Tokyo TV airs ‘Discovery of the World’s Mysteries’ documentary on Sri Lanka

Friday, 26 July 2013 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

‘Sekai Fushigi Hakken’ a Japanese documentary titled ‘Discovery of the World’s Mysteries’ on Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) Channel 6 telecast a special coverage on Sri Lanka on Saturday, 13 July 2013. The program was telecast on prime time, thus enabling a large viewership to watch it. The TBS is among the three of the most watched and viewed TV channels in Japan having a nationwide coverage.

The 75-minute program highlighted the many wondrous mysteries in Sri Lanka, featuring the country as a lucrative destination for travellers. It included a special interview with President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The President spoke of the close and friendly bilateral relations that both countries enjoyed and also mentioned the commencement of the bilateral relations dating back to Sri Lanka’s participation at the San Francisco Peace Conference in 1951. Sri Lanka was one of the nine Asian countries that participated in the San Francisco Peace Conference on Japan held in September 1951. The then Finance Minister J.R. Jayewardene’s speech on behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka at the Conference, urging the participating countries to accept Japan into the comity of nations without any war reparations in the spirit of the Buddha’s teaching, continues to be deeply appreciated by Japan. Since the telecasting of the program, the enthusiasm and interest of the populace of Japan on history, developments and tourism of Sri Lanka have significantly increased. The production company and the Embassy have been receiving a large number of emails and communication expressing gratitude and appreciation for portraying and projecting the key historical and iconic events such as the San Francisco Peace Conference as well as tourism in Sri Lanka, thus raising the awareness of the peoples of Japan. According to ratings of the program, over 50 million people have viewed the ‘Discovery of the World’s Mysteries’ program on Sri Lanka on 13 July. ‘Sekai Fushigi Hakken’ featured Admiral Wasantha Kannagoda, Ambassador of Sri Lanka, as a Special Guest on the show. The Ambassador described Sri Lanka as the number one tourist destination and one of the safest places in the world to visit and extended an invitation to all Japanese travellers to include Sri Lanka on their next travel itinerary.