Hundreds of distinguished guests from Shandong and Yamaguchi took part in the opening ceremony, including Wen Fujiang, deputy head of the Standing Committee of the Shandong Provincial People's Congress, Tsugumasa Muraoka, governor of Yamaguchi Prefecture and Toyama Shigeru, consul general of Japan in Qingdao.

Wen Fujiang, deputy head of the Standing Committee of the Shandong Provincial People's Congress, delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the exhibition on June 1 at the Shandong Museum. [Photo by Li Bo/sdmuseum.com]

Wen said that China and Japan are close neighbors separated only by a strip of water. The two peoples have had a history of friendly exchanges for more than 2,000 years. Since the establishment of friendly relations between Shandong and Yamaguchi, the two sides have had substantial cultural exchanges and cooperation.

He added that China and Japan should continue to be friends from generation to generation, and hoped that Shandong and Yamaguchi will push the friendly and cooperative relations to a higher level with the 35th anniversary of the friendship as a new starting point and create more fruitful results.

Tsugumasa Muraoka, governor of Yamaguchi Prefecture, delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the exhibition on June 1 at the Shandong Museum. [Photo by Li Bo/sdmuseum.com]

Muraoka said that cultural exhibitions have acted as a bridge to further enhance communication and cement friendship between Shandong and Yamaguchi. On the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the establishment of friendly relations, Yamaguchi presented some Ukiyoe masterpieces to Shandong and hoped that their exhibition would further deepen mutual understanding in culture and art and boost friendship and trust between the two peoples.

Toyama Shigeru, consul general of Japan in Qingdao, also delivers a speech. The opening ceremony of the exhibition was held on June 1 at the Shandong Museum. [Photo by Li Bo/sdmuseum.com]

Shigeru said that this year marks the 45th anniversary of the normalization of China-Japan diplomatic ties as well as the 35th anniversary of the friendly relations between Shandong and Yamaguchi. It's a big year for Japan-China exchanges and the exhibition is the first of its kind to introduce modern Ukiyoe art works to China. He hoped it will boost bilateral exchanges and cooperation in various fields.

The Hagi Uragami Museum was founded in 1996 to preserve and exhibit a splendid collection of oriental arts donated by Hagi-born entrepreneur Toshiro Uragami. His outstanding collection includes about 5,300 ukiyoe works by leading artists such as Utagawa Hiroshige, Katsushika Hokusai and Utagawa Kuniyoshi, about 500 oriental ceramic wares from China and Korea, and about 750 examples of modern pottery (as of 2015).