Japan - Serbian Relationship - 140th Anniversary

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CONTENT

RELATIONS BETWEEN SERBIA 08 AND JAPAN HAVE BEEN, AND WILL REMAIN, FRIENDLY

NIKOLA SELAKOVIĆ, MINISTAR OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA

STORY OF A LONGSTANDING 10 THE FRIENDSHIP H.E. TAKAHIKO KATSUMATA, AMBASSADOR OF JAPAN TO SERBIA

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MITSUBISHI CREATES VALUE FOR THE FUTURE

TAKAMASA YANO, GM MITSUBISHI CORPORATION BELGRADE LIAISON OFFICE

YEARS SINCE TWO 16 140 MONARCHS CORRESPONDED IVAN MRKIĆ, FORMER MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF SERBIA

20 THE BEST IS YET TO COME

GORAN PEKEZ, JBAS PRESIDENT

DIGITALISATION IS AN ESSENTIAL 26 STEP TOWARDS ACHIEVING GREATER EFFICIENCY BOJAN GROBOLJŠEK, FANUC SERBIA OFFICE MANAGER

BEYOND 27 GOING TRANSFORMATION EPSON

FOR PATIENTS 24 INNOVATING PEOPLE AND THE PLANET MILENA ARGIROVIĆ, MD, TAKEDA COUNTRY HEAD FOR SERBIA, MONTENEGRO, ALBANIA, NORTH MACEDONIA, KOSOVO

OPPORTUNITIES FOR 28 MANY FRUITFUL COOPERATION

JIRO TAKEICHI, CHIEF REPRESENTATIVE OF THE JICA BALKAN OFFICE

IMPRESSUM EDITOR IN CHIEF: Neda Lukić n.lukic@aim.rs ART DIRECTOR: Branislav Ninković b.ninkovic@aim.rs CONTRIBUTORS: Rob Dugdale, Maja Vukadinović, Mirjana Jovanović, Miša Brkić, Ljubica Gojgić

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Radmila Stanković, Steve MacKenzie, Zorica Todorović Mirković, Sonja Ćirić, Miloš Belčević PHOTOS: Zoran Petrović COPY EDITOR: Mark Pullen TRANSLATION & EDITING: PULLEN EDITORIAL HALIFAX

SALES MANAGERS: Biljana Dević, b.devic@aim.rs Vesna Vukajlović, v.vukajlovic@aim.rs Mihailo Čučković m.cuckovic@aim.rs OFFICE MANAGER: Svetlana Petrović s.petrovic@aim.rs

FINANCE: Dragana Skrobonja finance@aim.rs EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Maja Vidaković m.vidakovic@aim.rs PUBLISHER: Ivan Novčić i.novcic@aim.rs

DIRECTOR: Ana Novčić a.novcic@aim.rs a.novcic@cordmagazine.com JAPAN 2022 PRINTING: Rotografika d.o.o.

Segedinski put 72, Subotica CorD is published by: alliance international media

No36 Prote Mateje 52, 11111 Belgrade 17, PAK 126909, Serbia Phone: +(381 11) 2450 508 Fax: +(381 11) 2450 122 E-mail: office@aim.rs office@cordmagazine.com www.cordmagazine.com www.aim.rs ISSN no: 1451-7833 All rights reserved alliance international media 2022

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CONTENT

PROMOTER OF JAPANESE 32 TOP CULTURE IN SERBIA JTI

CONTRIBUTING – QUIETLY, BUT 42 STEADILY – TO IMPROVING PEOPLE’S LIVES

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JAPAN RAPIDLY APPROACHING “SOCIETY 5.0”

OLIVER LEPORI, JBAS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

48 JBAS ACTIVITIES

JAPANESE ECONOMY

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AMAZING BEAUTY

52 HUMANIST’S QUIET SENSIBILITY AKIRA KUROSAWA

CASTLES OF JAPAN

A CARBON-NEUTRAL 37 TARGETING FUTURE

NINA DUSPER SUŠIĆ, PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF HITACHI ENERGY BALKANS CLUSTER

FRIENDSHIP AND 38 EXCELLENCE, RESPECT

OLYMPIC COMMITTEE OF SERBIA, TOKYO 2020 EXPIRIENCES

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FRIENDSHIP CONNECTS 56 SINCERE US WITH JAPAN CULTURAL EXCHANGE – HANAMI

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COMMENT

NIKOLA SELAKOVIĆ, Ministar of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia

Relations Between Serbia And Japan

HAVE BEEN, AND WILL REMAIN, FRIENDLY

“Dear friend” - this is how Japanese Emperor Meiji addressed Serbian King Milan I Obrenović in his letter of 27th September 1882, which was a response to the letter sent by King Milan in March of that same year.

This message and correspondence between the two sovereigns marked the start of relations and the friendship between the two countries, the 140th anniversary of which we are commemorating this year

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he two countries and nations had very different historical and development paths. While historians dubbed Serbia a “house in the middle of the road”, Japan long applied a policy of self-isolation. Serbia often suffered invasions from conquerors, while Japan remained unconquered during that period.

However, these differences, coupled with a great geographical distance exceeding 9,000 kilometres and a mutual lack of information about theothernation,didn’tdiscouragefuturecontacts.

According to some archival sources, it is highly likelythatBelgradewasvisitedbyEmperorMeiji’s cousin Prince Yorihito Komatsu (1893), Duke Konoe Atsumaro (1899), Prince Kuni Kuniyoshi, the grandfather of future Emperor Akihito (1909) and Prince Takamatsu, the brother of Emperor Hirohito [Shōwa] (1931). Belgrade was also visited in 1976 by the future Emperor Akihito, then heir to the throne. We are hopeful that his descendants will be in a position to amplify the importance of this great anniversary by visiting Serbia.

