The historic Amerigo Vespucci sailing
and training ship has left Tokyo, the second stopover of its
World Tour after Los Angeles, where the imposing 'Villaggio
Italia' was set up, inaugurated in the eastern part of the city
last Monday
During the final ceremony, Luca Andreoli, the managing director
of Difesa Servizi, the defence ministry's in-house company that
produces and supports all the phases of the initiative, thanked
port authorities of the Japanese capital, and celebrated the
success of the organization.
"Tokyo has confirmed that this project of Villaggio Italia as a
great container, as a platform to promote Italian excellencies,
is a valid, effective, extraordinary project.
"We are talking about tens of thousands of Japanese who visited
us with endless queues, and here as Italians we have learned a
lot about how to stand in line!
"And I hope that all those who did not have the chance to climb
on board could breathe some "Italian-ness" by taking pictures of
the ship from this extremely beautiful infrastructure".
The same opinion was shared by Italy's ambassador to Japan,
Gianluigi Benedetti, who celebrated the new era between the two
countries kickstarted in January 2023.
"The Vespucci is an itinerant messenger of culture, traditions,
values and Italian excellencies in the world, and the welcome it
received here in Tokyo, a warmth and enthusiasm that exceeded
all expectations, is the tangible demonstration of the deep
connection uniting our populations.
"We can be certain that this human dimension on which the
friendship between Italy and Japan is based will allow us to
increasingly develop institutional, economic, scientific and
cultural relationships", said the ambassador.
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