Prominent those present at the ceremony were Vice State President Nguyen Thi Doan and the Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha’s Executive Council, Most Venerable Thich Thanh Tu.

Buddhist dignitaries, monks, nuns, followers and visitors joined together in offering incense to King Tran Nhan Tong, who reigned over the country from 1279 to 1293.

Yen Tu Mountain is located about 50km from Halong City. The route of the pilgrimage, which winds from the foot of the mountain to its highest peak, is almost 30km. Dong Pagoda, which sits atop the mountain’s highest peak, is more than a kilometre above sea level.

The area’s beautiful natural landscape and awe-inspiring scenery, along with surrounding ancient pagodas and hermitages, are said to have been the reason that King Tran Nhan Tong passed the throne to his son so that he could devote his life living as a Buddhist monk at Yen Tu Mountain. Whilst there, he founded the Truc Lam meditation sect, which has led to Yen Tu being recognised as the country’s leading centre for Buddhism.

The week, lasting until December 5, is to celebrate the 1,000th birthday anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi and the first national conference of the cultural sector of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha.

One of the exhibitions displays 40 panoramic photos of 1.5m x 3.2m made by Nguyen Thinh and Ngo Thuy Hong, introducing landscapes and cultural tangible heritage across the country.

The second exhibition shows 108 photos of 40cm x 60cm of landscapes in Buddhist places in Japan, Bhutan, and Tibet (China) taken by monk Thich Minh Hien.

The Week of Buddhist Culture also includes programmes to introduce Buddhist heritage sites in Khanh Hoa Province, a seminar on Buddhist culture, film shows, a music performance, and a prayer in Cam Ranh Town.

This is an important part of its cultural project to collect, compile and publish a series of books on the 1,000 year history of Hanoi’s ancient capital formerly known as Thang Long, to mark its millennial anniversary.

Additionally, the HPH collected around 9,000 pages of documents written by UK and Dutch companies on the socio-cultural and economic life, religion and traditional customs of Thang Long’s denizens in the 17th century.

It also sought out and translated documents on Vietnam that were preserved in other Asian countries, especially China.

HPH General Director Nguyen Khac Oanh said that the campaign to seek valuable books and materials on Thang Long-Hanoi has contributed to the publisher’s project to build a data bank on the capital city.

He said that his company plans to introduce 100 book titles on history, geography, culture, literature and society in 2010 on the occasion of the city’s millennial celebrations.

Thang Long-Hanoi came into being in the autumn of 1010 with King Ly Thai To’s Edict on the Transfer of the Capital. Being one of the most ancient capitals in Southeast Asia, this imperial land boasts a continuous history throughout an entire millennium, passing from dynasty to dynasty right up through modern times.

The extra efforts would better meet the demands of Japanese visitors, a promising market, said the department director Dinh Hai.

These localities are home to well-known heritage sites such as Hue, Hoi An and My Son, and special festivals like the Hue Festival, the Quang Nam Festival – Heritage Journey and the Danang International Fireworks Festival.

However, they have failed to attract large numbers of Japanese tourists. Out of 2.1 million foreign travellers to the three localities last year, Japanese visitors only made up 4%.

Iijima Yukichika, former director of Yokohama Bay Sheraton Hotel&Towers, Yokohama, Japan, emphasised the need for an adequate understanding of the travel expectations and habits of Japanese visitors in order to develop suitable tourism products.

Work commitments for many Japanese people could affect their travel habits. They tended to limit their travel to a maximum of one week at a time, said Yukichika.

Yoshiaki Noguchi, chairman of the board of HRI Institute Co, called on stronger links among hotels and restaurants to create a greater attraction for visitors from the entire region. Only with this co-operation could they work to improve the quality of tourism products, he said.

One hundred giant posters showing images of the Vietnamese countryside and people will be hung in 45 Tokyo subway stations this year, according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT).

Nguyen Thi Thanh Huong, Deputy Director of Department of Market under VNAT, said that in addition to the subway ads, Vietnam would also hang a big poster at the Vietnamese consulate in Osaka.

Vietnam welcomed about 147,000 Japanese visitors in the first four months of this year, a 14% year on year increase, according to VNAT statistics.