President Ma Ying-jeou said Friday his administration plans to open a cultural center in Tokyo to facilitate the promotion of cultural exchanges between Taiwan and Japan. 'Our two countries have traditionally maintained close relations in various fields and bilateral cooperation has made further progress over the past one and half years, ' Ma said while receiving Japan's Miss Kimono Ran Matsumoto at the Presidential Office. With a view to strengthening bilateral cultural exchanges and cooperation, Ma said Taiwan's representative office in Tokyo is preparing to open a cultural center to serve as a platform for exchange programs and activities. Noting that his administration has designated 2009 as a year for promotion of the special Taiwan-Japan partnership, Ma said cultural exchanges form an important part of the bilateral relationship. The president said that earlier this month he attended the premiere in southern Taiwan's Tainan County of an animated film on Yoichi Hatta, a Japanese engineer who built an irrigation system in the county during Japan's colonial rule of Taiwan that helped develop the region into Taiwan's breadbasket. 'This kind of historically significant cultural event is conducive to and effective in enhancing the friendship between the people of Taiwan and Japan,' Ma said. Ma congratulated Matsumoto for her being selected as Miss Kimono and expressed his admiration for her decision to travel to areas in southern Taiwan that were hard-hit by Typhoon Morakot in early August and perform on the violon for disaster survivors there. Matsumoto, a professional violinist, said she was honored to be able to visit Taiwan as part of a cultural exchange program. 'This is my first-ever visit to Taiwan and I take great pleasure in performing for typhoon-affected people to comfort them and encourage them to rebuild their lives with confidence, ' said Matsumoto, whose award of Miss Kimono was one of the prizes given for specific disciplines at the 2009 Miss Nippon beauty contest. The 25-year-old kimono queen also performed two pieces -- a Taiwanese folk song and a popular Japanese song -- for Ma, who praised her music as 'very pleasing and soothing.' 