Amerigo Vespucci, the Tokyo stage closes with 63,000 visitors to the Italy Village

An 'impressive' turnout of the public, according to the organisers, and therefore a success from the point of view of promoting Made in Italy in Japan. But also, perhaps above all, a success from the point of view of the institutional, economic, cultural and scientific relations that have been consolidated during the five-day stopover in Tokyo of the Amerigo Vespucci navy training ship, alongside the Villaggio Italia, the travelling exhibition of Italian excellence in culture, industry, research and sport. In five days, from last Monday until yesterday, 63 thousand people visited the Village's exhibitions and events, while 25 thousand boarded the sailing ship.

"The world tour of Nave Vespucci and the Italy Village, in conjunction with the presence in Japan of the Carrier Strike Group with the aircraft carrier Cavour, have brought to Japan a piece of Italy's art, culture, and above all the excellence of our technology and our Defence. We have strengthened our ties with Japan by reinforcing cooperation in the strategic Defence sector,' said Defence Minister Guido Crosetto, present in Tokyo, who wanted this initiative, supported by collaboration with ten other ministries, and financed and managed by Difesa Servizi, the in-house company of the Ministry of Defence that implements and supports all phases of the initiative, together with the Ninetynine agency.

Already at its second stage (out of eight planned), the Villaggio Italia is shaping up to be 'the great platform we had in mind to create,' comments Luca Andreoli, CEO of Difesa Servizi. 'It is a physical place, but also a digital and emotional one, where all the Italian energies converge and then materialise into excellence. The response from the public, says the CEO of Difesa Servizi, was extraordinary, and not only in terms of numbers, but also for "the appreciation and affection shown towards the initiative and, more generally, towards our country, both by the general public and by operators".

Awareness of the potential of this tool is growing, notes Andreoli, also in terms of collateral initiatives, so the organisers' expectation is that more and more institutional, cultural and economic players will want to use this container to promote their own projects and products in the next stages. Within the sailing ship's tour (set sail from Genoa in July 2023 and travelling for two years in 31 countries), the Village will be set up in eight cities: the next destinations are Darwin, Singapore, Mumbai, Doha, Abu Dhabi and Jeddah. In each stage, the Village will have its own different identity, which will take into account the logistical aspects, but also the very nature of the host cities: a flexibility and 'tailor-made' ability in realising events that is after all a fundamental component of Made in Italy know-how.

The Tokyo stage also had a large following on the six channels dedicated to the Vespucci Tour, where the content published obtained over 65 million views with 8.5 million interactions, while over 40 thousand were the contributions generated worldwide by Net users. There were 40 events and 90 hours of shows that animated the programme schedule of the Italian Village, often selling out: from wine tasting sessions and show cooking to musical performances by the Navy Band, the concert by Maestro Muti's Italian Opera Academy realised within the framework of the activities supported by the Ministry of Tourism and Enit, the concert by the Accademia Teatro alla Scala and the artist Serena Autieri.