The event aims to introduce Vietnamese folk songs to Japanese audiences and vice versa, while contributing to cultural understanding between the people of the two countries as well as promoting the study and research of Vietnamese and Japanese languages and cultures.
The contest was launched in April, aiming to find the best translations of the Vietnamese folk song "Beo Dao May Troi" (Drifting Blossoms - Floating Clouds) into Japanese and Japanese folk song "Sakura" into Vietnamese.
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An art performance at the festival |
The organising committee received a total of 124 entries, including 52 translations of the song "Beo dat may troi" into Japanese and 72 translations of the song "Sakura, sakura" into Vietnamese.
The jury includes cultural and language experts, musicians, and poets from Vietnam and Japan. Finally, one first prize, one second prize, and one third prize were presented to outstanding translators for the category of translating the Vietnamese folk song "Beo dat may troi" into Japanese.
Meanwhile, one second prize and two third prizes were presented for the category of translating the Japanese folk song "Sakura, sakura" into Vietnamese.
In addition, five folk songs from many regions of Vietnam and five Japanese folk songs were selected for Japanese Professor Shine Tohihiko and poet-musician Ngo Tu Lap to translate them into Japanese and Vietnamese respectively.
All 12 folk songs above (including 6 Vietnamese and 6 Japanese) were performed in two languages at the "Vietnamese-Japanese Folk Song Festival" at the Vietnamese Institute for Musicology on October 28.