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The foundations of the friendship between our two peoples are firmly grounded in the spirit of solidarity during difficult moments of suffering caused by war and natural disasters.

Already byWorldWar I, the Japanese people – via their Committee for Aid to Serbia – provided assistance to support our country and army. In 1999, the then ambassador of Japan also opted to remain resident in Belgrade despite the NATO bombs falling on the city. Japan has also provided an impressive level of development assistance to our country since 1999, to date totalling more than half a billion euros.

When a devastating earthquake hit Japan in 2011, Serbia’s embassy continued to operate, while Serbian citizens back home raised significant donations amounting to approximately 2.3 million dollars, thanks to which we were among the top 20 donor counties. Additionally, financial humanitarian aid from Serbia to help Japan recover from the great floods of July 2018, totalling half a million euros, represented the only donation from a European country. For its part, Japan donated around seven million euros following the floods that hit our country, while it also provided assistance to resolve the migrant crisis and combat the Covid-19 epidemic in Serbia. The solidarity that the two nations have shown during critical moments must also be nurtured in the future, as a key segment of our bilateral relations and mutual respect.

As a stable and legally regulated country that has developed potentials and incentives for foreign investments, Serbia is also increasingly attractive for investors from Japan. Around 30 Japanese companies do business in our country in some form, while the number of direct investment projects from Japan is also increasing gradually, which makes us particularly proud.

The current momentum of political dialogue between our two countries was driven by the successful visit of then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to Serbia in January 2018. The October 2019 enthronement of Emperor Naruhito was also attended by Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabić. It was also a great honour for me to have the opportunity to participate in the 14th UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, held in Kyoto in March 2021, as one of the online panellists. We also held very content-rich and useful political consultations between the two ministries last autumn, at the level of assistant ministers and conducted in video format, this time hosted by Japan. We are also very much looking forward to Serbia’s participation in the 2025 World Expo in Osaka.

I am certain that the word “friend”, which marked the launch of diplomatic communication between the two countries at the highest level, but also overall relations between Serbia and Japan ever since, will also be the main characteristic of our future cooperation.

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THE STORY OF A LONGSTANDING FRIENDSHIP

H.E. TAKAHIKO KATSUMATA, Ambassador of Japan to Serbia With the exchanging of letters between King Milan Obrenović and Emperor Meiji in 1882, official relations between Serbia and Japan were established – Takahiko Katsumata 10

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here are no outstanding issues hampering relations between Japan and Serbia, says ambassador Takahiko Katsumata, speaking at the start of a year that marks the 140th anniversary of friendly relations between the two countries.

And today our two countries continue to cooperate in responding to new regional and global challenges, “such as sustainable development, security and peacebuilding, climate change, pandemics, disaster mana-

gement,” says Ambassador Katsumata in this interview for CorD Magazine.

Your Excellency, this year marks the 140th anniversary of the establishing of friendly relations between Japan and Serbia. How will you be commemorating this jubilee?

The two countries have a long history of friendly relations. With the exchanging of letters between King Milan Obrenović

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ANNIVERSARY

INVESTMENTS

REFORMS

I would like to put all my mind and heart into making the 140th Anniversary of the JapanSerbia Friendship a great year to reconfirm and strengthen our existing friendly bilateral relation

Nidec held a ground-breaking ceremony in Novi Sad in December 2021, with President Vučić in attendance, following the April 2021 launch of its operations in Serbia

Japan is supporting the socioeconomic reforms of Western Balkan countries toward EU accession, which naturally places an emphasis on high standards of environmental protection

Serbian Foreign Minister Nikola Selaković has extended an invitation for Japanese officials and members of the imperial family to visit Serbia on the occasion of the anniversary. Is such a visit being considered?

We are grateful for the warm invitation from the Minister and the Serbian Government. We have witnessed that mutual, high-level visits can lead to an acceleration in promoting our relationship.

The is especially the case in recent years, with Prime Minister Abe’s 2018 visit to Serbia paving the way, through his summit meeting with President Vučić,

How would you summarise your ambassadorial experiences during the period of restrictions imposed to combat the COVID-19 pandemic?

The previous years were indeed a challenging time for our diplomacy. Due to the ongoing pandemic, we have lost various opportunities for diplomatic activities - I had much fewer opportunities for face-to-face meetings with others or to visit local communities beyond Belgrade.

We had to cancel many cultural events and receptions in order to avoid infections.

However, we were gradually able to manage contacts with others via online platforms.

The past couple of years have been a time for me to get used to the “new standards”, such as wearing masks, social distancing or disinfecting, as well as increased digital and online communications.

Japan and Serbia have been promoting our cooperation even during this time of the pandemic. Japan provided Serbia with medical equipment and tablets, and Serbia successfully launched mass vaccination not only for Serbian citizens, but also for foreign residents. With this opportunity in mind, I would like to express, on behalf of Japanese residents our gratitude to Serbia.

Furthermore, both Serbia and Japan have been donating great amounts of doses of vaccine to other afflicted countries. The pandemic has deprived us of many things, but such humanitarian behaviour represents our new “ties” that emerged under these difficult conditions.

and Emperor Meiji in 1882, official relations between Serbia and Japan were established. I wish this year would be a great opportunity to make our bilateral relations stronger and intensify our ties, not only at the diplomatic level, but also in the fields of culture, the economy, education, grassroots development and so on.

We will organise various events in cooperation with Serbian partners to promote this anniversary, starting with the His Majesty the Emperor’s birthday in February.

