Last weekend, Tokyo residents and guests were able to taste Russian salad, take pictures with matryoshkaa and feel the atmosphere of Russian hospitality: on November 24 and 25, the first Russian festival was held in Yoyogi Park. The event was organized within the framework of the Russian-Japanese Cross Year. Festival participants tasted Russian food, got acquainted with Russia’s traditions and Russian national souvenirs.
The Russian-Japanese Cross Year started in May 2018. Within the framework of the action, thematic events are held in both countries: round tables, conferences, lectures, festivals and exhibitions.
The Russian Geographical Society is also engaged in the organization of events related to the culture of Japan. So, until November 30, the exhibition of the Russian Geographical Society, dedicated to the cross year of these countries, is open on Gogol Boulevard. Its exposition presents the archival works of Alexander Grigoriev, the secretary of the Society, made in 1878 during his expedition to the country of the Rising Sun. The pictures were made in albumin photo printing technique and then painted with watercolor. They depict scenes from the everyday life of the Japanese, their national costumes and cityscapes.
The study of Japan in Russia began in the XVII century. Among the researchers who have devoted their scientific works to the Land of the Rising Sun there are travelers, members of the Russian Geographical Society. For example, Innokentiy Lopatin, Mikhail Venyukov, Alexander Voeikov, Ivan Polyakov, Peter Polevoy and others. Thus, the famous traveler Alexander Grigoriev discovered the Neolithic sites on the island of Hokkaido, investigated the origin of the local Ainu people. He purchased handwritten illustrated books about the Japanese, collected a collection of Ainu everyday items. Grigoriev studied the sea currents on the eastern coast of the islands of Honshu and Hokkaido, collected seeds of exotic flowers. Now his finds are in the RGS collection.
Scientific and cultural ties between Russia and Japan have always been strong, despite political differences. Thus, in 1879, the President of the Japanese Geographical Society, Prince Kitashirakawa-no-miya, became an honorary member of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society. And in 1881, the Japanese envoy to St. Petersburg, Sakimitsu Yanagiwara, was accepted as a member of the IRGS.