Academic conference on Japan in Prague

The conference took place at the Institute of International Relations in Prague. It featured more than twenty international guests from prestigious European and Japanese universities, with the participation of the Japanese Ambassador to the Czech Republic, Kansuke Nagaoka, and a member of the Japanese desk of the European External Action Service, Marco Bonetti.

This was the annual conference of the Europe Japan Advanced Research Network (EJARN), based at the Stockholm School of Economics. It received financial support from the Toshiba Foundation, which enabled the invitation of numerous top global experts to Prague. The conference was organized by the head of the Department of Asian Studies at MUP, Associate Professor Michal Kolmaš, who also delivered the opening address. In his speech, he thanked the Japanese Nippon Foundation for donating over 50 books as part of the Read Japan program.

This was followed by a series of panels focusing on Japanese foreign and security policy, as well as several contributions on the possibilities for cooperation between Japan and the European Union, not only at the political but also at the economic level. The conference concluded with a joint dinner.