On 18 June, the 2022 Polish Festival was held in the Shibuya Stream Hall culture and business complex in Tokyo, organised by the Polish Institute in close cooperation with the Polish Embassy and the Polish Tourism Organisation. This was already the 14^th edition of this major event promoting Poland in Japan.

The festival itself was preceded by a campaign in the social media of the Polish Institute and the PTO International Office in Tokyo, as well as by an advertisement at the entrance to a station serving four metro lines at the Shibuya Stream Hall complex, displayed for one week before the event began. The advertisement promoted the “Magic of Polish Cities”, which was the theme of the main attraction at the Tokyo stand of the PTO International Office. 

One of the most important points of the Polish Festival was a virtual tour of the “Magic of Polish Cities” – a 360-degree video-selfie. This attraction was made possible by the modern Me-fie device, which allowed the direct transfer of a video to the phone of the person enjoying the attraction at the Tokyo stand. More than one hundred video-journeys were made in total.

For the benefit of representatives of the Japanese tour industry following the event virtually, LOT Polish Airlines and the PTO International Office in Tokyo prepared a presentation with proposed gradation of visiting Poland. The joint promotional activities of LOT Polish Airlines and the Tokyo office were accompanied by a quiz. Held until June 21, it had as its main prize a voucher for an air ticket for two people to Poland. Smaller gifts were prepared for all other winners. At the same time, at the main stage of the festival visitors could see videos promoting the theme of the “Magic of Polish Cities”, the Polish Tourism Organisation, and the region of Wielkopolska, subtitled in Japanese.

Other attractions of the festival included performances by Polish artists, in particular the “Śląsk” Song and Dance Ensemble, a string quartet from the Szczecin Baltic Neopolis Orchestra, the pianist Michał Sobkowiak, and the duet of Miho Kurihara (piano) and Piotr Nikiel (soloist/tenor of the “Śląsk” Song and Dance Ensemble). The Japanese artist May Kotohira played the harp, and in a gesture of solidarity with Ukraine, she also performed Ukrainian pieces. A panel exhibition entitled “Poland” and a documentary “The History of the Polish Anthem” were also presented in the Japanese language version. Festival participants could also watch Polish cartoons from the “Przytul Mnie” (“Hug Me”) series.

The guests and the media were captivated by a presentation of how a mural is created. With assistance from the audience, the Japanese artist Kensuke Miyazaki recreated the mural entitled “Glove”, referring to a popular Ukrainian fairy tale about a glove in which various animals live in harmony and friendship. Kensuke Miyazaki had previously painted this mural on the wall of a residential building in Mariupol in 2017. As a result of the Russian attack on Ukraine, the building was bombarded. The Polish Institute in Tokyo invited the artist to tell this story and to create a miniature of the mural during the Polish Festival. The art piece was created right next to the stand of LOT Polish Airlines and the PTO International Office in Tokyo.  Interviews with the artist and stories on his activities and participation in the Polish Festival were published in local media.  

The Polish Festival was visited by more than 6,000 people, and the live broadcast on the festival’s channel was followed by more than 1,600 people.

You can see the recording at https://youtu.be/