From First Encounters to the Czech-Japanese Association
The Story of Czech-Japanese Relations
The history of the Czech-Japanese Association does not begin with the date of its foundation. It is part of a much longer story – one shaped by journeys, books, personal encounters, academic interest and friendships between people who discovered a country on the other side of the world and gradually built bridges between Czech and Japanese society.
Today, Japan is only a flight away. Japanese is taught at universities and language schools, and Japanese culture has become a familiar part of the Czech cultural landscape. In the past, however, every encounter with Japan was something extraordinary. It was from these individual stories that the relationship between the two countries gradually developed – a relationship that the Czech-Japanese Association continues to foster today.
The First Accounts of Distant Japan
Information about Japan reached the Czech lands long before Czech travellers were able to visit the country themselves. From the late Middle Ages onwards, European travel accounts brought stories of a distant and wealthy island country in the East, while in the 16th century knowledge of Japan spread through Europe particularly through Jesuit missionaries.
For a long time, however, Japan remained a country experienced indirectly – through the writings of travellers, missionaries and scholars. More direct contacts began to develop in later centuries and intensified considerably after Japan opened to the outside world in the second half of the 19th century.
Japan increasingly entered the European cultural and intellectual sphere. Japonisme influenced art and architecture, while travel writing, translations and scholarly works introduced European audiences to the country in greater depth. At the same time, the first travellers connected with the Czech lands began making the long journey to Japan.
One of the best-known Czech travellers to experience Japan first-hand was Josef Kořenský, who visited the country in 1893 and later shared his experiences with Czech readers.
By the turn of the 20th century, Japan was therefore gradually ceasing to be merely a distant and exotic idea. It was becoming a real subject of travel, study and personal experience.
Czechs in Japan, Japanese Culture in the Czech Lands
The beginning of the 20th century brought further development of these relations. Czech and Czechoslovak travellers, scholars, artists and technical experts found inspiration and professional opportunities in Japan, while elements of Japanese culture were becoming increasingly visible in the Czech lands.
Czech and Czechoslovak architects, for example, left a remarkable architectural legacy in Japan. The best known among them is Jan Letzel, who designed a number of important buildings. His Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall later became one of the few structures near the hypocentre to partially survive the atomic bombing. Today, it is known worldwide as the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, or Atomic Bomb Dome.
At the same time, opportunities to encounter Japanese culture without travelling halfway around the world began to appear at home. In 1908, the Hloucha brothers opened a Japanese tearoom at the Prague Exhibition Grounds, an intriguing early example of Czech fascination with Japanese culture and lifestyle.
Alongside travel and artistic interest, Japanese studies gradually developed as an academic discipline. The study of Japanese language, literature, history and culture gained a stronger scholarly foundation, and during the 20th century Czechoslovakia produced generations of Japanologists, translators and specialists who would later play an important role in Czech-Japanese organisations as well.
From Personal Friendships to Organised Cooperation
Following the establishment of Czechoslovakia, relations with Japan gradually acquired a more institutional form. Alongside official diplomacy, connections developed between scholars, artists, athletes and other representatives of the two countries.
Personal friendships, however, always remained particularly important. Czech-Japanese relations were never built by state institutions alone. Very often they depended on individuals who had experienced the other country, formed friendships there and shared their knowledge after returning home.
It was from this environment that the idea emerged of creating an organisation that would bring together people interested in Japan and provide a platform for further cultural and social exchange.
The Czechoslovak-Japanese Association
In 1946, the Czechoslovak-Japanese Association was established with the aim of promoting friendly relations between the two countries and introducing Japan to the Czechoslovak public.
Its first period of existence was very short. The political changes following the communist takeover in February 1948 left little room for independent civic and cultural organisations, and the Association was dissolved.
The idea of organised Czech-Japanese friendship, however, did not disappear.
A Brief Revival: 1969–1970
A new opportunity emerged at the end of the 1960s. The preparatory committee of the Czechoslovak-Japanese Association was established on 19 October 1969, allowing the organisation to resume its activities.
It was much more than simply a club for admirers of Japan. It included cultural and economic sections and later established a science and technology section. Its members organised lectures, shared information about contemporary Japan, literature and culture, and developed professional contacts.
The Association also published its own Bulletin, which today provides a valuable record of its activities. Members were even preparing a trip to EXPO ’70 in Osaka.
