Japanese children from the town of Higashimatsushima, which was struck in March 2011 by a devastating earthquake have visited the National Assembly on June 1st. They were greeted by students of the national school of music “Lubomir Pipkov” who played on traditional Bulgarian musical instruments.

The Japanese students were received by the National Assembly President Mrs. Tsetska Tsacheva. She showed them the plenary hall and invited them to ring the parliamentary bell. 

At the parliamentary club, the Japanese children have listened to a performance of folkmusic instruments played by students from the national music school.

The chair of parliament noticed that the visit coincided with the International Children’s Day – June 1st. “We all want the children from around the world to grow up happy, without fear of natural disasters”, said Tsetska Tsacheva. In her view it is important for children of different countries to meet and get to know the culture and the traditions of other peoples.

The Japanese guests have thanked for the opportunity to visit the National Assembly. Mrs. Uko Takahashi, school principal of the Higashimatsushima’s secondary school “Naruse” handed to Mrs.Tsetska Tsacheva a letter from the President of the Upper Chamber of the Japanese parliament, Mr. Kendzhi Hirata. In the letter he expresses gratitude for the invitation extended to the Japanese children to visit Bulgaria and its National Assembly and notes that it is an expression of solidarity and an opportunity for the children to overcome the deep distress of the strong earthquake that occurred in the northeast part of Japan last year.

The head of the school showed pictures of flourishing Bulgarian roses in front of the town’s library, planted their during the visit of the Bulgarian parliamentary delegation in the month of April. The roses were planted as symbol of friendship and hope for fast recovery.

The group consists of 16 Japanese children and 4 guides. The visit is taking place from 27 May till June 3rd and is held at the invitation of Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov. During its visit to Japan the Bulgarian parliamentary delegation paid a visit to the “Naruse” school and Tsetska Tsacheva had presented the air tickets for the children'd visit to Bulgaria and invited them to be guests of the Bulgarian parliament.

The program of the visit envisages also acquaintance with traditional Bulgarian crafts and products such as the rose oil and the well known in Japan Bulgarian yogurt, and a trip to the towns of Belogradchik and Koprivshtitsa.