Japan's Ireland fans turn green for St. Patrick

TOKYO, Mar 16: It's a long way to Tipperary from Japan's sprawling capital, but that doesn't stop thousands of Tokyoites from donning green and flocking every year to what might be the world's most unlikely St. Patrick's Day parade.

Although most Japanese know little about Ireland -- some even confuse it with chilly Iceland -- the small European nation has attracted a band of die-hard fans halfway around the globe.

''Ireland is my life. I know it sounds odd, like I am some sort of Ireland maniac,'' said Tokyo resident Kimie Nagahama, founder of the Japan Irish Dancing Association.

A longtime student of Irish culture, Nagahama teaches traditional step dancing and plays Celtic music alongside her husband in an all-Japanese band.

When she has time, the 34-year-old office temp even bakes her own Irish soda bread.

Charmed by Ireland's hospitality and fascinated by its vibrant culture, Nagahama and others have embraced the country with a particularly Japanese zeal.

''I've been to Ireland once for sightseeing. Although it is impossible now, I would like to live there at some point,'' said Toru Toyama, a 38-year-old assistant museum curator whose interest in the country began with its national soccer team.

''I like Irish music and Guinness beer and the Irish fighting spirit.'' 100 PER CENT IRISH That sort of enthusiasm spilled onto the streets of Yokohama city last Saturday as green-clad spectators gathered for a St.

Patrick's Day parade, one week before the bigger Tokyo event.

Some Japanese onlookers sported shamrock-painted cheeks and T-shirts printed with slogans such as ''100 Per cent Irish''.

They snapped photos with mobile phones and tiny digital cameras as a kilt-clad Japanese pipe band marched by and, later, as another group performed Irish dancing. Even the local contingent of the Irish Setter Club put in an appearance.

Roughly 1,000 people are scheduled to take part in the Tokyo parade this coming Sunday. The event drew a crowd of 30,000 onlookers in 2005 and organisers say they expect a bigger turnout this year, the 15th anniversary.

''It's strange,'' admitted Masayuki Kishi of Irish Network Japan, which helps organise Irish cultural activities. ''Japan is so far away from Ireland. You don't see that many Irish people in the parade, but still Japanese people are (there), playing music and dancing,'' he said in the lilting accent he picked up as a postgraduate student in Dublin.

Unlike other big cities with an affinity for all things Irish, Tokyo lacks a large community of Irish nationals or their descendants.

There were only about 1,200 registered Irish citizens living in Japan in 2004, said a spokeswoman for Japan's Ministry of Justice.

That compares to the roughly 100,000 Irish who hold permanent US residency.

MUSIC AND SOCCER

Growing interest in Ireland's music, as well as its national soccer team, have helped raise the country's profile in Japan, said Kimihiro Asano of the Japan office of Tourism Ireland.

''In a certain way, Irish music is universal ... It's also very similar to Japanese music in terms of melody,'' he said.

''Also, Ireland made a very big impact here when Japan co-hosted the World Cup (soccer tournament in 2002). Japanese were impressed by how cheerful and friendly the supporters were.'' The melancholy song ''Danny Boy'' has long been a karaoke staple in Japan, and traditional Irish music is now commonly used as background music in television programmes and advertisements.

The country even boasts an active chapter of Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann, or the Society of Irish Musicians, which brings enthusiasts together for music sessions and set dancing.

Irish pubs, once a rarity, are increasingly common.

The interest in things Irish has helped boost the number of Japanese who visit the country every year.

More than 30,000 Japanese visited Ireland in 2004, nearly three times the number in 1991, although that was still a trickle compared to the millions who visit more familiar tourist destinations such as the United States and China each year.

Unexpected cultural similarities might be one reason some Japanese are drawn to Ireland, said Kishi of the Irish Network Japan. Like the Japanese, the Irish are more indirect in speech and manner than citizens of other English-speaking countries.

''Somehow, I felt comfortable in Ireland,'' said 38-year-old Kishi, who plays the traditional sport of Gaelic football and dreams of painting Ireland's scenic West.

''Ireland is an island surrounded by the sea. In that sense maybe it's similar to Japan -- although Irish people don't eat as much fish.''

REUTERS