The Korea-Japan Festival will be held in Tokyo on Sept. 24 and Seoul the next day. Shown is a scene from last year's edition in Seoul.

By Lee Kyoung Mi
Photos = Festival's organizing committee

The Korea-Japan Festival will be held in Tokyo on Sept. 24 and Seoul on Sept. 25 to share friendship and civic exchange between both nations.

In 2005, which marked the 40th anniversary of bilateral ties and was designated "Year of Korea-Japan Friendship," the annual event was launched in Seoul. Tokyo since 2009 has also hosted the festival, which is now a major venue for cultural exchange.

Under the theme "Joy of Meeting Again," this year's event features highlights including cultural experiences like stage performances from the two countries and booths featuring local governments and corporations.

The event in Tokyo will be livestreamed on Sept. 24 from 1 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. on the official YouTube channel of the Korean Cultural Center in Tokyo (http://www.youtube.com/c/Kcultureinjapan). The event was initially scheduled to be held offline but the plan changed due to COVID-19.

The online event will begin with the choir of Japan's Tsudanuma High School singing Korean songs and feature samulnori (traditional farmer's music), a quiz contest on Korea-Japan exchange and a K-pop concert.

The event in Seoul on Sept. 25 will run from 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Seoul COEX in the city's Gangnam-gu District. Highlights will include performances by the Seoul Metropolitan Junior Chorus; the choir of the Japanese School in Seoul; traditional dance of the two countries; the joint Korean-Japanese music group Busters; and a Korean-Japanese cosplay team.

Booths will also allow visitors to wear traditional clothes, play traditional games and try food from both countries.

All events are free and require no reservations. More information is available on the festival's official website (https://omatsuri.kr) and its social media.

Selected from a public contest, the mascots for this year's Korea-Japan Festival are (from left) Fuyu, Autumn, Haru and Yeorum.