FLORENCE AND KYOTO MORE THAN EVER TWIN CITIES
A dozen Florentines, shy, polite, hospitable, coped with, on the morning of June 9th, 2015, in the Salone dei Cinquecento in Florence, an organized a group of hundreds of Japanese citizens, mostly from Kyoto, who had arrived in the capital of Tuscany to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the twinning pact, signed on the 6th November 1965, and to assist the renewal of the bond between the two cities that represent the excellence in the cultural panorama of Italy and Japan.
To welcome the guests, led by the mayor of Kyoto, Daisaku Kadokawa, and by the Ambassador of the country of the rising sun in Rome, Kazuyoshi Umemoto, there was the first citizen of Florence, Dario Nardella.
In the great space where the exploits of the Medici were celebrated, following a studied direction, a chamber orchestra from Kyoto performed, to celebrate the event; a choir of Japanese school children from Florence who sang, among other things, what is considered the reserve Italian national anthem: Nel blù dipinto di blù (Volare by Modugno); a chorus of female voices from the city of Kyoto; two Maiko dancers in kimono and great quality hairstyles,who had arrived especially from the Japanese city; ten ikebana experts who prepared a composition of lilies and branches of acacia of unusual dimensions and trumpets of the City of Florence that accompany, as a ritual, the Banner with the Red Lily and that resound at the beginning and end of each official event of the Municipality.
The ceremony included the confirmation of the signatures of the Mayors of the twinning pact and the exchange of gifts, which happened amongst the applause of the audience. Following, the Mayors received, in Cosimo’s hall, a representation of journalists, mostly Japanese, and reiterated their common will to improve the economic and cultural exchanges and tourism between the twin cities.
The Japanese guests were then transferred to the nearby Palazzo Nonfinito, in via del Proconsolo, where they were welcomed by the newly elected president of the University of Florence, Luigi Dei, and by the president of the Museum of Natural History, Guido Chelazzi, supported by all his staff, to visit the photographic exhibition FLO • KYO Florence and Kyoto twin cities by Massimo Pacifico, held in the Museum of Anthropology (which occupies the first floor of the building) curated by Claudio Di Benedetto, conceived by BARNUM and produced by the Associazione culturale Najs, chaired by Claudio Cantella, supported by Airf Toscana.
After visiting the exhibition (which gives a direct comparison, in 100 photographs, of architecture, spaces and episodes of everyday life in the two cities), the day had its climax in the courtyard of the palazzo, once belonging to the Strozzi and Pazzi families, where the representatives of the fashion brand Genten (sponsor of the event – present also Satoshi Okada, number one of the Kuipo group who owns the brand) welcomed their guests. There was also a good representation of expert Florentine journalists.
This was followed by a parade of women’s fashion, inspired by the pictorial style of Rimpa, Genten’s first in Italy, marked by notes of a concert performed by a group in kimono with Japanese classical instruments: koto, flute, drums and lute.
After lunch there was the cutting the cake and the final toast with sakè! Kampai!
