Japan announces Rs 22 lakh for Kolkata museum

The Japanese government on Monday announced a donation of some Rs 22 lakh ($31,800) to the Rabindra Bharati Museum here in a bid to strengthen historical and cultural ties with India.

To refurbish the Japan Gallery of the museum, a MoU will be signed between the Consul General of Japan in Kolkata, Masayuki Taga, and the Vice Chancellor of Rabindra Bharati University, Sabyasachi Basu Ray Chaudhury, on Wednesday.

The renovated and refurbished Japan Gallery in the Jorasanko Thakurbari campus of the University will go a long way to commemorate Rabindranath Tagore's contribution in the Japan-India relations, the statement issued by the University said.

Tagore, Asia's first Nobel Prize recipient, visited Japan in 1916, 1924 and 1929, renewing relations between the countries as India's leading cultural ambassador.-IANS