The Embassy of Serbia in Tokyo is also going to organise celebratory programmes in Japan. I hope that these events will attract many of the people of both countries and raise greater interest in our relationship.

What do you consider as the biggest current and future challenges confronting bilateral relations between our two countries?

Our relations have been continuously progressing and I don’t see any obstacles regarding bilateral relations. However, looking around us, there are many regional and global issues that we need to tackle together, such as sustainable development, security and peacebuilding, climate change, the pandemic, disaster management. I expect that our two countries will continue to work in good cooperation on these challenges and to offer each other a helping hand in our most difficult times in the future as well.

Let me remind readers that Japan extended economic and humanitarian assistance to Serbia immediately after Serbia’s most difficult times of the late 1990s, and that when Japan was struck by the Great East Japan Earthquake, just eleven years ago, the Serbian people gave us their warmest sympathies and support.

I believe that these examples serve to prove our longstanding friendship and that this friendship continues in our generation, following a long line of generations.

Let me remind readers that Japan extended economic and humanitarian assistance to Serbia immediately after Serbia’s most difficult times of the late 1990s, and that when Japan was struck by the Great East Japan Earthquake, just eleven years ago, the Serbian people gave us their warmest sympathies and support to the further promoting of cooperative relations in many spheres. Following the Prime Minister’s visit, Foreign Minister Kono paid an official visit to Serbia in 2019, and during the same year Serbian Prime Minister Brnabić kindly attended the enthronement of His Majesty the Emperor of Japan. I wish for more such mutual, high-level visits to be realised in this commemorative year.

I would like to put all my mind and heart into making the 140th Anniversary of the Japan-Serbia Friendship a great year to reconfirm and strengthen our existing friendly bilateral relation.

Japan’s Nidec Corporation began constructing its factory for the production of motors for electric vehicles in Novi Sad during December. Does this investment confirm serious interest in establishing business operations in Serbia among Japanese business leaders?

Nidec Corporation is a world-leading electric motor company with a very innovative approach and I am sure that its decision to 11

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environmental protection, such as the Flue Gas Desulfurization Construction Project for Thermal Power Plant Nikola Tesla and the Belgrade Energy-from-Waste Project in Vinča.

The plant that Toyo Tires is building in Inđija will be an automated factory with state-of-the-art technology that also adheres to various environmental standards. I would like to assure you that investments and economic cooperation coming from Japan will not only have an economic impact, but will also help to further improve the quality of life of Serbian citizens.

establish a new production base in Serbia has a great impact in terms of the economy, employment, scientific technology and education, as well raising interest in Serbia as an investment destination among Japanese companies and investors.

Nidec held a ground-breaking ceremony in Novi Sad in December 2021, with President Vučić in attendance, following the April 2021 launch of its operations in Serbia. Since then, a great number of other Japanese companies have shown increasing interest in Serbia. In fact, nearly 300 people, mainly from Japanese companies, attended a seminar on investment in Serbia in May 2021, which was held jointly by the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) Vienna office, the Development Agency of Serbia (RAS) and Mizuho Bank Ltd. Some companies have subsequently visited Serbia, and one of the outcomes is that, in October 2021, “Nippon Express”, a major Japanese logistics company, established a new branch in Novi Sad. Under the “Western Balkans Cooperation Initiative”, which was launched by Prime Minister Abe in 2018 and supports socioeconomic reforms toward EU accession in Serbia and other Western Balkan countries, the Government of Japan continues to promote investments of Japanese companies in the region.

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Nidec Corporation is a worldleading electric motor company with a very innovative approach and I am sure that its decision to establish a new production base in Serbia has a great impact in terms of the economy, employment, scientific technology and education, as well raising interest in Serbia as an investment destination among Japanese companies and investors Given the increasing concern among citizens when it comes to environmental issues, what would you cite as an operational precondition for the green economy of the future; and what could you say about the ecological standards of the Toyo Tires factory in Inđija, which is also a Japanese investment?

As mentioned earlier, Japan is supporting the socioeconomic reforms of Western Balkan countries toward EU accession, which naturally places an emphasis on high standards of environmental protection. Indeed, Japanese investments and economic cooperation have been aimed at

How much will the Convention on the avoidance of double taxation contribute to the strengthening of economic relations between Japan and Serbia?

Double taxation on the income of foreign companies is one of the negative business factors and there were increasing voices from our companies highlighting the necessity of a tax convention with Serbia to avoid such tax burdens. Following Prime Minister Abe’s visit to Serbia in 2018, both governments started negotiations and the Tax Convention finally entered into force on 5th December 2021.

I am very glad to say that, thanks to the application of this Convention, the tax rates on incomes like dividends, interest payments and royalties will be reduced considerably or even abolished completely. I am convinced that the entry into force of this Convention will be of great significance to ensuring smoother and more efficient business circumstances for Japanese companies operating in Serbia. I also hope that this new rule-making could trigger new investments from Japan. In corporation with the Serbian Government, Japan continues to promote a better business environment and legal frameworks between our two countries.

Japan has been a major donor to Serbia for decades, with a significant share of that aid having been allocated as support to local governments. Do you plan to continue that form of support?

Japan’s economic development cooperation with Serbia is aimed at supporting the promotion of high-quality economic growth in Serbia. In this sense, “high quality” means, for instance, sustainable,

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efficient, with an environmentally-friendly impact and contributing to the betterment of society and the life of the people. Based on this perception, Japan has been providing various kinds of assistance in three main areas: Private Sector Development, Environmental Protection, and the Improvement of Economic and Social Services.

