A special inauguration ceremony was held on Saturday to mark the completion of a concert hall built by Japan in L'Aquila, Italy, as a token of support to the area after it was severely hit by a deadly earthquake in 2009.
At the event, a message from Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was read out in which he said that just as Japan and Italy had recovered from the ruins of World War II, he hopes the Tohoku region, struck by the devastating March 11 quake and tsunami, and L'Aquila will find the chance to develop and grow amid their misfortunes.
Japanese Ambassador to Italy Hiroyasu Ando expressed hope that the concert hall will "remain in the hearts of people for a long time to come as proof of friendship and cooperation between the two countries."
The 220-seat concert hall, designed by Japanese architect Shigeru Ban and featuring walls and ceilings made by assembling paper pipes, was built to replace a hall that was destroyed in the April 2009 quake that jolted the central Italian region.
Japan footed the ?600,000 (¥70 million) in construction costs for the hall.
