The Tokyo stage of the world tour of
the Amerigo Vespucci, the Italian Navy's historic sailing and
training ship and an ambassador of Made in Italy in the world,
for the first time in Japan for over 90 years, was officially
opened Monday.
The inaugural ceremony of the Villaggio Italy in Tokyo, which
also kicked off the visits on board the storied ship, saw an
enthusiastic sponsor of the project, Defence Minister Guido
Crosetto, address those present.
"We had the most beautiful ship in the world, we knew that it
would reach the ports of important nations where Italy is
loved," the minister told ANSA, "and it seemed intelligent to us
to link a product of excellence with all the other excellence
that Italy can offer.
"And in the end it was an intuition that is proving successful."
As well as Minister Crosetto, who in the morning visited the
Vespucci with his Japanese counterpart Monoru Kihara, the
inauguration was also addressed by Italian Ambassador to Japan
Gianluigi Benedetti; by the managing director of Difesa Servizi,
Luca Andreoli, the head of the defence ministry's in-house
company that produces and supports all the phases of the
initiative; and by Frigate Captain Giuseppe Lai, the ship's
commander.
"The Villaggio Italia is recounted in very many ways and all
these definitions actually tell us what it sets out to
represent," said Andreoli in front of a packed crowd, in a hot
and sunny Tokyo.
"Today is the second edition after Los Angeles, in this special
location.
"A village set up in this extraordinary building, a cruise
terminal, which is a reformulation of a modality of realisation,
which is a little the characteristic of us Italians to succeed
in adapting ourselves to the places where we go".
There will in fact be over 40 events organised at the 'Villaggio
Italia', with an account of the excellence of our country: from
the Venice Biennale to La Scala in Milan, the Academy of maestro
Riccardo Muti, to the Italian institute of Design.
Also present at the ceremony were Defence Undersecretary Matteo
Perego di Cremnago, Navy Rear Admiral and Military Chief of
Staff Enrico Credendino, the Commissioner General for Italy at
Expo Osaka 2025, Mario Andrea Vattani, Piedmont Governor Alberto
Cirio, Matteo Zoppas, the president of Italian Trade Agency ICE,
and Federico Bricolo, the president of the Veronafiere complex
that hosts the Vinitaly wine fair in Verona each April.
"I think that it behooves us to recount Italy as much as we can
because we have a lot to tell," stressed the defence minister.
"There are other nations that tell their own story through TV
series or films. We have missed the opportunity to recount
ourselves for many decades. The last story about Italy was told
by fashion and design, but it's been years since we told our own
story and so we are now allowing people to rediscover an Italy
that many nations no longer know."
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