In a particular endeavour to improve economic and social services, the Government of Japan is supporting efforts to reduce the disparity in economic and social services between urban and rural areas.

Japan will continue to support Serbia’s efforts to achieve sustainable economic growth and EU accession.

JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency), which has its regional headquarters in Belgrade, is now implementing financial support for the environmental project of the Nikola Tesla Thermal Power Plant and technical cooperation for the Project for the Modernisation of Public Urban Transport in the City of Belgrade, as well as various capacity building programmes.

The Embassy of Japan has been implementing more than 200 grassroots projects and the human security grants programme all over Serbia. These projects cover areas such as donations of medical equipment for local healthcare institutions, school supplies for primary schools and nurseries, renovations of schools, hospital buildings and other facilities for the elderly, disabled persons and local minorities.

Japan will further continue these various assistance projects in accordance with the priorities of Serbia and the needs or interests of its people. We wish to implement useful and impressive projects which will, like the “Yellow Buses” in Belgrade, be symbols of our friendship.

You are known as one of the Japanese ambassadors in our country who has presented to the general public not only Japanese culture, but also traditional Japanese cuisine.

Japanese cuisine, especially sushi, is now one of the most popular cuisines in the world, with many attractive elements like healthiness, handiness and the taste of freshness, all of which have been created in the scope of the Japanese lifestyle.

Japanese investments and economic cooperation have been aimed at environmental protection, such as the Flue Gas Desulfurization Construction Project for Thermal Power Plant Nikola Tesla and the Belgrade Energyfrom-Waste Project in Vinča Given that food is one of the most important tools to understand the characteristics of a country’s culture, the Embassy of Japan places a priority on our food culture programme, in order to provide the Serbian people with more casual opportunities to understand our culture and its roots. Thanks to the help of my enthusiastic Japanese chef, we have now started introducing some “You Can Do” recipes of popular Japanese food on our social media profiles, such as Facebook and Instagram. Fortunately, we always enjoy lots of positive reactions from our Serbian followers.

The Embassy of Japan grants scholarships to students from Serbia who are interested in studying the Japanese language and culture, but also other fields of study. Are you satisfied with

the level of interest in Japan among young people in Serbia?

I am very glad to see many young people in Serbia recognising Japan as a desirable destination for their further education. Keeping young people attracted and interested in Japan and its culture is essential to continuously building mutual understanding and friendship in the generations to come.

Under the scholarship programme of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), the Japanese Government offers different types of scholarships for Serbian students. Every year, the Embassy of Japan in Serbia receives a significant number of applications from students throughout Serbia. Some Japanese companies are also offering support programmes for Serbian youngsters to study Japan.

Interest in learning the Japanese Language in Serbia is evident, and there is also an increasing trend of studying various Japanese subjects, such as traditional arts, architecture, economics, politics, mechanical engineering and more. I expect such efforts and enthusiasm of the Serbian students who are studying Japan could provide a strong impetus to enhancing mutual exchanges and understanding between our two countries. We would like to continue offering good opportunities for Serbian students to study any field related to Japan.

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TAKAMASA YANO, GM Mitsubishi Corporation Belgrade Liaison Office

Mitsubishi Creates Value For The Future Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) has established new greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction targets and investment guidelines under its Roadmap to a Carbon Neutral Society, released in October of last year. MC plans to invest approximately 2 trillion yen by FY2030 to double its renewable power capacity and create supply chains for next generation energy sources, among other initiatives. Aiming to achieve these targets and address important societal challenges without compromising people’s wellbeing, MC will pursue integrated energy transformation (EX) and digital transformation (DX) initiatives that leverage the collective capabilities of the MC Group to create a new future. While striving to achieve a carbon neutral society, MC will continue to its responsibility to provide a stable supply of resources and energy

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seholds, by connecting various data sources.

y grasping the needs of the times and leveraging innovation to continue to stay at least a half-step ahead, MC will strive to lead the next transformation, achieve sustainable growth for society and create value for the future, announces Mr Yano.

What are your plans regarding the GHG emission reduction targets? Do you feel the aim to halve emissions by 2030 and reach net-zero emissions by 2050 is realistic?

With the ultimate aim of achieving net-zero GHG emissions by 2050, MC has established a new emission reduction target for FY2030 and set out concrete reduction measures.

These targets cover Scope 1 and 2 emissions for MC and its consolidated companies, including affiliates, based on the equity share approach. Today, there is an urgent need for decarbonisation initiatives in response to climate change.

The MC Group will continue to fulfil its responsibility as an active player in industries including resources and energy by maintaining a stable supply of energy, such as natural gas, while working to achieve a carbon neutral society.

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How will you achieve that?

We will utilise every means available to halve our GHG emissions, including by replacing assets, switching operations to renewable energy and alternative fuels, and achieving energy savings through DX. We plan to invest approximately 2 trillion yen by FY2030, in areas including renewable energy, copper, natural gas, hydrogen and ammonia. Furthermore, we aim to achieve net-zero GHG emissions by 2050 by leveraging our global network and diverse presence across a wide range of industries to drive industrial transformation, as well as by embracing new technologies and innovation.

Can you explain more about the impact of digital transformation (DX) on your business?

We believe in taking an integrated approach to EX and DX.

This means that by promoting DX through digitalization and the utilisation of innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), we can make the demand side more energy efficient and productive, reducing energy demand. At the same time, we are also seeking productivity improvements on the supply side, such as in mining operations, and aiming to reduce the loss of electricity as it is delivered to the point of use.

