Tour Vespucci: 63,000 in Tokyo, nearly 25,000 visits on board

(ANSA) - ROME, AUG 30 - Nearly 63,000 Japanese have visited 'Villaggio Italia' in Tokyo and some 25,000 have boarded the Amerigo Vespucci ship.
    These are the figures of the Japanese stopover of the World Tour of the sailing and training vessel of the Italian Navy outlined on Friday by Luca Andreoli, managing director of Difesa Servizi, the defence ministry's in-house company that produces and supports all the phases of the initiative..
    "We are satisfied for the institutional, economic, scientific and social initiatives that have been consolidated as well as for the great and general feeling of appreciation for the initiative", he explained.
    "Forty events were planned, all rigorously sold out and all unanimously appreciated by the sector's operators as well as by the general public", noted Andreoli.
    The initiative also attracted a great following on social media with the six channels dedicated to the Vespucci Tour (Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, LinkedIn, X and Youtube) publishing content that obtained over 65 million views with 8.5 million interactions, while over 40,000 were the general contributions around the world made by web users: the most quoted word was "pride" for Italian users and "bravo" (well done) for Japanese users.
    Great attention was also bestowed by the Japanese media, including all the main television networks that reported on the presence of the Vespucci and Villaggio Italia in Tokyo.
    Forty events and 90 hours of shows livened up the program of Villaggio Italia in Tokyo with tickets regularly sold out: from wine testing initiatives to cooking shows, music performances by the band of the Italian Navy, the concert by the Italian Opera Academy of Maestro Riccardo Muti organized as part of activities supported by the tourism ministry and national tourism agency ENIT, the concert of the Accademia Teatro alla Scala and by artist Serena Autieri.
    Excellencies on display at the Villaggio included "La Cappella degli Scrovegni. Una storia contemporanea" (The Scrovegni Chapel. A contemporary history), a multimedia film experience conceived and made by Magister Art in cooperation with the culture councillor of the city of Padua.
    Other major attractions in Japan were the bronze work "La David" by artist Jago for the Vespucci's World Tour, for great Italian cinema in cooperation with the International Film Exhibition of the Venice Biennale, the "Italia Geniale" dedicated to the history of Italian design, organized by the ministry of business and Made in Italy and curated by ADI Design Museum and, finally, the exhibition of Olympic torches with the support of Italian Olympic Committee CONI.
    Significant appreciation was also awarded to the wines taken to Japan by the Piedmont region, together with the Consortium Piedmont Land of Wine, in cooperation with Italian Trade Agency ICE and with Vinitaly, in occasion of the tenth anniversary of the UNESCO recognition of Langhe-Roero and Monferrato. (ANSA).