Ｃｈｉｎａ Ｎａｔｉｏｎａｌ Ａｃｒｏｂａｔｉｃ Ｔｒｏｕｐｅ’ｓ Ｐｅｒｆｏｒｍａｎｃｅ Ｔｏｕｒ ｉｎ Ｊａｐａｎ

At the invitation of the Min-On Concert Association of Japan， a 51-member China National Acrobatic Troupe sent by the CPAFFC made a performance tour in 61 Japanese cities including Tokyo， Osaka and Nagoya from September 8 to December 26， 2007.During the 110-day performance tour， the troupe gave 114 performances with an audience of 230，000 person/times. This performance tour， as an important part of the activities of the China-Japan Cultural and Sports Exchange Year and in commemoration of the 35th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between China and Japan was well received by the Japanese audience and won praises from both Japanese and Chinese media， achieving a full success.

This acrobatic show featuring novelty and beauty entitled Legends of the Dragon and the Phoenix was a series of excellent performances refined or newly created by the China National Acrobatic Troupe in recent years. It included many programmes of unique skills such as Ballet and Hand- to-Hand Balancing， Plate Spinning， Ball Catching， Meteors， Contortionists， Pagodaof Bowls， TumblingThrough Hoops， Balancing Feats， Bicycle Skills， Slack Wire， Diabolo， etc. The Japanese audience was dazzled by the perfect stage designs and superb performances and greeted them with waves of applause.

These programmes to which were added highly difficult skills and modern dance elements were more difficult to perform， but at the same time more enjoyable. Many bold innovations had been made in costumes， music and lighting. With sincere devotion to work， the audience and art， the performers， averagely 20 years old， overcame pressures brought about by long performing period， touring from one place to another and giving frequent performances， and completed every performance excellently. They showed the charm of the acrobatic art and vigour and vitality of the Chinese youth and conveyed the Chinese people’s friendly sentiments to the Japanese audience. For this reason， in spite of the troupe’s frequent overseas performances in recent years， the tour left fresh and new impressions on the Japanese audience and won acclaim.

From the audience’s comments we felt that the Japanese audience was touched by the performers’ spirit of challenging the extremes and hard training and that they treasured greatly the hard-won Japan-China friendship. In the questionnaires， some wrote: “Culture has made us feel closer. How pleasant such a moment is! If the cultural exchanges between the two countries can make people coexist harmoniously， then the road to peace is not too distant.” Another viewer said: “I could hardly believe that man has such an extraordinary potential. I am greatly inspired by this， which gives me the courage to rise to new challenges.” The third said: “This performance may be regarded as a gift to the 35th anniversary of the normalization of Japan-China diplomatic relations. After watching the performance today， I feel more the urge that I should do something for Japan-China friendship.”

Governors， local officials and leading members of Soka Gakkai in Okinawa， Shimane， Yamanashi， Kagoshima， Saga， Okayama， Tottori， Kagawa and Kochi prefectures watched the performance. Many Japanese media including Seikyo Shimbun， Kanagawa Shimbun， Tyunichi Shimbun， Kitakuni Shimbun， Tokushima Shimbun and the Kobe Taiyo TV Station gave coverage to the performance.

The special performance in the Soka University on October 21 was one of the highlights of the whole performance tour. Daisaku Ikeda， honorary president of Soka Gakkai， and Jing Dunquan， vice president of the CPAFFC who specially came to Japan， watched the performance together with an audience of 4，000. The atmosphere on the spot was very lively and enthusiastic. This performance gave publicity to the acrobatic show Legends of the Dragon and the Phoenix and caused sensational effects for its later performance tour in Japan.

From December 5 to 8， the troupe gave 7 performances consecutively in Tokyo， evoking unprecedentedly strong repercussions and pushing the performance tour to a climax. Among the audience there were representatives from the Japanese political， economic and cultural circles. Ambassadors and their wives and diplomats from the embassies of over 30 countries (or organizations) including China， Singapore， Austria， the E.U.， Russia， Jordan and Spain watched and acclaimed the performance.

In mid-December a Beijing media delegation organized and sent by the Beijing Cultural Bureau specially went to Japan to watch the performances in Kyoto and Kobe. The delegation composed of reporters from the Beijing Youth Daily， the Beijing Morning Post， the Beijing TV Station， and the Beijing Peo- ple’s Broadcasting Corporation had interviews from various angles with Yasuhiro Kobayashi， president of the MIN-ON Concert Association， Wang Xiuyun， head of the performance tour， representatives of the performers and the Japanese audience. The fact that the Chinese media followed the performance with great interest also aroused interest from the Japanese sponsors.

In the exchanges between the CPAFFC and the MIN-ON Concert Association， it was the first time that the two organizations jointly organized such an acrobatic performance tour that lasted three and a half months. The performance tour which covered so many cities and put on so many shows was a very important activity of the China-Japan Cultural and Sports Exchange Year. The performance not only evoked strong repercussions in big cities such as Tokyo， Osaka and Nagoya， but also introduced the best of the Chinese acrobatics to Shikoku， Kyushu and Hokkaido where few Chinese art troupes had visited， arousing the ordinary Japanese people’s interest in the Chinese culture.

The MIN-ON Concert Association with a strong professional team made a full preparation and gave us support in publicizing the performance tour， organizing audience and installing properties and stage effect. The Japanese media in various places gave the performance extensive coverage. All these efforts ensured the success of the performance tour.

The performance tour made by the China National Acrobatic Troupe has added colour to the activities in commemoration of the 35th anniversary of the normalization of China-Japan diplomatic relations， displayed Chinese traditional art and conveyed the Chinese people’s friendship to the Japanese people and achieved the goal of promoting peace with cultural exchanges. At the same time， it has helped strengthen cooperation between the CPAFFC and MIN-ON and laid a foundation for the new plan of exchanges between the two associations in 2008.