These are just some of the ways in which we will pursue carbon neutrality through the combined implementation of EX and DX. We aim to achieve energy savings and reduce waste by optimising supply chains while simultaneously enhancing industry competitiveness. We will also provide integrated services, tailored to the lifestyles and life stages of individuals and hou-

MC has identified making effective use of resources, reducing environmental impacts, enhancing resilience toward natural disasters and shifting to a decentralised society as measures to address some of today’s main societal challenges.

Do you feel the same?

Yes, most definitely. In order to address these issues without compromising people’s wellbeing, we must utilise DX to create an efficient society that maximises the use of renewable energy, strengthens resilience through distributed infrastructure, optimises supply chains and reduces waste. MC has always served to underpin economic development and reliably meet the needs of society by developing value chains for essential commodities such as LNG, metallurgical coal, copper, automobiles and food supplies, as well as through renewable energy and DX-related initiatives.

I believe that we can achieve this by leveraging the unique characteristics of each city and region to create appealing, self-sustained and decentralised communities and smart cities for the benefit of local residents.

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SERBIA & JAPAN

140 Years Since Two Monarchs Corresponded

By Ivan Mrkić, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia (2012-2014), first Serbian ambassador to Japan (2006-2011), recipient of the highest order awarded to foreigners by Emperor Akihito (2018) Burdened by the prejudice that it’s only what happens now that’s most important and decisive, we often overlook the fact that deep friendships between states are built over centuries, that their formation includes the participation of a large number of historical figures and that, in this case, it all began with an exchange of letters between two monarchs that paved the 9,000-mile road of friendship that we’re now walking

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had the great honour and pleasure of serving my country as Serbia’s first ambassador to Tokyo. I headed there to begin my service in late August 2006 and remained until May 2011. When I arrived in Tokyo, Serbia was already a separate international player and the successor of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. I would remind you that Montenegro had already left Yugoslavia in May 2006 and Serbia was directly represented in Japan diplomatically for the first time.

Departing to a distant country of the Far East represented a special diplomatic challenge. I must admit that I had a very pleasant feeling from my very arrival in that special country. And the main role in that was played by my hosts, because everyone – from officials to ordinary citizens – ensured that I felt hospitality, sophistication and unusual decorum, which creates a special impression about this unusual country.

Immediately upon arrival, I began considering how I could draw attention to numerous facts of importance to contacts and cooperation between our two peoples, of which, as it turned out, there were significantly more than what was then known. A detailed and precise review of the history of relations between 16

the two peoples led to the conclusion that the period of Tito’s Yugoslavia was merely an important small part in the generally very diverse, deep and considered relations between Serbs and Japanese.

The most pleasant surprise came in the form of a copy of the letter of former Serbian King Milan Obrenović, who wrote in 1882 to inform Japanese Emperor Meiji that, following the Berlin Congress and Serbia’s gaining of full independence, the country decided to declare itself a kingdom to be headed by the author of the letter. The Obrenovićs had practically become a hereditary dynasty in Serbia since the time of Prince Miloš, leader of the Second Serbian Uprising, and with this act it distinguished itself from many other European countries by establishing a royal dynasty from among its own people. The letter arrived via Paris and was written in French, which was commonplace at the time.

It is of critical importance that Emperor Mutsuhito (he was only posthumously referred to as Meiji, in accordance with Japanese custom) responded to King Milan very cordially, thanking him for the information received, congratulating His Majesty on his coronation and, among other things, expressing hope and readiness for coope-

ration between the Japanese and Serbian peoples. It is particularly interesting that the Japanese emperor addressed King Milan with the words “dear friend”. The response was delivered through regular diplomatic channel, most likely via Paris, where both countries had diplomatic missions. It should be noted that the text of the response of Japanese Emperor Mutsuhito was also translated into French.

It is important to point out that here that we received the copies of these two valuable letters from a great Japanese friend who had access to the archives of the Japanese emperors. This event, which occurred in 2007 at the Serbian Embassy in Tokyo, during the visit of Dr Aleksandar Popović, then minister of mining and energy, marked the 125th anniversary of the establishing of relations between Serbia and Japan. To mark this anniversary in Serbia, the occasion of the birthday of then Japanese Emperor Akihito, on 23rd December, saw the issuing of a jubilee postage stamp and envelope, entitled “First Day” and featuring portraits of the two sovereigns, King Milan and Emperor Meiji. I presented one such envelope to Emperor Akihito following a reception at the Imperial Palace in early 2010.

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Thus, the fact that the very warm correspondence between the Serbian and Japanese monarchs had been unearthed impacted on the emergence of the idea for a number of colleagues to attempt to compile a register of the events deemed important to describing the various aspects and fruitfulness of the numerous contacts between Serbia and Japan. The appropriate archives of the two countries had a special role to play in that and, fortunately, did so.

For instance, it wasn’t known for a long time that a number of high-level delegations from Japan came to Serbia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Many of these delegations were led by princes from the Japanese royal family, and even brothers of the Japanese emperors. It is interesting that high-ranking Japanese officers, who later became army generals and commanders, often visited military garrisons around Serbia and compiled detailed reports about them. For example, it is recorded in the Japanese archives that Serbia was visited in 1890 by Fukushima Yasumasa, then military attaché at the Embassy of Japan in Berlin. That was the time of Japan full opening up to the world.

It was an epoch during which Emperor Meiji deployed envoys of various profiles to acquaint themselves with the situation in distant countries, particularly in Europe and North America. Given that I’ve mentioned Officer Fukushima, it should also be noted that this man forged a blistering military career and became a general in the Japanese army.

