On the evening of June 15, as part of Hue International Music Week 2026, the stage by the Perfume River, in front of Quoc Hoc - Hue High School, continued to draw a large audience with performances by Ojos band (France), Kawanishi Natsuki (Japanese singer), as well as Vietnamese singer My Anh, and artist Matthew Ifield (Australia).

Against the backdrop of the Perfume River, the elegant melodies of Hue Royal Court Music intertwined with the youthful rhythms of J-pop performed by Japanese singer Kawanishi Natsuki, along with a series of impressive artistic performances from South Korea, set the stage for a vibrant and colorful opening ceremony of Hue International Music Week 2026 on the evening of June 13.

On June 12th, at Hue Central Hospital, a delegation from Yokosuka Kyosai Hospital attended a working session and professional exchange as part of the long-term physician training cooperation program between the two institutions, which has been maintained for nearly a decade.

On the afternoon of June 11, the School of Engineering and Technology, Hue University officially launched the Japanese-Standard Engineering Training Program, marking a strategic cooperation between the institution and Nisso Kosan (under the management of Nisso Corporation) and Meisei Group (Japan) in the field of training, education, and high-quality human resource development.

With its minimalist elegance and close connection to nature, Kokedama, the Japanese art of growing plants in moss balls, has quickly captured the attention of plant enthusiasts in Hue.

At cultural festivals, exchange events, or student programs in Hue, it is not uncommon to see young people dressed in Japanese attire, moving in synchronized formations to vibrant music. They are members of Mirai Yosakoi Club, a yosakoi dance team comprised of students from the Faculty of Japanese Language & Culture, University of Foreign Languages, Hue University.

On the morning of December 23, the exhibition “OMOCHA: The World of Modern Japanese Toys” was introduced to the public at AEON Mall Hue, offering visitors an opportunity to explore the evolution of Japanese toys from tradition to modernity through the lens of culture and creativity.

In 2005, I was fortunate to meet Dang Van Viet, a revered elder, in Hue, where he had come from Hanoi to join the 60th anniversary of the Frontline Youth School. There, I learned that he was the one who, together with a comrade, raised the red flag with the yellow star over the Phu Van Lau (Phu Van Pavilion) flagpole on August 21, 1945-when the August Revolution had yet to break out, Japanese forces were still armed, and the Nguyen dynasty still stood in the imperial capital of Hue.

On September 2nd, the Economic Security Division of Hue City Police reported that it had returned a lost mobile phone to Ms. Mii Uchino (born in 1999, Japanese nationality, a student at University of Tsukuba currently attending a seminar at Hue University).

A team of experts from Japan, in collaboration with the Faculty of History (University of Sciences, Hue University), is conducting a survey of the Thanh Loi National Relic Site, located in Thuy Xuan Ward, Hue City.