Luo Shugang (left), minister of Culture and Tourism, visited Japan from May 8 to 11, 2018. [Photo/Chinaculture.org]

Luo Shugang, minister of Culture and Tourism, visited Japan from May 8 to 11 as one of the principal escorts of Premier Li Keqiang's delegation to Japan and investigated Japanese cultural institutions during his time there.

Nearly 2,000 people from China and Japan gathered May 10 in Tokyo to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the conclusion of the China-Japan Peace and Friendship Treaty. Premier Li Keqiang gave a speech about new measures to improve relations between the two countries.

As an important supporting activity of the visit, the exhibition Give Life to the Cultural Relics ---the Cultural and Creative Exhibition of the Imperial Palace organized by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism opened May 10 in Tokyo.

The exhibition combines technology-enabled physical exhibits with digital multimedia, and displays 49 digitized exhibits from the Treasure Court of the Palace Museum and more than 60 pieces of cultural creative products.

Luo Shugang inspected the Chinese Cultural Center in Tokyo on May 10, and said: "In the eight years since the establishment of the center, it has experienced a period of cold relations between China and Japan. During that time, cultural exchanges played an important role to improve the conditions. Now, the improvement of Sino-Japanese relations is a new opportunity for cultural exchanges. We must seize the opportunity and push forward the development of relations between the two countries."

Luo Shugang had official talks on May 11 with Toshihiro Nikai, secretary-general of the Liberal Democratic Party and president of the All Nippon Travel Agents Association.

Luo said: "Mr. Nikai has promoted large-scale, high-specification cultural exchanges between China and Japan, and played an indispensable role in the improvement of Sino-Japanese relations."

He hoped that the cultural exchanges and cooperation between the two countries would continue to receive the attention and support of the Japanese government and political circles in the new period, and also put forward the expectation of further development of Chinese and Japanese tourism.

"The Sino-Japanese relationship is one of the most important bilateral relations. The exchanges between China and Japan are more and more active in recent years. Based on this, we hope to carry out a deeper exchange in tourism between the two countries, "Nikai said. 

During the visit, Luo had talks with people in the Japan-China Cultural Exchange Association, visited Japanese cultural institutions, and inspected the China National Tourism Administration Tokyo Office and the Chinese Cultural Center in Tokyo to have a deep understanding of the cultural exchanges and cooperation between China and Japan.