The festival is aimed to introduce Vietnamese folk songs to Japanese audience and vice versa, promoting the learnin and researching lanaguages and cultures of the two nations.

The organizing committee awards the best authors. Photo: Le An

The event, together with the award ceremony of translation of folk songs, was held on October 28 in Hanoi funded by Acecook Vietnam under the support of Vietnam’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Embassy of Japan in Vietnam with friendship associations, cultural exchange centers, Vietnam-Japan University, and Vietnamese alumni club.

The translation contest was launched in April 2023 for all regardless of age, gender, and citizenship.

Ngo Tu Lap, a poet and musician, stated that the translation needs to have unique literary or creative value in addition to being semantically accurate and harmonious with the melody. This is a challenging order to fulfill, particularly when there are linguistic barriers.

As a result, a first prize, a second prize, and a third prize were awarded to the translation of Vietnamese folk song Beo dat may troi (Floating water-ferns and wandering clouds) and one second prize and two third prizes for Japanese Sakura out of 124 items.

Artists performed all 12 of the folk songs above in front of the attendees at the event. This is a special and significant cultural event that is being held for the first time in Vietnam. It not only helps to introduce culture to the citizens of the two nations, but it also improves understanding between them.

Linh Pham

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