Serbia was also visited by Prince Yorihito Komatsu (the nephew of Emperor Meiji, who came to Serbia in 1893, after visiting the United States), then Duke Konoe Atsumaro (1899), Prince Kuni Kuniyoshi (the great-grandfather of current Japanese Emperor Naruhito, 1909) and the princely couple Takamatsu (1931; Prince Takamatsu was the brother of Emperor Hirohito). I mention this to illustrate and enable a fully understanding of just how much weighty importance and high quality was contained in the relationship between the then Empire of Japan and Kingdom of Serbia.

One interesting fact: all Serbian monarchs after Milan Obrenović, including

To mark the 140 anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Serbia and Japan in 2022, Post of Serbia will publish a philatelic edition of two postage stamps in a block, with appropriate motifs.

The stamp, first published in 2007, features portraits of King Milan I Obrenović and Emperor Meiji, with details of letters exchanged between the two rulers in the background. The 2007 edition was artistically edited by Post of Serbia’s stamp artist Nadežda Skočajić, and was accompanied by a suitable firstday cover envelope, which is also planned for this year’s edition th

the Karađorđevićs (King Peter I and King Alexander I), corresponded with the Japanese emperors of their time. The circumstances differed in nature, but it

is important that the monarchs of two otherwise very distant countries found it necessary to stay in contact and mutually inform one another. If we consider that the distance between Serbia and Japan is 9,000 kilometres, we can easily assume that this correspondence was even more important than one would expect.

Another interesting fact: Japan’s first honorary consul in Serbia was Milutin Stanojević, a renowned businessman of the time and vice president of the Belgrade Chamber of Commerce on three occasions. The Japanese government requested the appointment of an honorary consul of Japan in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, and already by January 1929 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes confirmed the decision of the Government of Japan and Stanojević began his work in June 1929. In November that same year, Japanese Emperor Hirohito issued an exequatur for Mr Eiichiro Ueyama to perform the function of honorary consul of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in Osaka. Ueyama was known for his invention of a mosquito repellent coil that was based on common daisy flower extract (which then grew extensively on the 17

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territory of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia) and for his ownership of what is today a famous company that produces insect repellent and which the Japanese popularly call Kincho.

It is also worth stressing that today’s honorary consul of Serbia in Japan, Mr Naohide Ueyama, is a direct descendant of this family, and that his ancestor Eiichiro was placed first on the diplomatic list at the suggestion of the then Serbian king. These events mark the strengthening of Serbian-Japanese ties in the period between the two world wars.

And it should also be noted that Serbia and Japan were on the same side in World War I. In the post-WWII period, the modern Japan has developed to become a complex picture of great economic success, mixed with a unique past and the distinctive mentality of its population, whose culture has been refined over centuries and has created, at its essence, a special story.

At the end of World War II, Japan experienced something that no one else has.

Atomic bombs dropped from American planes exploded on its soil, in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I visited both cities. I even spoke with some surviving eyewitnesses of those terrible events. In such moments, one would wonder which nation could endure such catastrophes?

Japan was the world’s second largest economy until recently. It is now ranked third, and will obviously hold that position for a long time. I think it deserves that in every sense. It is difficult in a single article to describe all the industrial and other advantages that have been created through the hard work and diligence of the industrious Japanese people. The world’s economic centre is slowly turning towards Asia, where Japan’s role isn’t only unavoidable, but in many ways crucial. I consider it a fact of historical importance that Japan is a signatory of the RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) and that there can be no prosperity or secure future for Asia without its full contribution to these developments. The special relationship that Japan has with the United States, guided by wise leadership, could provide an incentive for cooperation in Asia to branch out. Implying the deepening of further cooperation with China, Japan is playing, and can continue to play, a very important role in strengthening 18

the attractiveness of the Asian market space.

The relationship between Japan and Serbia has become increasingly dynamic over the past ten or so years. This is reflected in many things, but first and foremost in frequent political communication, exchanges of visits of the highest officials and investments of Japanese companies in Serbia, but also numerous cultural, scientific and sporting events.

When it comes to the history of our relations, I would like to use this opportunity to remind your readers that it was 12 years ago, at the invitation of the Japanese go-

A key contribution to cooperation between Japan and Serbia came with the visit to Belgrade of then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in early 2018, and I believe that this event marked a critical juncture in shifting the Japanese understanding of the importance of my country’s position in the Balkans and Europe vernment, that a then young opposition leader of the Serbian Progressive Party and today’s President of the Republic of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, visited Tokyo and other cities. He had a series of discussions with Japanese officials and was fascinated by the successes and systematic construction of the Japanese state. I mention this primarily because I’m aware of how committed the President of Serbia is to cooperation with Japan, and I’m convinced that he will also pay an official visit to this friendly country as soon as the circumstances permit.

During the last year of my time serving in Japan, Tokyo was officially visited by

Boris Tadić, then President of Serbia. That occasion saw Japanese visas for Serbian citizens abolished and Serbia receive a loan under the most favourable possible conditions (an interest rate of a mere 0.6%, with a seven-year grace period and thirty years for repayment) and totalling 260 million euros for the desulphurisation of our thermal power plant in Obrenovac.

I was in Osaka when the great earthquake hit, causing the horrific tragedy at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. I was amazed by the courage, sacrifice and discipline of ordinary Japanese citizens, who showed incredible human virtues at the most difficult moments.

Our embassy didn’t evacuate its staff from Tokyo, though radioactivity measurements led to such decisions being taken by a number of embassies, including some Western states and our neighbouring countries.

I remember that when NATO dropped bombs and fired missiles on Belgrade and the whole of FR Yugoslavia, then Japanese ambassador Ovada didn’t leave Belgrade, despite representatives of all Western countries, including Australia, doing so.

