A four-day festival of Swiss culture starting next week in Tokyo will set the stage for a year of events planned to celebrate the 150th anniversary of diplomatic ties with Japan, Swiss Ambassador Urs Bucher said Friday.
The events are designed to be as diverse as Switzerland itself, Bucher said, to provide a broader perspective of its people and products.
"It is very important to celebrate this special moment marking 150 years of friendship, and we wanted to make the events very open to the Japanese public to spread Swiss culture to a wider group," he said in a phone interview.
Swiss President Didier Burkhalter will officially kick off the year's events with the opening of the "Swissdays" festival at Roppongi Hills Arena from Feb. 6 to 9.
Swissdays will include live performances by Swiss artists, displays of traditional Schwingen wrestling, Swiss food and a light show.