A Brief Report of the Swami Vivekananda Celebration held on 1st June, 2024 in Tokyo
The Public Celebration of Swami Vivekananda’s 161st birth anniversary and 131st anniversary of his visit to Japan was held on Saturday, June 1 from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the Vivekananda Cultural Center (VCC) auditorium of the Embassy of India in Tokyo, Japan with a great eclat.The Embassy of India and the Vedanta Society of Japan co-hosted the celebration. The Guest of honor was H. E. Mrs. Akie Abe, wife of the late Mr. Shinzo Abe, the former Prime Minister of Japan. H.E. Mr. Sivi George, Ambassador of India to Japan, and his wife Mrs. Joyce Sibi also graced the occasion.
The Celebration was inaugurated with an invocation by Swami Medhasananda, Swami Divyanathananda and some devotees. This was followed by a special prayer led by Swami Medhasananda.
Next Swami Medhasananda, President of the Vedanta Society, delivered the welcome address after which H.E. Mrs. Akie Abe and H.E. Ambassador George and Mrs George offered floral tributes to the life size portrait of Swamiji decorated beautifully on the stage and released the special issue of the Universal Gospel, the bimonthly magazine of the Society. Then the Ambassador George and Mrs. Akie Abe, the Guest of honour, delivered their befitting speeches.
The cultural programme consisted of songs and dances. First the Japanese and then the Indian devotees sang soulful devotional songs in chorus, which was followed by exquisite performances of Indian classical dances.
After a short recess a Symposium was held on the Inspiring Messages of Swami Vivekananda covering various aspects of life in the context of the Modern Society with special references to Japan.
While Mr. Ranjan Gupta, a senior member of the Vivekananda Celebration Committee, was the moderator, the keynote speaker was Professor Rajib Shaw, a celebrated scholar teaching in the Keio University , one of the most eminent universities of Japan. Seven more speakers, wilh a commendable academic background from Japan and other countries, also spoke brilliantly on their themes, making the Symposium a huge success in explaining the profound and comprehensive and soul-stirring messages of Swamiji to the audience, most of whom were Japanese. Translations ( English/Japanese) of all the speeches made in English/Japanese were shown on powerpoint on the large screen placed in the stage for the perusal of the audience who were bilingual.
At the end of the programme, Mr. Jagmohan Chandrani, Secretary of the Celebration Committee, and Mr. Atsushi Suzuki, Secretary of the Vedanta Society, offered vote of thanks in English and Japanese respectively. The job of the MCs (in English and Japanese) was done efficiently by Professor Kathy Matsui and Ms. Satsuki Yokota.
The celebration ended with the song ‘Ramakrishna Sharanam,’ in chorus joined by both the Japanese and Indian devotees and also some sections of the audience and finally, the chanting of the Vedic mantra ” Purnamadah purnamidam’ by all the volunteers.
All the attendees were served Indian snacks sponsored by Mr. and Mrs. Chandrani at the end of the programme.
