NIHON MATSURI - The Grand Japan Festival

Welcome to the Grand Japan Festival in the Bernisches­ Historisches­ Museum.  

Visitors can look forward to a varied programme between 10 am and 5 pm on Saturday and Sunday, with workshops, Japanese specialities, and a number of stage performances. Once again this year there will be a wide range of textiles, food and Japanese handicraft on display in the authentic Japanese bazaar.

To mark the 160th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Switzerland and Japan a ceremonial suit of armour for a daimyô (a powerful local magnate in Japan) will be on display. It was presented to the Swiss Federal Council in 1867 as a state gift on the occasion of the first official Swiss visit to Japan and has been held in the museum since its foundation, deposited here for safe keeping by the Federal Office of Culture. It will be exhibited again at the Grand Japan Festival for the first time after undergoing lengthy restoration.

The bazaar and the food stands are organised by Bern Nipponjin-kai, the Japanese Association of Bern.