This revival was short-lived. On 21 October 1970, the Czechoslovak-Japanese Association was officially dissolved by the authorities, together with other independent interest organisations of a similar nature.
Connections That Never Disappeared
Although the Association could no longer formally exist, interest in Japan continued.
Japanologists lectured, translated Japanese literature and contributed to radio and television programmes. Japanese language teaching continued to develop, alongside activities that enabled young people in particular to engage with Japanese language and culture.
One tradition that survived this period was Nihongo Benron Taikai, a Japanese-language speech contest for students, which had already been organised in Czechoslovakia since the 1970s.
Interest groups also emerged that would later naturally become connected with the revived Association. One example was the Czechoslovak tea community. During the 1980s, enthusiasts interested in Japanese tea began gathering information that was difficult to obtain at the time, organising lectures and sharing their knowledge. In April 1989, they organised what was probably one of the first publicly accessible demonstrations of Japanese matcha preparation in Czechoslovakia.
These activities demonstrate that the relationship with Japan survived even during a period when there was no independent institutional platform through which it could freely develop.
1990: A New Beginning
The situation changed fundamentally after November 1989.
Around the turn of 1989 and 1990, people associated with the earlier Czechoslovak-Japanese Association began meeting again, joined by Japanologists, specialists and other friends of Japan. This time, they were able to create an organisation based on the principles of a free civic society.
In 1990, the Czechoslovak-Japanese Association was re-established, beginning the uninterrupted history of what is today the Czech-Japanese Association.
Its beginnings were modest. The first office operated with minimal equipment, much of the work was done voluntarily, and the Association depended above all on the enthusiasm, personal contacts and dedication of its members.
Yet this very enthusiasm allowed a remarkably broad range of activities to develop. During the first years, sections devoted to language, culture, sport, science and specialist fields were established. The Association organised lectures, exhibitions, courses and social gatherings and became a natural meeting place for people whose paths to Japan were often very different.
Kokoro – the Heart of the Association on Paper
One of the first projects of the revived Association was its own magazine.
The first issue of Kokoro was published in September 1990. Its name – the Japanese word kokoro, encompassing ideas of heart, mind and spirit – proved particularly fitting.
Kokoro reported on the Association’s activities and published articles about Japan, its culture and the experiences of members. For many years, it was one of the Association’s most important means of communication.
Its creation involved people from different backgrounds and was also inspired by earlier amateur publications such as Čajové listy (“Tea Papers”). In the years before the internet, Kokoro provided members with a regular connection both to the Association and to Japan itself.
The 1990s: A Period of Growth
The 1990s were a period of exceptionally rapid development.
New specialist sections and communities formed around the Association, bringing together people interested in the Japanese language, traditional arts, tea, ikebana, Japanese swords, martial arts, science and many other subjects.
In 1991, for example, a science and technology section was established to make use of the newly opened possibilities for cooperation between Czechoslovak and Japanese specialists, institutions and companies.
The same year was significant for Japanese tea culture. At the invitation of President Václav Havel, Sen Sōshitsu XV, Grand Master of the Urasenke school, visited Prague. He prepared tea for the President, gave a public lecture and performed a tea ceremony in the Church of St Nicholas. His visit became an important impulse for the further development of the Way of Tea in the Czech Republic.
The tea community continued to grow, eventually giving rise to today’s Czech Urasenke association.
A similar development took place in ikebana. In 1995, the Prague Sōgetsu Study Group was established by women who had studied ikebana in Japan, providing a stable platform for teaching, exhibitions and public presentations of the art. Its activities naturally became closely connected with the ikebana section of the Czech-Japanese Association.
In February 1996, Nihontō Kenkyūkai, a specialist section dedicated to the study of Japanese swords, was founded. Its growth was remarkable: 120 members attended its first general meeting, and by the end of the 1990s it had more than 180 registered members. Over the course of its existence, hundreds of people participated in its activities. The section published bulletins, organised specialist seminars and public lectures and established contacts with leading experts in Japan and other countries.
Czech-Japanese Days and Culture for the General Public
At the same time, the Association increasingly opened its activities to a wider audience.
An important project was the Czech-Japanese Days, first held in 1996. Their basic idea was simple, but highly significant for the Association’s future direction: Japanese culture should not merely be observed from a distance, but experienced through direct encounters with the people who practise and represent it.
