TOKYO, July 29. /Dunyo IA/. Tokyo National Museum hosted a press conference dedicated to the preparations for the special exhibition “Great Wall Paintings and Treasures of the Silk Road”, which will be held at the Nara National Museum in July–September 2027, reports Dunyo IA correspondent.

Event was organized within the framework of sister-city relations between Samarkand and Nara, in cooperation with the Embassy of Uzbekistan, Nara City Hall and Nara National Museum.

Press conference was attended by the Mayor of Nara Gen Nakagawa, Director of the Nara National Museum Yoichi Inoue, Regional Director of NHK Enterprises, Inc. Takashi Sawada, Director of the Osaka Head Office of the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper Daichi Nagai, as well as media representatives, researchers and other invited guests.

During the event, it was emphasized that Uzbekistan has occupied a central position on the Great Silk Road since ancient times, and Samarkand is recognized as one of the oldest and richest cultural centers of human civilization.

State visit of the President of Uzbekistan to Japan in December 2025 elevated bilateral relations to a new level and established a solid foundation for the further expansion of cultural and humanitarian cooperation. The Joint Statement signed by the leaders of the two states explicitly highlighted the organization of this exhibition, which underscores its significant importance in the history of cultural interaction between the two nations.

During the event, Mayor of Nara, Gen Nakagawa, noted:

-  Since the signing of the sister-city agreement between Samarkand and Nara, exchanges between our cities, as well as cooperation in the fields of culture and art, have been consistently developing.

Special exhibition in 2027 will not only be a major event dedicated to the fifth anniversary of the establishment of sister-city relations between Samarkand and Nara, but also a significant step toward strengthening ties with Uzbekistan, as well as further developing Japan's cooperation with Central Asia and the continent as a whole.

Our goal is not only to present the priceless cultural heritage of Uzbekistan in Japan. We hope that this event will serve as an impetus for the further strengthening of cooperation between our peoples and will encourage even more Japanese citizens to visit Samarkand.

Director of the Nara National Museum, Yoichi Inoue, noted in an interview with Dunyo Information Agency:

-  While Samarkand developed as a center of highly advanced civilization in the central part of the Silk Road, Nara, being one of its eastern endpoints, formed its own unique culture.

This exhibition is so rich and valuable that we want as many people as possible to see it. That is why today we are disseminating information about it from Tokyo, and we hope that guests from all regions of Japan will come to Nara to see these amazing cultural treasures with their own eyes.

The center-piece of the exhibition will be the famous ‘magnificent wall paintings’ of Samarkand. Visitors will be presented with 7^th-century palace frescoes discovered in 1965 on the territory of the ancient settlement of Afrasiab. Despite remaining underground for nearly 1,300 years, these paintings have preserved the vibrancy of their colors.

Event participants expressed confidence that the exhibition will not only familiarize the general public with the material and spiritual heritage of ancient civilizations, but will also make a significant contribution to the further strengthening of scientific and cultural cooperation between Uzbekistan and Japan.