Ｔｉａｎｊｉｎ Ｓｏｎｇ ａｎｄ Ｄａｎｃｅ Ｔｈｅａｔｒｅ Ｖｉｓｉｔｓ Ｊａｐａｎ

At the invitation of the Japanese Min-On Concert Association， a 47-member troupe of Tianjin Song and Dance Theatre organized and sent by the CPAFFC gave 55 performances in 37 cities of Japan from September 12 to November 25， 2005， attracting an audience of nearly 80，000.

The grand dance entitled Golden Glory launched by the theatre consisted of two parts: the traditional Chinese culture and the local custom of Tianjin. The performance of the dance accompanied by music and singing revealed the splendid Chinese traditional culture while expressing the theme of Sino-Japan friendship. Beginning with the aside recalling the friendship between the late Chinese premier Zhou Enlai and Daisaku Ikeda (honorary president of the Soka Gakkai International and founder of the Min-On Concert Association)， the performance closed with the songFriendship Through Sakura composed by Daisaku Ikeda for the long-lasting friendship between the Chinese and Japanese people. When they heard the music they were familiar with， the audience gave warm applause， and the performers on the stage and the audience merged into one and the whole theatre was filled with a cordial and harmonious atmosphere. After the show， many people lingered on to shake hands with the performers. Some of the audience even ran to the next stop of the troupe’s tour and brought their homemade souvenirs and nutritious food to the performers. They highly praised the performance and called the performers cultural envoys.

Most of the performers， especially the dancers of the Tianjin Song and Dance Theatre were young， and for some it was their first overseas performing experience. Members of the leading group， some from the CPAFFC and others from the theatre， worked together well. They showed mutual respect and constantly exchanged ideas， helping this team young as such always appear energetic and in high spirit on the stage. During the 75-day’s performing and traveling in Japan， none of them got hurt or fell ill. The latter half of the tour was scheduled with more performances and quite often it took 2 to 3 hours for the troupe to get to the theatre and then the same length of time back to the hotel. Although the performers were very tired， they did not complain and treated every performance conscientiously from start to end， which had certainly left the Japanese audience an impression of the younger generation of China as vigorous and full of vitality.