Japanese features, anime to screen

Japanese director Nobuhiro Doi's latest film Hanamizuki is one of ten
films scheduled to show in competition at the first Vietnam
International Film Festival, which runs until Oct. 21 in Hanoi.

Hanamizuki is a romantic drama which tells the story of high school
student Sae Hirasawa, played by Yui Aragaki, who lives a simple life
with her mother in a peaceful northern fishing town but dreams of a life
overseas.

She meets two special men in her life.
One is another high school boy who she falls in love with. They
encourage each other to pursue their dreams, even as their dreams pull
them apart. The other man is an upperclassman who shares her same
dreams.

Doi, with the support of the Japan
Foundation Centre for Cultural Exchange, is scheduled to arrive on Oct.
19 to attend the festival and conduct question and answer sessions about
the film.

Born April 11, 1964 in Hiroshima
Prefecture , Doi began as director for the hit TBS television series
Good Luck!! in 2003 and Orange Days in 2004 until striking it big with
the 48 million USD box office hit Be With You the same year, his
directorial film debut.

Hanamizuki was released in Japan in August and is his third feature film.

My Darling Is a Foreigner, the directorial debut by Kazuaki Ue, will also compete for the festival's top prize.

Eatrip by Yuri Nomura, and Mental by Kazuhiro Soda will compete in the
documentary and short film categories, respectively. Mental won the
Best Documentary Award at the Pusan International Film Festival and the
Dubai International Film Festival in 2008.

Japanese
animation will also make a showing at the festival with Summer Wars
(2009) and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006), both directed by
Mamoru Hosoda. Both films have received numerous awards not only in
Japan but throughout the world, including the Best Animation Award at
the Japan Academy Awards in 2007 (The Girl Who Leapt Through Time) and
in 2010 (Summer Wars).

Please see the What's On section on page 27 for the festival calendar./.

Viet Nam fights to defend ‘Poomsae' medal tally

Vietnamese taekwondo artists will compete to defend their gold medal in the World Poomsae (Performance) Championship starting today in Uzbekistan.

Eight men and women under the leadership of coach Le Minh Khuong will each compete in singles, doubles and team events.

The tournament will close on Sunday.

In the previous championship, Viet Nam won two gold, one silver and one bronze medal.

Japan cruise into quarters with Viet Nam victory

Takashi Usami scored a hattrick as Japan booked their place in the quarter-finals of the AFC U-19 Championship following a resounding 4-0 defeat of Viet Nam at China's Zibo Sports Centre Stadium on Wednesday.

Mitsunari Musaka and Usami scored in the first half to put Japan in control of the match before the latter added a third midway through the second period.

Viet Nam almost scored when Ha Minh Tuan acrobatically launched an overhead kick towards Nguyen Hai Huy, who then produced the exact same move to hook a narrow miss towards the left upright as goalkeeper Goro Kawanami scrambled.

The lively Usami then grabbed his third and Japan's fourth in the 88th minute to put Japan at the top of Group C with six points in two games.

Viet Nam hold on with three points and still have the chance to join Japan in the last eight when they face defending champions UAE in their final group game today.

HCM City women win table tennis tournament

HCM City took the women's team title while the Military won the men's side of the National All-stars Table Tennis Championship at Ha Noi's Gia Lam Gymnasium.

In the final matches, HCM City easily beat the Ministry of Public Security 3-1 while the Military defeated Ha Noi 3-2.

The tournament will continue with singles and doubles events. — VNS

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Vietnam humiliated with a 4-0 loss over Japan

Photo: AFC

Vietnamese national youth football team slumped to a humiliated 4-0 defeat by Japan in the second match day today at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-19 Championship taking place in China.

Takashi Usami scored a hat-trick as Japan booked their place in the quarterfinals of the Asian tournament, with six points after two games in group C. Japan will next face Jordan on Friday.

Mitsunari Musaka and Usami scored in the first half to put Japan in control of the match before the latter added two more in the second period.

Vietnam remain on three points after a 2-1 win over Jordan on Monday and will take on the defending champion United Arab Emirates in their final group game two days later.

Just eight minutes into the match, the Keiichiro Nuno’s side opened the scoring when skipper Musaka received the ball just outside the box before letting fly with fine long-range strike that gave Vietnam goalkeeper Tran Buu Ngoc no chance.

Japan made it look easy when they added a second on the stroke of half time with the lively Usami drilling a vicious low shot from the edge of the area into the back of the net.

Japan added to their tally with a third midway through the second half through Usami before he completed his hat-trick with two minutes remaining.

Jordan and the UAE are set to play the other match of the group at 10:30 GMT today.

The Vietnamese U-19 team is one of 16 out of 38 Asian national teams to pass the qualifying round in November of last year.

The AFC U-19 Championship is held every two years.

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Vietnam eager to face Japan

Coach Trieu Quang Ha (R) and striker Quoc Phuong

Photo: Tuoi Tre

Vietnam and tournament-favorite Japan are eager to meet one another at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-19 Championships in China after both of them secured victories in the opening match day on Monday.

Vietnam, who overturned the initial score to defeat Jordan 2-1, will stage a low formation to counter-attack Japan -- who advanced six times to the regional U-19 tournaments, said Vietnamese coach Trieu Quang Ha.

“I watched the tape of Japan winning against the United Arab Emirates 2-1 and realized that they are strong with swift attacks along the two wings”, he said.

Vietnam can play a leveled game with Japan (to start at 7:30 GMT Wednesday), he added.

Vietnam will switch from 4-4-2 to 3-5-1 formation while facing Japan, with two central defenders Anh Quang and Tien Duy, according to the coach. Three midfielders Hoang Thinh, Huu Dinh and Hai Huy will cover the middle area to make up a second defensive wall.

