Under the warm sunshine in the afternoon of 24 November 2016, the Consul General of Japan Mr Kazuyuki KATAYAMA of Japanese Consulate General in Shanghai presented his seminar on Introduction to Japanese Culture and Sino-Japanese Cultural Exchange at the lecture hall of library of Zhejiang Gongshang University. Students and professors of IEAS and School of Oriental Language and Culture attended.

In fluent spoken Mandarin, Consul General Mr Katayama concisely explained multi-layered complex Japanese culture in a simple and interesting way and how Japanese evaluate different modes of behaviors as valuable and meaningful in terms of their own cultural values. He observed that interest in Japanese popular culture was high among students at all levels. He thus started the seminar with examining a wide spectrum of captivating Japanese popular culture icons as cultural calibrations. He also impressed attendees that Japanese culture might be more formal than most cultures for the most part. Mr Katayama quoted tea ceremony to illustrate it.

Since the normalization of Sino-Japanese diplomatic relations in 1972, the economic relations of these two neighboring countries have often been quite cordial and pragmatic. He expressed his hope that young Chinese and Japanese would increase cultural exchange consistently for further mutual understanding.

Students became active participants in the question and answer part before the end of seminar. They asked Mr Katayama’s impression about China, student visa regulation and the future trend of Sino-Japanese relations. All attendees found that Counsel General Mr Katayama’s answers were very informative.