Happy Vietnamese National Day!

Vietnamese women wearing traditional costume Áo dài. *Photo from Wikipedia

September 2 is National Day, celebrates the independence of Vietnam from Japan and France in 1945.

The Japanese occupied Vietnam during World War II but allowed the French to remain and exert some influence. At the war’s end in August 1945, a power vacuum was created in Vietnam. Capitalizing on this, the Việt Minh launched the “August Revolution” across the country to seize government offices. Emperor Bảo Đại abdicated on August 25, 1945, ending the Nguyễn Dynasty.
On September 2, 1945, at Ba Đình Square, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, leader of the communist Viet Minh organization, declared Vietnam’s independence under the new name of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRVN) in a speech that invoked the United States Declaration of Independence and the French Revolution’s Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.

Vietnam is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, Thailand across the Gulf of Thailand to the southwest, and the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia across the South China Sea to the east and southeast.

In commemoration of the day, we introduce you to a Vietnamese singer who sings songs both in Vietnamese and Japanese.
*Click a photo below to see his stories!

“I love both my home where I used to be and Japan where now I’m in.” – Hai Trieu, singer

*Reference: Wikipedia