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Giant kiwi talismans swaying to grim violin music stole the show at New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s official welcome in Japan.
The surreal video of the “kiwi brothers”, dressed as green and gold kiwis with big white eyes, in a room full of men in suits, attracted attention on social networks.
“I feel like I’m taking pictures,” Ardern said, posing with the mascots.
Ardern arrived in Japan on Thursday for his first trip abroad in more than two years, the Associated Press reported, seeking to strengthen business and tourism ties following the lifting of the pandemic border closure.
The visit began with Ardern attending a kiwi event at New Zealand’s Zespri Group, the world’s largest kiwi retailer.
It can be said that the mascot dance has many meanings: in addition to fruit, New Zealanders are known as “kiwis”.
Talismans in Japan are a cultural phenomenon – all kinds of companies, government agencies and other entities use them.
The striking difference between the tone of the music and the appearance of the kiwi has been the subject of speculation online. “I have a feeling that the kiwi gate broke at a funeral,” a Twitter user wrote.
This was not Ardern’s first encounter with the huge kiwis. In 2019, she met and posed with them, holding hands.
“This image brought such joy and delight to my office in New Zealand that to this day the picture of my hand holding it with the kiwi brothers still hangs in my office,” she was quoted as saying by Newshub, a New Zealand newspaper. .
At Thursday’s event in Tokyo, Ardern also tried his hand at Japanese calligraphy, writing the word “kiwi.” She struck a second blow after an unsatisfactory first attempt. Meanwhile, her counterpart Damien O’Connor, the Minister for Trade and Export Growth, decorated the cake with “as many kiwis as possible”.
In addition to the trade talks, Arden reported, Arden’s group was to take part in a ceremony to break the lid of the sake barrel.
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