Information Minister M Shamsul Islam opened the 10-day long exhibition on the premises of the National Museum.

Ambassador of Japan Matsushiro Horiguchi and Director General of National Museum Professor Mahmudul Haque also addressed the function, which was attended among others, by diplomats of different countries.

Addressing the inaugural ceremony, the Minister said the festival is a combination of cultural programmes representing important dimension of rich Japanese culture. He described the festival as a symbol of excellent relation between Dhaka an Tokyo.

Terming the relations between Dhaka and Tokyo as multi-dimensional, the information minister said cultural exchange are its fascinating part. The more we will have cultural exchanges, the greater will be our mutual understanding, he said.

Ambassador Matsushiro Horiguchi said like Bangladesh much of his country's well being involve human resource development. In this context, he said despite ups and downs in his country's economy, the number of recipients of Japanese scholarships from Bangladesh have grown over the years. He said many Bangladeshis who studied in Japan are now playing important roles in Bangladesh.