The programme brought together tea ceremony, ikebana, martial arts, calligraphy, music, theatre and other disciplines and also welcomed guests directly from Japan.
The second Czech-Japanese Days in 1997 formed part of the celebrations marking 70 years of diplomatic relations and included a wide range of cultural projects at several venues in Prague.
The principle established at the time – introducing Japan through authentic encounters with its culture and people – remains an important part of the Association’s work today.
From a Volunteer Association to a Professional Cultural Organisation
As the number of activities grew, it gradually became clear that the organisation could not rely solely on voluntary work.
A significant transformation took place around the turn of the millennium, particularly during Daniela Hátleová’s chairmanship from 1998 to 2002.
Alongside membership fees and voluntary work, professionally organised courses and other activities began providing a more stable foundation for the Association. This made it possible to present Japanese culture regularly, systematically and to an increasingly broad audience.
Another important step was the development of the Association’s own Cultural and Information Centre in central Prague. It provided facilities for language teaching, lectures, meetings and traditional Japanese disciplines. A tea room was also created with the help of numerous volunteers, Czech and Japanese specialists and supporters.
The combination of the enthusiasm of its members with professional facilities and organisation gradually enabled the Czech-Japanese Association to develop into the organisation we know today.
Important Encounters and Further Development
The history of Czech-Japanese relations has, of course, never taken place solely within the Association. Nevertheless, the Czech-Japanese Association has had the opportunity to participate in and witness many events that have strengthened and celebrated relations between the two countries.
One exceptional moment was the 2002 visit of Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko to the Czech Republic. It was the first visit of a Japanese imperial couple to Prague and symbolically demonstrated how far relations between the two countries had developed.
Meanwhile, the Association continued expanding its own activities. Specialist sections organised exhibitions, lectures and major cultural projects. In 2005, for example, Nihontō Kenkyūkai organised an extensive exhibition of Japanese swords featuring more than 120 exhibits.
This was later followed by Katana Matsuri – the Festival of Swords, first held in 2008, combining specialist lectures, Japanese and European martial arts and a broader cultural programme.
Over the years, further projects and festivals emerged, attracting new generations of visitors. The Association gradually developed from a community primarily serving people with a specialist interest in Japan into an open cultural organisation capable of introducing Japanese culture to thousands of people.
A Relationship That Works Both Ways
Czech-Japanese relations have never been a one-way exchange.
Just as Czechs have sought to learn about Japan, organisations and initiatives devoted to Czech culture have also developed in Japan. Since 2004, for example, the Japan-Czech Friendship Association has operated in Tokyo, organising Czech language courses, lectures on Czech history, events devoted to Czech cuisine and other activities.
This mutuality is also central to the Czech-Japanese Association itself. Its purpose is not simply to “introduce Japan to Czechs”, but to create opportunities for people from both countries to meet and to promote mutual understanding.
Throughout its history, the Association has therefore worked with Japanese artists, specialists, diplomats, students, schools, institutions and members of the Japanese community living in the Czech Republic.
The Czech-Japanese Association Today
The Czech-Japanese Association continues this long tradition while constantly evolving to reflect the present.
Today, it organises Japanese language courses, lectures, workshops, exhibitions, concerts, film screenings, festivals and other cultural and social events. It presents both traditional Japanese arts and contemporary culture and creates opportunities for specialists, artists, students, members and visitors – including those encountering Japan for the very first time.
The means by which our two countries can connect have changed dramatically. What once required months of travel and letters sent halfway around the world can now happen within seconds.
The fundamental idea, however, has changed remarkably little since the days of the first travellers, translators and friends of Japan:
to learn about one another, share experiences and create a space where Czech and Japanese culture can genuinely meet.
That is the idea on which the Czech-Japanese Association continues to build today.
Would you like to learn more?
The history of Czech-Japanese relations is far richer than can be captured on a single webpage. Behind these milestones are dozens of remarkable personalities, journeys, cultural projects and personal memories.
Many of these stories are explored in greater detail in our publication Okno do staletí česko-japonských vztahů* (A Window into Centuries of Czech-Japanese Relations), which brings together contributions by Japanologists, specialists, eyewitnesses and people directly involved in the development of Czech-Japanese relations and the Czech-Japanese Association.
*Please note that the publication is currently available in Czech only.