With the help of Miss International Netherlands, one of the world's top three Miss contests, the Fukui office of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), a Japanese government-linked organization which helps Japanese companies export their products, produced a video to promote traditional Japanese crafts of Fukui Prefecture’s Echizen paper and lacquerware in the Netherlands. The video can be viewed on the Instagram of Elize Joanne de Jong, the Miss International Netherlands and Europe 2019, and on the official SNS of the International Cultural Association, the organizer of the beauty pageant.

Image: https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/img/202103152243-O2-qPmGoMxK

- The connection with the Netherlands and Echizen Washi and Lacquerware

Echizen washi is said to have been used in the works of Rembrandt van Rijn, a famous Dutch painter of the 17th century, and in 2015 the "Rembrandt’s Etchings and Japanese Echizen Paper" exhibition was held in Amsterdam.

The Echizen Lacquerware Cooperative planned to hold an exhibition in Amsterdam in March 2020 (the exhibition was canceled due to the spread of the novel coronavirus), and is actively promoting Echizen lacquerware in the Netherlands from both cultural and economic perspectives.

The video can be viewed on Elize's Instagram and official SNSs of the International Cultural Association.

Ms. Elize Joanne de Jong, Miss International Netherlands and Europe 2019

https://www.instagram.com/elizedejong_/?hl=ja

Official SNS

https://www.instagram.com/missinternationalofficial/?hl=ja

https://www.facebook.com/Miss.International.bp/