In 2016 the twinning between Tivoli and the city of Yugawara was signed. The former Tiburtino Councilor Riccardo Luciani worked enthusiastically on the twinning and managed to make it happen thanks also to the support of the then Mayor Giuseppe Proietti.
The current Mayor, Marco Innocenzi, welcomed the initiative with great interest and participation as soon as it was presented to him immediately after his recent election, making himself immediately available.
Yugawara is a Japanese city located in Ashigarashimo District, Kanagawa Prefecture and has a population of 25,000 residents. Yugawara is located in the far southwestern corner of the prefecture. The city center is located on the plains between the southern foothills of Mount Hakone and Sagami Bay. Much of the land is formed by an eroded Quaternary volcano. To the north-east, on the border with the city of Manazuru, there are rolling hills where residential areas and mandarin fields coexist. To the south, hot spring resorts and residential areas are clustered along the north side of the Chitose River. The coast has a sandy beach with a length of about 700 meters, which in summer is crowded with swimmers. The largest biscuit factory in Japan is located in Yugawara. The biscuit factory is called Tivoli, with a clear reference to our city. The same name was given to a shopping center which also houses a corner dedicated to the promotion and sale of products from Tivoli and the Aniene Valley.
A delegation from the Municipality of Yugawara will visit our city from July 4 to 6 on the occasion of the Japanese Culture Festival organized by the Tivoli Città della Cultura Association, Tivoli Onlus, La LUIG (Libera Università Igino Giordani) and the Il Viaggiatore-CTS Travel Agency. The initiative has been sponsored by the Municipalities of Tivoli and Guidonia, the Italy-Japan Foundation, the DMO terre di Otium, Villae Tivoli, Istituto Va-Ve and the Presidency of the Lazio Region which has also approved a contribution necessary for the event to be held in order to also support cultural ties not only between the cities involved, but also between the Lazio Region and the country of the Rising Sun.
In the future, the initiative will take place annually and will broaden its scope to include tourism and economic aspects, as well as more specifically cultural ones.
The broad program involves the involvement of the Yokohama plant in Villa Adriana, the DMO of Tivoli and the Aniene Valley, the Japanese Embassy in Italy and the Air Force, specifically the 60th wing stationed at the military airport by Guidonia Montecelio. In fact, on July 6th, at 5.00 pm, at the Scuderie Estensi, a conference will be held to celebrate the first Rome-Tokyo Raid of 1920, with a particular memory of Lieutenant Colonel Arturo Ferrarin, who was one of the two pilots who he managed, among the initial 18, to reach Tokyo after many months of flying with intermittent stopovers on board his own SVA 9 of the Royal Army (the Italian Air Force was formed in 1923). Arturo Ferrarin died in a plane crash during an experimental flight at the Guidonia Montecelio military airport in 1941 and the 60th wing is named after him.
On the morning of July 5th, at 9:30 am, the 60th Wing will pay homage to Arturo Ferrarin and the city of Tivoli with a flyover of Piazza Garibaldi.
Thursday, July 4, 2024
9.00am Institutional greetings
at Palazzo San Bernardino
9.45am Guided tour of Villa D’Este by the Japanese Delegation
1.00 pm Lunch at
“Ginger Metropolitan Osteria”
4.00 pm Visit to +Vista Village (Ponte Lucano)
8.00 pm Gala dinner at
“Li Somari” Restaurant
Ore 22.00 Munedaiko
Show in Piazza Rivarola
Hosted by Matteo Pizzolorusso
3-12pm Various stands in Piazza Rivarola
Friday 5 July 2024
9.00 am Scuderie Estensi – Piazza Garibaldi
Opening of the photographic exhibition on the last trip to Japan of the Tivoli delegation. Visit to the Photographic Exhibition
9.30 am Overflight of the city by the 60th Wing of the Air Force stationed in Guidonia Montecelio
11.00 am Visit of the Delegation to the factory
Yokohama at Villa Adriana
11.00 am Former Church of San Michele – Piazza Palatina
ORIGAMI, Workshop.
(From Japanese, oru folding and kami paper. This refers to the art of folding paper and, substantively, the resulting object. At the basis of the principles that regulate origami, there are certainly the Shinto principles of the life cycle and of the acceptance of death as part of a whole: the form of paper, in its complexity and fragility, is a symbol of the Shinto temple which is always rebuilt the same every twenty years, and its beauty does not reside in the Alla sheet of paper death of the support, the form is recreated and thus reborn, in an eternal life cycle that respect for traditions keeps alive.)
3.00 pm Via Palatina
Raku ceramic technical laboratory
(ceramic processing used by Japanese potters since the 16th century for the production of bowls intended for the tea ceremony). Maestro Michele Flammia
3.00 pm Former Church of San Michele – Piazza Palatina
Shodō (書道), Way of Scripture.
Japanese art of calligraphy. The fundamental values of Shodō are simplicity, beauty and connection between mind and body and lead directly to the ZEN teachings.
4.30-6.30 pm Visit of the Japanese Delegation
at the Guidonia Montecelio Military Airport
8:00 pm Gala dinner. Institutional and Partner presence at the “La Sibilla” restaurant
9am-9pm Various stands in Piazza Rivarola
Saturday 6 July 2024
9.00 am Breakfast with Japanese delegation
at FLO’S
10.30am Ex Church of San Michele Piazza Palatina
Ikebana ceremony (生け花), the art of arranging cut flowers.
(The literal translation of the word ikebana is “living flowers”, “bringing the flower to life”, but the art of flowers can also be indicated as kadō, that is, “the way of flowers”, meaning a path of spiritual elevation according to the principles of Zen.)
11.00 am Rivarola Square
Vespa Club Valle dell’Aniene Gathering
12.00 pm Ex Church of San Michele
Palatina Square (all day)
Japanese Calligraphy Course
1.30pm Lunch at Tiburtino Restaurant (Culinary meeting)
5.00 pm Estensi Stables
1920 ROME TOKYO Air Raid.
Captain Arturo Ferrarin.
Video projection of the period
(Eight minutes, Japanese and Italian)
Arturo Ferrarin: Italian aviator who died at the airport
of Guidonia in 1941, included among the aces of the Italian Military Aviation. Representatives of the Air Force, the mayors of Sindaco di Tivoli and Guidonia Montecelio will be present.
9am-7pm Via Palatina
Raku ceramic technical laboratory
(ceramic processing used by Japanese potters since the 16th century for the
production of bowls intended for the tea ceremony).
Master Michele Flammia
9am-9pm Various stands in Piazza Rivarola
