Singapore's new Japan center to boost exchanges

SINGAPORE (Kyodo) Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and his Singaporean counterpart, Lee Hsien Loong, attended an opening ceremony Saturday of a Japan center for cultural exchanges in the city state.

Hatoyama said he wants the Japan Creative Center to serve as an example of Japan's "soft power" to promote exchanges and mutual understanding between the people of Japan and Singapore, according to the Foreign Ministry.

Hatoyama, in Singapore for a two-day summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, said he hopes the center will contribute to the region's efforts to build a closer community of nations, the ministry said.

The center, the first of its kind outside Japan, provides the latest information on "anime" (animation) and "manga" comic books, fashion and other forms of Japanese culture.

Lee was quoted as saying he hopes the center can introduce Japan's culture and technology, which are popular in Singapore, to other parts of Asia, especially in the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Prior to the opening ceremony, Hatoyama and Lee agreed on the importance of developing bilateral cooperation in the fields of science and technology, the ministry said.

Hatoyama welcomed Singapore's chairmanship of a series of APEC meetings and events this week, it said.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.