EL PAÍS. GEORGINA HIGUERAS - TOKYO - 12/11/2008
The Cervantes Institute opens their largest headquarters in the capital of Japan.
The King and Queen of Spain officially opened the Cervantes Institute in Tokyo, the largest temple of the Spanish language abroad. When night fell, MariaPagés and her passionate dance conquered the hearts of the Emperors, Ahihito and Michiko, and those of the businessmen, artists, civil servants, politicians and bankers who had been invited by King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia to a succulent dinner served by Joseph Barahona.
Yesterday, Spanish culture won the day in Japan. In the morning the Monarchs officially opened the Cervantes Institute of Tokyo, the largest temple of the Spanish language abroad. Later, at nightfall, Maria Pagés's passionate dance conquered the Emperors Ahihito and Michiko - as well as the businessmen, artists, civil servants, politicians and bankers - all invited by King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia to a succulent dinner served by Joseph Barahona, the chef from Catalunya who has opened a cooking school in the capital of the Empire of the Rising Sun.
Pagés's arms swirled across the stage with gracious temperament in a colossal rendering of the poems by Ichiro Ando "It is a Rose" and Federico Garcia Lorca "La Casida de la Rosa".Her dance was refined, bursting onstage with no background music and with such force that there were moments when the audience was breath-taken. Maria Pagés, who has been to Japan on 15 other occasions, declared herself to be proud to have a "loyal, serious and devoted following" and insisted on demonstrating that "sensitivity is what unites the two cultures".
One of the main reasons for there being at present 400,000 students of the Spanish language in Japan, is the passionate love of Flamenco the Japanese profess - according to Maria Pagés this is because "they come from a society that is diametrically opposite to ours". Although officially opened yesterday, the Cervantes Institute in Tokyo began working in September 2007, registering over 2,000 students already.
"To learn the Spanish language today is synonymous to opening up new personal horizons and professional opportunities", the King said, recalling that there are 500million people in the world who speak Spanish. The official opening act, that began with a minute's silence as homage to the twoSpanish soldiers killed in Afghanistan, was also attended by Princess Takamado, who read half of her speech in impeccable Spanish.The Princess claimed that El Quijoteis for the Japanese people "the symbol of the force that makes dreams come true".
The director of the Cervantes Institute, Carmen Cafferel, admitted that this Tokyo centre - an eight floor, 4,300sq,mt. building, holding 18 classrooms, two exhibition halls, a library, a bookstore and an auditorium for 160 people - "has been a long time coming", but - as the wise correct their mistakes - she also revealed that the Government plans to create the "Observatory of the Spanish Language in Japan". This aspires to make this country become the spearhead of the penetration of the Spanish Language into the Asian-Pacific region.
Laura Garcia Lorca, the poet's niece, also attended the ceremony, as the library of the Tokyo centre - that at present contains 8,000 books and aims to reach 40,000 - is named after Federico Garcia Lorca, one of the best admired Spanish writers in Japan.
However, although Spanish dance and language gain adepts, it is the Spanish cuisine - with the Iberian Pig as a flag - that unleashes passions.
In this megalopolis that is Tokyo, where design and technological innovation meet, Barahona has his own temple of cooking: a restaurant called L'Estudi, which only has one single table - although this does not stop him from serving Kings and Emperors when required.
The Monarchs, who began their second State visit to the centre of the Empire, will travel tomorrow, Thursday, to Kyoto (the ancient capital) where they shall be closing a seminar on Spanish in Japan, that has brought together fifty different Japanese universities where the language of Cervantes is taught.
Pagés's arms swirled across the stage with gracious temperament in a colossal rendering of the poems by Ichiro Ando "It is a Rose" and Federico Garcia Lorca "La Casida de la Rosa".Her dance was refined, bursting onstage with no background music and with such force that there were moments when the audience was breath-taken. Maria Pagés, who has been to Japan on 15 other occasions, declared herself to be proud to have a "loyal, serious and devoted following" and insisted on demonstrating that "sensitivity is what unites the two cultures".
One of the main reasons for there being at present 400,000 students of the Spanish language in Japan, is the passionate love of Flamenco the Japanese profess - according to Maria Pagés this is because "they come from a society that is diametrically opposite to ours". Although officially opened yesterday, the Cervantes Institute in Tokyo began working in September 2007, registering over 2,000 students already.
"To learn the Spanish language today is synonymous to opening up new personal horizons and professional opportunities", the King said, recalling that there are 500million people in the world who speak Spanish. The official opening act, that began with a minute's silence as homage to the twoSpanish soldiers killed in Afghanistan, was also attended by Princess Takamado, who read half of her speech in impeccable Spanish.The Princess claimed that El Quijoteis for the Japanese people "the symbol of the force that makes dreams come true".
The director of the Cervantes Institute, Carmen Cafferel, admitted that this Tokyo centre - an eight floor, 4,300sq,mt. building, holding 18 classrooms, two exhibition halls, a library, a bookstore and an auditorium for 160 people - "has been a long time coming", but - as the wise correct their mistakes - she also revealed that the Government plans to create the "Observatory of the Spanish Language in Japan". This aspires to make this country become the spearhead of the penetration of the Spanish Language into the Asian-Pacific region.
Laura Garcia Lorca, the poet's niece, also attended the ceremony, as the library of the Tokyo centre - that at present contains 8,000 books and aims to reach 40,000 - is named after Federico Garcia Lorca, one of the best admired Spanish writers in Japan.
However, although Spanish dance and language gain adepts, it is the Spanish cuisine - with the Iberian Pig as a flag - that unleashes passions.
In this megalopolis that is Tokyo, where design and technological innovation meet, Barahona has his own temple of cooking: a restaurant called L'Estudi, which only has one single table - although this does not stop him from serving Kings and Emperors when required.
The Monarchs, who began their second State visit to the centre of the Empire, will travel tomorrow, Thursday, to Kyoto (the ancient capital) where they shall be closing a seminar on Spanish in Japan, that has brought together fifty different Japanese universities where the language of Cervantes is taught.