I’ll never forget my numerous meetings with Yasushi Akashi, who was once delegated by the Secretary-General of the United Nations to oversee and assist peacekeeping activities in Bosnia-Herzegovina. This brave man never faltered, nor did he follow the trends and anti-Serbian campaigns of the time. He remained true to himself and submitted objective and accurate reports on the situation in B-H. It was during the presidency of Tomislav Nikolić that Japan donated us a gift of over 60 official vehicles, which the Government of Serbia is still using today. The most significant visit of that time came with the arrival of Ichiro Aisawa, a well-known friend of Serbia and president of one of the Japanese House of Representatives’ most important committees.

A key contribution to cooperation between Japan and Serbia came with the visit to Belgrade of then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in early 2018, and I believe that this event marked a critical juncture in shifting the Japanese understanding of the importance of my country’s position in the Balkans and Europe. Of course, another greatly important factor was the October 2019 visit of Serbian

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KING MILAN OBRENOVIĆ

Prime Minister Ana Brnabić to Tokyo, who participated as a guest in the enthronement ceremony of Japanese Emperor Naruhito and held numerous talks with Japanese officials and others. These are just illustrative depictions of the dynamism of contemporary relations between Serbia and Japan, which are by no means exhausted. There have been countless visits in both directions and that only confirms that cooperation between these two distant countries is strengthening constantly and has strong prospects.

I’m sorry that we’re not already in a position to be able to boast that Japan has its own companies operating in Serbia in the kinds of numbers (and this means hundreds and even thousands) that it has today in individual European Union countries, in China

and throughout Asia, not to mention North America. However, I believe that the trend of Japanese companies investing in Serbia will continue to increase constantly and that the future will be marked by strong ties in the economic domain and all other areas.

I would like to remind readers that companies Japan Tobacco International, Panasonic and others have been operating successfully in Serbia for a long time, and have been joined more recently by the Toyo Tires Corporation, Nidec Corporation, Yazaki Corporation, NTT Data Corporation etc.

These are powerful Japanese and global companies which have estimated that they can increase and improve their operations by doing business in Serbia.

I’m happy that I was able in 2011, with the

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help of Japanese friends, to publish the book “Mini Guide to the History of Serbian-Japanese Relations”, which lists some important information on the richness and the nature of Serbia’s relations with Japan. Great credit for this belongs to Snežana Janković and Aleksandra Kovač, my then associates in Tokyo (the first is now serving as our ambassador in Berlin and the second is our ambassador in Tokyo; and interestingly they both speak Japanese very well).

On the occasion of his birthday, I would like to wish Japanese Emperor Naruhito a long, happy, healthy and fruitful life. May his Reiwa era be marked fully by the beauty of harmony that’s expressed by this special Japanese word. I hope that the whole world will finally be marked by it.

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The Best Is Yet To Come Five years after it was founded, the Japanese Business Alliance in Serbia is clearly a success story.

According to JBAS President Goran Pekez, it is thanks to huge investments that it is becoming one of the leading investors’ clubs in Serbia. However, he insists, the full development of JBAS is yet to come

GORAN PEKEZ, JBAS President

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he Japanese Business Alliance in Serbia (JBAS) will commemorate its 5th anniversary in March 2022.

For this CorD Magazine interview, we asked JBAS President Goran Pekez to reflect on the association’s early days and ponder its future development.

Looking back, to what extent have your initial expectations about the role of the association been met?

The JBAS of Japanese Companies in Serbia was formed on the initiative and enthusiasm of several representatives of Japanese companies in Serbia, but also with the support of the Embassy of Japan.

It was prompted by our sincere desire to exchange views and strengthen our local cooperation, but also to introduce the local business community to the Japanese business culture and its values.

I see JBAS today as a success story. Our chamber has become the prime contact of two economies, but our activities in Serbia have also attracted enormous interest from Japanese investors. By virtue of huge investments, we are becoming one of the leading investors’ clubs in Serbia.

And yet, we are yet to develop fully. We remain a reliable partner to all Japanese institutions in Serbia, first and foremost the Embassy of Japan in Serbia, JETRO and JICA. We are celebrating our first five years together with over 50 members.

I’m grateful to all the co-founders and

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INVESTMENTS

PROGRESS

GAMECHANGER

Many Japanese companies have selected Serbia as a regional hub to grow their business in the region or across Europe

JBAS has become a pillar in providing local support, guidance and the integration of Japanese business into Serbia, and this role will grow in the coming years

The 2018 visit of Japanese Prime minister Shinzo Abe was a milestone in generally increasing Japanese interest in Serbia as a country

was accompanied by a very influential delegation of the largest Japanese companies to visit Serbia for the first time.

They were jointly hosted at the conference

by JBAS, JETRO (Japanese foreign trade promotion agency) and the Chamber of Commerce & Industry of Serbia. We could definitely mark this visit as a milestone in generally increasing Japanese interest in Serbia as a country.

In addition to this, thanks to the economic measures implemented by the

provides many advantages for employees at various levels. We are proud that our companies actively support the regional development of Serbia, which can sometimes cause difficulties in attracting skilled labour, especially in particular geographical areas. However, the reputation that Japanese companies enjoy, their long-term investment sustainability, corporate culture and possibilities for personal development are incentives for many Serbian citizens to take up employment at our companies, even if that includes a need for work mobility.

Moreover, most of our member companies cooperate actively with the institutions of the Serbian education system, science and technology parks, student organisations and the like. JBAS also supports its members in this regard by liaising with such stakeholders and assisting in particular cases, depending on the specific needs and situations.

member companies, but also the members of the Board of Directors, for their work and commitment to our JBAS. Looking five years ahead, where do you see JBAS when it comes to the presence of Japanese companies in Serbia and the association’s activities?

