kannada nadalli hutta bekku’ and the recent chartbuster ‘Nattu Nattu’.
While one could nitpick their delivery, no one could deny their energy, their verve for life — especially a couple of septuagenarians dancing to the beat — and their uncompromising desire to let Bengaluru know that the city and its people are respected and valued.