To use this site, please disable the ad blocking feature and reload the page.
This website uses cookies to collect information about your visit for purposes such as showing you personalized ads and content, and analyzing our website traffic. By clicking “Accept all,” you will allow the use of these cookies.
Users accessing this site from EEA countries and UK are unable to view this site without your consent. We apologize for any inconvenience caused.
The Yomiuri Shimbun Lithuania’s Ambassador to Japan Aurelijus Zykas strikes the headgear of his opponent at a kendo hall in Kani, Gifu Prefecture.
The Yomiuri Shimbun
13:03 JST, August 27, 2022
GIFU — Lithuania’s Ambassador to Japan Aurelijus Zykas visited Gifu Prefecture and took part in kendo on Aug. 4.
The town of Yaotsu is the birthplace of Chiune Sugihara (1900-86), a Japanese diplomat stationed in Lithuania, who issued “visas for life” to Jews fleeing the Nazi persecution in Poland via Lithuania during World War II.
There is a memorial hall in the town to commemorate Sugihara, and the town government has been in contact with Lithuania for many years. Zykas said it was his seventh visit. At the town hall, he exchanged views with Mayor Masanori Kaneko and others on issues such as the Ukrainian crisis.
Prior to this, the ambassador visited a kendo hall in the nearby city of Kani, where he personally took a shinai bamboo sword and hit the opponent’s head gear.
“This was my first experience with kendo, but it felt good,” he said.
