Livia Klausova Mirek Topolanek and Hideaki Kumazawa 20071204

Bilateral relations between the Czech Republic and Japan were established in 1919 by

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

and Japan.

History

The diplomatic relation between Czechoslovakia and Japan was established in 1919. Czech architect

Antonin Raymond Antonin Raymond (or cs, Antonín Raymond), born as Antonín Reimann (10 May 1888 – 25 October 1976)"Deaths Elsewhere", ''Miami Herald'', 30 October 1976, p. 10 was a Czech American architect. Raymond was born and studied in Bohemia (now part ...

was the honorary consul for the

First Czechoslovak Republic The First Czechoslovak Republic ( cs, První československá republika, sk, Prvá česko-slovenská republika), often colloquially referred to as the First Republic ( cs, První republika, Slovak: ''Prvá republika''), was the first Czechoslo ...

in Japan from 1926 until 1939, representing the government of T. G. Masaryk. The relations were broken off during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

from 1939, and re-established in 1957. Japan's first Minister Plenipotentiary to Czechoslovakia was Harukazu Nagaoka. After the Dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1993, Japan recognized the foundation of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic, and likewise continued diplomatic relations with both republics. In July 2002 the Emperor and Empress of Japan,

Akihito is a member of the Imperial House of Japan who reigned as the 125th emperor of Japan from 7 January 1989 until his abdication on 30 April 2019. He presided over the Heisei era, ''Heisei'' being an expression of achieving peace worldwide. B ...

and Michiko, made an official visit to

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

. In August 2003,

Japanese Prime Minister The prime minister of Japan ( Japanese: 内閣総理大臣, Hepburn: ''Naikaku Sōri-Daijin'') is the head of government of Japan. The prime minister chairs the Cabinet of Japan and has the ability to select and dismiss its Ministers of Stat ...

Junichiro Koizumi Junichiro Koizumi (; , ''Koizumi Jun'ichirō'' ; born 8 January 1942) is a former Japanese politician who was Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) from 2001 to 2006. He retired from politics in 2009. He is ...

paid an official visit to the

Central Europe Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the a ...

, namely Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic. On August 20, he left

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

for Prague as the last destination of his journey. In the afternoon of the next day, he held talks with Czech Prime Minister

Vladimír Špidla Vladimír Špidla () (born 22 April 1951) is a Czech politician who served as the prime minister of the Czech Republic from July 2002 to August 2004 and as European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities from Novemb ...

at the Prime Minister's Office and there they exchanged their ideas and thoughts on the bilateral relations and significant global issues that include the nuclear ambitions of North Korea and

reconstruction of Iraq Investment in post-2003 Iraq refers to international efforts to rebuild the infrastructure of Iraq since the Iraq War in 2003. Along with the economic reform of Iraq, international projects have been implemented to repair and upgrade Iraqi water ...

, where it had been only three months since the war had ended. According to the meeting, both of the prime ministers issued the "Joint Statement towards Strategic Partnership between Japan and the Czech Republic," which celebrated 10th anniversary of their partnership and the imperial visit to Prague a year ago as an epoch-making event and proclaimed more evolution of cooperation in the bilateral relations, in assisting the renaissance of Iraq and in preventing the further proliferation of

weapons of mass destruction A weapon of mass destruction (WMD) is a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or any other weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to numerous individuals or cause great damage to artificial structures (e.g., buildings), natu ...

Trade and economy

Economic relations between Japan and the Czech Republic have been developing steadily with rapid growth of large-scale direct investment and trade of electrical machinery and mechanical components. In the year of 1968, when self-proclaimed "brotherhood nations" the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

and four

communist state A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Comi ...

s sent tanks to Prague, Japan sent a private enterprise there; that is to say, one of the largest Japanese general trading companies Mitsui & Co. started operating in the capital of the Czech Republic.Czech Focus, Prague, October 2015
, p.12 A few years later the end of the Cold War, in 1993,

Japan External Trade Organization is an Independent Administrative Institution established by Japan Export Trade Research Organization as a nonprofit corporation in Osaka in February 1952, reorganized under the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) in 1958 (later the ...

, which was authorized as a government-related organization to promote Japanese

export An export in international trade is a good produced in one country that is sold into another country or a service provided in one country for a national or resident of another country. The seller of such goods or the service provider is an ...

, import and investment, newly established their office in Prague. Thereafter, two of major Japanese manufacturers found their facilities, namely a television factory of Matsushita in Plzeň in 1996 and a polyester fabric factory of

Toray is a multinational corporation headquartered in Japan that specializes in industrial products centered on technologies in organic synthetic chemistry, polymer chemistry, and biochemistry. Its founding business areas were fibers and textiles, ...

Prostějov Prostějov (; german: Proßnitz) is a city in the Olomouc Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 43,000 inhabitants. The city is known for its fashion industry. The historical city centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an Cultural ...

in 1997. As the most important milestone in Czech–Japanese business history,

Toyota Peugeot Citroën Automobile Toyota Motor Manufacturing Czech Republic s.r.o., also known by its initials TMMCZ, is a Czech automobile manufacturer headquartered in Kolín, Czech Republic. It was originally established in 2002 by the Toyota Motor Corporation and the PSA G ...

, a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and economic risk, risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four rea ...

between

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

and Peugeot Citroën, established the headquarters and auto-factory in

Kolín Kolín (; german: Kolin, Neu Kolin, Collin) is a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 32,000 inhabitants. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument reservation. Administra ...

in 2002. Its manufacturing started in February 2005, and as of March 2012, TPCA had produced more than 2 million vehicles since the initial production.

Academic relationship

In Czech Republic, there are three universities that implemented

Japanese studies Japanese studies ( Japanese: ) or Japan studies (sometimes Japanology in Europe), is a sub-field of area studies or East Asian studies involved in social sciences and humanities research on Japan. It incorporates fields such as the study of Japan ...

courses; Charles University in Prague,

Masaryk University Masaryk University (MU) ( cs, Masarykova univerzita; la, Universitas Masarykiana Brunensis) is the second largest university in the Czech Republic, a member of the Compostela Group and the Utrecht Network. Founded in 1919 in Brno as the se ...

in Brno and Palacky University in

Olomouc Olomouc (, , ; german: Olmütz; pl, Ołomuniec ; la, Olomucium or ''Iuliomontium'') is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 99,000 inhabitants, and its larger urban zone has a population of about 384,000 inhabitants (2019). Located on t ...

Diplomatic missions

* Czech Republic has an embassy in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

and an honorary consulate in Kobe. * Japan has an embassy in

Sister cities

* Plzeň –

Takasaki is a city located in Gunma Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 372,369 in 167,345 households, and a population density of 810 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Takasaki is famous as the hometown of th ...

, since August 1990 * Karlovy Vary – Kusatsu, since May 1992 * Prague –

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin, Keihanshin metropolitan area along wi ...

, since April 1996International Exchange: List of Sister Cities / Kyoto prefecture Multilingual Site
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References

External links

Embassy of the Czech Republic in Tokyo

Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the Czech Republic

Embassy of Japan in the Czech Republic

Czech–Japanese Association

Japan Czech Friendship Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Czech Republic-Japan relations