Forum, Latvia, Tourism

The Mayor of Riga Janis Birks (For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK) is currently on a working visit to Japan, where a number of cultural events and informative sessions are scheduled to take place within the framework of Riga Days in Japan.

Today in Tokyo, Birks will open an exhibition on Riga as an attractive tourist destination, organized by the Riga Tourism Information and Coordination Center; a seminar on Riga and Kobe municipal projects in Kobe organized by the Riga City Council in cooperation with the Kobe Government will take place on November 7.

Also on November 7, Birks will take part in a seminar in Osaka on Riga as a springboard to Northern Europe and the C.I.S. market, organized by the Latvian Investment and Development Agency. Also during the visit, a meeting of the Latvian business delegation members with representatives from Kobe and Osaka chambers of commerce and industry will be organized, as well as a tour of Kobe Port.

To acquaint the Japanese with the Latvian cultural heritage and modern culture, two exhibitions will be organized by the Latvian National Museum of Art experts in Kobe on November 6: an exhibition on the National Song and Dance Festival and an exhibition on Latvian visual arts in the 19th and 20th century.

Presentations of the projects of Latvian National Library, Acoustic Concert Hall and Modern Art Museum will also be held in Kobe.

The Riga Days in Kobe will also feature folk music concerts by Valdis and Ruta Muktupavels and performances by the a capella band "Cosmos", as well as exhibitions of Latvian traditional crafts.

Riga and Kobe signed an agreement on cooperation in culture, tourism and business in 1974. The Riga Days in Kobe will also begin preparations for the 35th anniversary of the cooperation agreement celebrations.

During Birks' absence, Riga Vice Mayor Almers Ludviks (Latvia's First Party/Latvia's Way) stands in for the mayor.