French Season in Japan – Joint communique issued by the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture – The Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture announce new dates for the French Season in Japan: October 2021 to March 2022 (24 July 2020)

Initially scheduled to take place from April to October 2021, the French Season in Japan has been rescheduled due to the Covid-19 health crisis and the postponement of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo. It will now take place from October 2021 to March 2022 throughout the Japanese archipelago.

Announced by French President Emmanuel Macron in September 2018, the French Season in Japan will reflect the friendship between our two countries and their mutual attraction through an innovative and participatory program. The event will focus on celebrating this unique relationship, notably by highlighting French-Japanese coproductions. It will also serve as a link between two major international events for which Japan and France will in turn be responsible: the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo in summer 2021, then in Paris in 2024.

The General Commissioner for the French Season in Japan is Diane Josse. Appointed in July 2019 to develop ambitious, innovative French programming in Japan, Ms. Josse is extremely knowledgeable about Asia – and particularly Japan – as well as the French cultural scene. A graduate of the Ecole Nationale Supérieure de la Photographie in Arles, she has contributed to France’s influence and prestige abroad in the most diverse areas (contemporary creation, digital creation, architecture, artistic residencies, heritage, books, debates on ideas, etc.) at the various postings she has held over the past 20-plus years in the field of cultural diplomacy,

The French Season in Japan will be organized by the Institut Français, a public institution responsible for France’s cultural activities abroad. Under the joint supervision of the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture, it actively promotes France’s soft power. Its projects and programs are based on a unique capacity to deploy the resources of the vast network of cultural services of French embassies, Instituts Français and Alliances Françaises on five continents.