The title “East Asian Cultural Capital” is an important achievement in implementing the cultural consensus reached at the China-Japan-South Korea leaders’ meetings. It is also a concrete measure to support the comprehensive implementation of China’s Belt and Road Initiative and to carry out the proposals of the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations. In 2021, Jinan City in China and Oita Prefecture in Japan were jointly named “East Asian Cultural Capitals,” launching a series of cultural exchange activities such as the East Asian Cultural and Art Exhibition and the “Our Decade” Photography Exhibition. To further implement the joint declaration of the “East Asian Cultural Capital,” deepen mutual understanding among civilizations, and promote cultural exchange, the Jinan Art Troupe was invited by the Oita Prefectural Government to participate in the “City Arts Festival” international cultural exchange event in Japan from May 15 to 18, 2025.

Oita Prefecture, located in the northeastern part of Kyushu, Japan, is rich in tourism resources and famous as a hot spring city. Invited to the “City Arts Festival” in Japan, the presentation themed “East Asian Cultural Capital · Spring Jinan” was refreshing to the Japanese guests. It focused on introducing Jinan’s three core cultural tourism resources—the spring water culture, intangible cultural heritage inheritance, and the industrialized development achievements of its historic city status. The presentation also highlighted ten inbound tourism routes and products under the “Spring Jinan” theme, covering springs, cuisine, resorts, and cultural museums. Additionally, it introduced Jinan’s efforts in infrastructure construction and operation, international tourism market expansion, and city tourism brand building. Both sides discussed new opportunities for international tourism cooperation between Jinan and Japan, leveraging their joint status as “Cultural Capitals.” Japanese travel agents were invited to visit Jinan for field inspection to develop personalized, customized, and high-end “Spring Jinan” inbound tourism routes for Serbian tourists, promoting personnel exchanges and cultural tourism cooperation, which received unanimous praise.

(Hot spring resource images of Oita Prefecture provided by the Japan National Tourism Organization)

(Image of Jinan Baotu Spring provided by Jinan Daily · iJinan)

Culture has always been the most flexible yet penetrating element in international relations, transcending time and space like spring breeze and rain, bringing heartfelt communication and resonance among people, and forging enduring spiritual bonds. The Jinan Song and Dance Theatre delivered a splendid program featuring Chinese musical pieces such as “Spring Water Tingdong + Yimeng Mountain Folk Tune + Baoleng Tune,” “The Most Dazzling Ethnic Style,” “China ~ Spring,” and “Flourishing National Music.” These performances presented a dazzling feast of Chinese cultural elements to the Japanese audience. The traditional Chinese ethnic instrumental ensemble incorporated unique techniques blending the sounds of guzheng, pipa, erhu, and liuqin in harmony. The event also included observation of how Japanese art groups creatively adapt traditional instrument performances by integrating Western musical elements while retaining ethnic characteristics. Discussions were held on improving and innovating traditional repertoire performance techniques, including the integration of modern music elements such as electronic music and jazz rhythms.

This cultural exchange vividly demonstrated the rich cultural heritage of the “Spring City Jinan” and comprehensively showcased the beauty of traditional Chinese music and arts. It brought an exciting Chinese cultural and artistic feast to the local Japanese public and promoted mutual understanding and connection between the two regions through culture and art. The event further spread the culture of the Spring City, continuously expanding the international influence and reputation of “Spring Jinan,” encouraging more cultural tourism projects to choose and invest in Jinan, and advancing inbound tourism cooperation between China and Japan.