Ha is also confident that his U-19 players have good athletic form and height to compete against the rivals.

The Vietnamese U-19 team is one of 16 out of 38 Asian national teams to pass the qualifying round in November of last year.

The Asian U-19 event is held every two years.

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Minh cruises into quarters at Tokyo badminton event

Vietnam's Olympian Nguyen Tien Minh went through to the quarters of the Japan Super Series in Tokyo on Sept. 23.

Minh, who is seeded No 7 for the tournament, defeated Jan Jorgensen of
Denmark 21-11, 22-20 in the men's singles. He will next play Peter
Hoeg Gade, also from Denmark.

Gade, who beat Takuma Ueda of Japan 21-3, 17-21, 21-12, is seeded No 2.

Meanwhile, world No 1 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia easily beat Kenichi Tago of Japan 21-10, 21-10 in the third-round.

Defending champion China's Bao Chunlai earned a quarter-final place
against Lee after defeating Kazushi Yamada of Japan 21-13, 21-13.

Earlier in the day, three-time former world champion Lin Dan of China beat Hu Yun of Hong Kong 21-17, 21-14.

In the quarter-finals today, Lin will take on Park Sung-hwan of the
Republiaue of Korea, who defeated Sho Sasaki of Japan 21-12, 21-15.

On the women's side, title candidate Hongyan Pi of France was beaten
6-21, 11-21 by China's 2002 world junior champion Jiang Yanjiao.

Other seeds who played on Sept. 23 included Tina Baun of Denmark, No 4;
Wang Shixian of China, No 3; and Japan's Eriko Hirose, No 7. All went
through to the next round./.

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Nationalist Phan Boi Chau remembered in Japan

Fukuroi city in Japan’s Fukuoka prefecture, on Sept. 11 hosted an event
to commemorate the 70 th death anniversary of Phan Boi Chau - the
initiator of Vietnam’s Dong Du (Visit the East) Movement, and the 100 th
death anniversary of Asaba Sakitaro, a local supporter of the
Vietnamese revolutionaries.

Present at the event, Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan Nguyen Phu Binh
recalled that a century ago in response to Phan Boi Chau-initiated Dong
Du movement, hundreds of Vietnamese students went to study in Japan in
hope that they could help reform the country at their return.

These
pioneers met with a lot of difficulties in Japan , however, they
got whole-hearted assistance from Asaba Sakitaro, a medical doctor as
well as people in Fukuroi, the ambassador remembered.

Although
the Dong Du movement failed and those students had to go home, what
doctor Asaba and Fukuroi residents had done for Chau and his followers
remain forever in the Vietnamese people’s hearts, the diplomat stressed.

“Over
more than 100 years, the world as well as Vietnam and Japan have
seen many changes. The two countries have become each other’s strategic
partner and their relationship has never been as good as it is now,”
Binh said.

He expressed his gratitude to Fukuroi residents for
caring for doctor Asaba’s tomb and the stele in memory of doctor Asaba
that Phan Boi Chau erected in the compound of Jorin Umeyama pagoda
during his visit to Japan in 1918.

The diplomat also
expressed his hope that Fukuroi will increase its exchange of activities
with the central city of Hue and other localities in Vietnam .

Fukuroi
Mayor Hideyuki Harada affirmed that by organising this event, his city
wants to boost its ties with Vietnam and said he hoped the
Japan-Vietnam ties will continue to develop in the coming time.

During
the event, the participants heard Professor Shiraishi Masaya from the
Waseda University ( Tokyo ) presenting his research on history of
the Dong Du movement and its supporters in the early 20 th century./.

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Zaccheroni becomes new Japan coach

Coach Alberto Zaccheroni

Photo: Reuters

Former AC Milan and Juventus manager Alberto Zaccheroni has been named as the new coach of Japan, the country's governing body announced on Monday.

The Japan Football Association (JFA) said the 57-year-old had reached an agreement to take charge of the Blue Samurai and would hold a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday, bringing an end to a two-month search for a new national coach.

The identity of Japan's next coach had taken an intriguing twist earlier in the day when local media offered contrasting opinions on who was poised to take over.

According to Nikkan Sports, former Argentina manager Jose Pekerman was going to be named as coach later in the day.

However, the Daily Yomiuri, and Italy's La Repubblica, correctly reported that Zaccheroni had agreed to a two-year deal to succeed Takeshi Okada.

Dutchmen Marco van Basten and Ronald Koeman had also been linked with the Japan job while the delay in naming a coach had triggered criticism of the JFA.

Okada defied expectations by guiding Japan to the last 16 of this year's World Cup in South Africa, where they were beaten on penalties by Paraguay.

Zaccheroni is expected to take up his role after next month's home friendlies against Paraguay and Guatemala.

The Italian's first task is to lead the side at the Asian Cup in Qatar in January.

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Hoi An-Japan cultural exchange opens

A Hoi An-Japan cultural exchange opened in Hoi An ancient town in the central province of Quang Nam on August 21.

During the two-day event, various cultural activities will be held,
including an exhibition showcasing photos on Hoi An ancient town and
documentary photos on Hoi An-Japan cultural exchanges and an artistic
painting exhibition entitled “Colours of Heritages”.

There will be a seminar on cultural heritage preservation and tourism
development, an introduction of Japanese cuisine and performances of
Japanese musical instruments and children’s games.

In the opening night, Vietnamese and Japanese artists jointly performed
special dances from both countries such as lion and royal dances.

The event, co-organised by the Japanese Embassy in Vietnam, the Japan
International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Hoi An People’s
Committee, offers a chance for artists in particular and the people of
the two countries in general to exchange and share their own special
cultural characteristics, thus helping boost the friendship between the
two nations./.

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