Financial Times

Thousands of visitors at Sri Lanka Festival in Tokyo
The second annual Sri Lanka Festival in Tokyo on October 15 and 16 drew thousands of Japanese, non-Japanese and Sri Lankans living in and around Tokyo, and from other regions of Japan.

Nearly 100,000 people visited the festival through the two-day weekend in an event which provided the Japanese with a rare opportunity of experiencing a taste of Sri Lanka right in the heart of Tokyo.

The theme of this year’s Festival was ‘Sri Lanka Close to Nature’, and all the attractions at the event reflected this theme. The Festival was organised by the Sri Lanka Embassy in Tokyo in collaboration with Sri Lankan and Japanese organisations including SriLankan Airlines, the Sri Lanka Tourist Board, the Sri Lanka Tea Board, the Export Development Board and the Sri Lanka Business Council of Japan, and with the co-sponsorship of Japanese state institutions including the Japanese Foreign Ministry, JICA, JETRO, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the Shibuya City Office. The Festival was sponsored by Japanese and Sri Lankan companies and NGOs. It was opened by Sri Lankan Ambassador Ranjith Uyangoda.

More than 50 Japanese and Sri Lankan companies participated in the Festival with 70 booths selling a range of Sri Lankan products including - spicy Sri Lankan food including rice and curry, kottu, egg roti, fish roti, devilled meat, cutlets, hoppers, string hoppers, short eats, curd and honey, etc; organic herbal products including ‘kotala himbutu’ which is a popular health drink in Japan, ayurveda health care items, cosmetics, and ayurveda massages. A range of products from the Sri Lanka Ayurvedic Drugs Corporation was also on display; Ceylon tea; Sri Lankan crafts including leather, reed and rush, and rattan products; Textiles including sarees, sarongs, shirts and blouses with vibrant colours and designs; Batik fabric and textiles, wall hangings and paintings including a beautiful range of products from Buddhi Batiks; and arrack from the Distilleries Company of Sri Lanka, and Lion Lager beer. A statement from the Japanese embassy said food was undoubtedly the primary attraction of the two days competing closely with Ceylon tea which is called ‘Ceylon kocha’ in Japanese.

Batiks and handcrafts were another attraction. Long queues could be seen in front of the food stalls from noon to evening each day with people waiting patiently to sample ‘curré rice’. ‘I had to wait in the queue for 45 minutes to get this,’ said one young Japanese pointing at a plateful of ‘kottu’ which he was eating with chop sticks.

The logistical support for the festival was provided by a group of 180 young volunteers led by the students from Chuo University, who performed the tasks assigned to them with finesse while dressed in Sri Lanka Festival T-shirts specially provided for the occasion by Odel Ltd.

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