Envoy: ‘Russian athletes popular in Japan’, stresses power of sports to bolster friendship

MOSCOW, July 23. /TASS/. Athletes from Russia are especially popular in Japan, while sports exchanges strengthen friendly relations between the two countries, Japanese Ambassador to Russia Toyohisa Kozuki said in an interview with TASS on the opening day of the Tokyo Olympic Games. "Russian figure skaters are very popular in Japan, and I feel that sports maintain friendly relations between our countries in general. Despite the pandemic, I would like to hope that sports exchanges between the two countries will continue to develop," he said. The ambassador stressed that sports exchanges played an essential role in relations between Japan and Russia. "In 2014, the Year of Japanese-Russian Martial Arts Exchanges was held, and [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin himself took part in the exhibition performances at the Japanese martial arts house in Luzhniki," the diplomat noted. "In 2018, Yabusame (the art of horseback archery - TASS) was presented for the first time in Russia at the Central Moscow Hippodrome as part of the bilateral year. Thus, sports exchanges are conducted actively." Special ties Martial arts play an important sports relationship role between countries, Kozuki stressed. "President Putin practices judo, and the Jigoro Kano international tournament is held annually on his initiative," the diplomat added. He recalled that the Russian Union of Martial Arts co-chaired by Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District Yuri Trutnev and First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Sergey Kiriyenko had been created in 2005. "In particular, the union contributed greatly to the successes of the previously mentioned years based on the initiative of both countries’ leaders. In recognition of its merits, last year, the Japanese government decided to award the union with an honorary diploma from the Japanese foreign minister," the ambassador noted. Symbol of friendship Kozuki also congratulated Russia on winning the ISU World Team Trophy in Figure Skating held in Japan in April. "At the exhibition performances, all Japanese and Russian stars, including Yuzuru Hanyu and Anna Shcherbakova, presented a common performance, and it became a symbolic scene of the manifestation of friendship between Japan and Russia," he went on to say. The diplomat also noted that figure skating was popular both in Russia and in Japan, and many Japanese figure skaters have Russian coaches. "Mao Asada is probably fresh in my memory. Tatyana Tarasova was a coach during the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, where Asada won a silver medal, and choreographed a free program at the Sochi Games. I believe many were impressed by Asada’s free program at the Sochi Olympics," he said. Read more