Japanese Film Festival 2014 launched at Golden Screen Cinema

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KUCHING: The Japanese Film Festival 2014 was launched at Golden Screen Cinema at CityOne Megamall on Thursday night.

Morshidi (centre), Shoichi (left) and Kenji at the launch.

Japanese movies shown include ‘Like Father Like Son’, ‘The Wind Rises’, ‘Rent-a-car’, ‘Tug of War’, ‘Tokyo Oasis’, ‘Leaving on the 15th Spring’, ‘Fly Dakota Fly!’,’The Snow White Murder Case’, The Round Table’, ‘Samurai Hustle’, Initial D Legend 1:Awakening’, ‘Mourning Recipe’ and Saint Seiya Movie: Legend of Sanctuary’.

At the opening ceremony of the festival, State Secretary Tan Sri Datuk Amar Mohamad Morshidi said the Japanese Film Festival gave the local people a glimpse of Japanese culture while the Japanese people here would feel closer to their homeland.

This is the third year the Japanese Film Festival is brought to Kuching. It is organised by the Japan Foundation Kuala Lumpur, and sponsored by Mitsubishi Corporation.

“Thank you for your continuous effort and hard work year after year to bless Malaysians in Sarawak with good Japanese movies which in turn promote cultural exchange and mutual understanding between Malaysia and Japan,” said Morshidi.

Mitsubishi Corporation Chief Executive in Malaysia, Kenji Ohta, also present at the function said, “Sarawak and Japan share many things in common. A good example is the support rendered at the time of the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake and the subsequent tsunami that struck in 2011.

“Malaysia was the quickest to respond with emergency supplies of LNG from Bintulu, Sarawak, after all 54 nuclear plants had to cease operations.”

He said Sarawak, after supplying nearly 20 per cent of the total gas demand in Japan, is an indispensable partner of Japan.

Mitsubishi Corporation has been in Malaysia for 55 years. Their activities in this state are not limited to the joint ventures in the Malaysia LNG projects alone.

He said, “In the automotive sector, our Mitsubishi Motors business in East Malaysia has been showing steady growth for the past several years. Mitsubishi remain committed to ensure high customer satisfaction.”

He said Mitsubishi Corporation is proud to be a partner to the Sarawak Biodiversity Centre in exploring the possibilities of microalgae as a potential source of renewable energy.

“We also take pride in our various tree-planting activities in the region having planted more than 40,000 trees here in Sarawak.

“What I can confidently say is that our organisation is here to stay and we will continue to place importance on long-term relationships with Malaysia and the state of Sarawak, as they form the very essence of what we consider to be by far our most valuable assets,” he said.

Also present was Japan Foundation Kuala Lumpur director Shoichi Toyoda.