Every year on March 20, the world celebrates the creation, back in 1970, of the organization that has since become the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie.
In Japan, the “Month of La Francophonie” is held annually in major Japanese cities (Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe, Nagoya, Sendai, Fukuoka, and Yokohama) to showcase the varieties of arts and cultural projects produced in the vast French-speaking world. Be it dance, literature, comics, music, cinema, or gastronomy, there is always something for every taste. Of course, with close to 25% of its population being French speakers, and with Ambassador Jean-François Paroz presiding the Council for the Promotion of La Francophonie in Japan, Switzerland was actively involved in this year’s edition.
This year’s main Swiss contribution was a subtle mix of pop melodies, electro beats, colorful productions, and a powerful and moving voice: Sophie de Quay & The WaveGuards. With a Mark Twain’s quotation as their motto, "They didn’t know it was impossible so they did it", the Swiss trio played over a hundred concerts throughout the world in the last two years. On the occasion of their first tour in Japan, which led them to Tokyo and Kyoto, the trio performed as headliners at festivals, clubs, and even on the radio, alternating lyrics in French and English.
Moreover, on March 21, Ambassador Paroz attended the "Festival of La Francophonie in the Kansai 2019" in Kobe, where he introduced one of the main projects of the Doors to Switzerland – Japan 2020 campaign: the “Grand Tour of Switzerland in Japan”. Soon available on all devices and in English and Japanese, the Grand Tour is an interactive online map referencing and detailing the many locations in Japan that have a meaningful connection to Switzerland (e.g. sister cities, 2020 Host Towns, historical figures).
Having focused on all the elements present in the Kansai region, Ambassador Paroz also took this opportunity to narrate the lives of three major French-speaking Swiss figures who made crucial contributions to the Swiss-Japanese bilateral relations: Aimé Humbert-Droz, initiator of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce between the two countries in 1864; Dr. Marcel Junod, Red Cross field delegate and first foreign doctor to travel to Hiroshima after August 6, 1945, to provide humanitarian aid; and Minister Camille Gorgé, who represented Switzerland and the Allied Powers in Japan against all odds from 1940 to 1945. Fascinating excerpts of their memoirs and reports were also read and commented - in French and Japanese for all guests to enjoy.
