JAPAN
CULTURAL EXCHANGE - HANAMI
Sincere Friendship Connects Us With Japan The Vršac-based “Hanami” Association is preparing numerous cultural and sporting events that will commemorate the 140 years of unbreakable and sincere friendship between Serbia and Japan
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tanding behind “Hanami” and everything it does is a special woman, Adrijana Barši, a medal winner in Japanese fencing and a fan of the Land of the Rising Sun, Japanese culture, art, language and customs. The Goshinkan Club of Japanese Martial Arts and Sports from Vršac has brought guests from Japan to Serbia every year since way back in 2005, with those guests promoting sport and their cultural activities. With many fans of the Land of the Rising Sun having gradually gathered around 56
the club, a need also emerged to organise as many activities as possible that would familiarise not only the citizens of Vršac with Japan, but also Serbia as a whole. It was then that one special woman, Adrijana Barši, decided to form the “Hanami” Association of Serbian-Japanese Friendship. The association is named after a beautiful Japanese custom that see friends and family come together to enjoy observing flowers, most often the blossoming of the Japanese Sakura cherry, which is one of the symbols of Japan.
CRANES BROUGHT GRANTED WISHES Adrijana organised the first “Days of Japan” event in a desire to connect all friends from Japan and Serbia, recreating the Japanese flag from “Senba Zuru” [a thousand origami cranes]. The members of the Association spent a week folding paper cranes, carefully measuring the proportions between the red circle and the white rectangle. “Legend has it that everyone who makes a thousand cranes has the right
