Madam Suga Mariko, the Japanese Prime Minister’s spouse, conveyed her great admiration for Vietnamese women during her visit to the Vietnamese Women’s Museum (VWM) on October 19^th. This was the first overseas trip that the Japanese government leader Yoshihide Suga has made, since taking office in September 2020. Madam Suga was joined by Madam Ha Thi Nga, from the Vietnam Women’s Union.

Suga Mariko spent her time discovering more about ordinary lives and oustanding women, as well as about Vietnamese heroines during the resistance wars. The Japanese Women’s Union’s artifacts displayed at the VWM, such as “Saving Money Tubes” in the movement “One Yen supporting for Vietnam” clearly depict the spirit of solidarity and friendship between people of the two countries over the decades. She also discovered the many cultural similarities between the two countries while touring the VWM, and learned about embroidery techniques used by ethnic minority women for clothing, which she especially appreciated after seeing the sophisticated Ikebana flower arrangement and Vietnamese traditional embroidery at the Vietnam-Japan cultural exchange spaces, which was launched last Sunday. She was deeply impressed with the visit.

Some images of Madam Suga Mariko during her visit at the VWM