There is certainly a trend of the Japanese business presence in Serbia increasing significantly. Many Japanese companies have chosen Serbia as a regional hub to grow their business across the region or around Europe. Furthermore, some of the most significant investments in Serbia over recent years have come from Japan.

Considering the positive experiences of Japanese investors to date, we are looking forward to welcoming new members to our growing family.

JBAS has also grown in a new role – that of a pillar in providing local support, guidance and the integration of Japanese business in Serbia, and this role will grow in the years to come. The responsibilities of JBAS are naturally becoming more complex, which is why we are constantly improving our capacities, services and the scope of our activities.

Finally, in terms of the transfer of technology and local economic development, I’m sure that JBAS will be the one of driving forces behind Serbian development over the next five years, and that it will even more actively advocate for all Japanese business and cultural values.

In your opinion, what were the key events that contributed to Japanese investments in Serbia increasing?

Every Japanese businessman will tell you that the 2018 visit of Japanese Prime minister Shinzo Abe was the moment that everyone noted. While the interest of Japanese companies was growing well before that, the fact is that PM Abe

Our members operating in Serbia participate directly in the improvement and implementation of the latest business solutions and technologies in their sectors…

Some of these solutions have even been developed in Serbia Serbian Government in recent years and its support programme for attracting foreign investments in targeted sectors, Japanese companies have come to appreciate Serbia’s competitive advantages.

Recent global developments have had a particular impact in terms of the need to shorten supply chains, but a distinguishing characteristic of Japanese companies in choosing investment locations is certainly their tendency to take into account the experiences of Japanese companies already operating on these markets.

Japanese investors are among the biggest employers in Serbia, but they now face the problem of a lack of skilled labour. How can JBAS help to address this challenge?

Japanese companies are recognised internationally as being sound and reliable employers. Their corporate culture

What support does JBAS provide to its member companies in terms of adapting their operations to the modern conditions of digital operations?

Japan has been forging the global future for many decades, through the development of its application of sophisticated technology. The new digital universe thus appears like the everyday environment for most of our member companies. Our members operating in Serbia participate directly in the improvement and implementation of the latest business solutions and technologies in their sectors. Some of the technologies that we see as new or just gaining widespread application have quite often already been in regular use in Japan for some time. This is especially so when it comes to the IT, industrial and healthcare sectors. We are proud that some of these solutions have even been developed in Serbia.

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Naturally, thanks to our support and cooperation with our members, and correct collaboration within JBAS, we are able to provide full support in all aspects of business, including the modern conditions of digital operations.

Apart from supporting and furthering bilateral exchanges between Japan and Serbia, JBAS also actively promotes Japanese culture in our country. When will we have an opportunity to participate in one of your social events again, like the one you organised at the new Sakura Park in New Belgrade?

All of our members are particularly proud of Sakura Park, where Japanese cherry trees have been planted in the form of the Olympic rings on the bank of the river Sava in New Belgrade. We built

We remain a reliable partner to all Japanese institutions in Serbia, first and foremost the Embassy of Japan in Serbia, JETRO and JICA it with great enthusiasm and a sincere wish to make Belgrade more beautiful, to preserve our nature, bring scenes from Japan to our riverbank and mark the eternal friendship between Japan and Serbia. It means a lot to all of us. With this in mind, but also the fact that we will commemorate our fifth anniversary during 2022, we have planned a number of gatherings and we’ll meet there soon.

Finally, we would like to ask you a few more personal questions. You have been working for a Japanese company for almost 20 years. How close were you to Japanese culture in general, and Japanese business culture in particular, when you started working at JTI in 2003?

GPI, the genuine progress indicator always fostered habits of hard work and appreciation for working environments that appreciate such workers. I must say that my suitability to such a Japanese 22

corporate culture is a direct reason why I have remained and advanced in my roles throughout the years. Japanese companies are a great environment for people who are strongly devoted to their work, as such workers will always be supported and appreciated.

Does the kaizen culture that’s nurtured by JBAS have applications in this time when we are witnessing strong disruptions to business processes?

As many know already, Kaizen represents a system of small but constant

improvements to your processes, life or even habits. As such, it also represents a powerful element of stability guaranteeing the strong attention and dedication of a company’s employees.

Such organisations are clearly more resilient against external disruptions and develop individuals who are more flexible and open-minded. I sincerely believe that this is the reason why one can notice a much lower impact of external disruptions on Japanese companies. We are geared to be flexible and adaptive, and Kaizen represents a cornerstone of our management approach.

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Innovating For Patients People And The Planet Takeda is an innovative pharmaceutical company focused on improving patients’ lived experiences and revolutionising the way diseases are treated around the whole world, including Serbia

MILENA ARGIROVIĆ, MD, Takeda Country Head for Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, North Macedonia, Kosovo

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he entire Serbian team works tirelessly to provide better health and a brighter future for people living in this region, says Takeda Managing director Milena Argirovic with pride.

It was 10 years ago that Takeda brought its values – of integrity, fairness, honesty and perseverance – from Japan and implemented them in Serbia. What Serbian values has Takeda adopted?

It’s already been ten years since we started taking care of patients in Serbia. And 24

240 years since Takeda founder Chobei I established Takeda in Osaka, Japan. While our company is evolving continuously, we haven’t lost touch with our rich heritage.

“Takeda-ism”, Patient-Trust-Reputation-Business, always in that order, define our values and guide all actions taken by the company and its employees every day.

Returning to your question, I would say that Takeda has adopted not only Serbian values, but also values of the entire region for which our Belgrade office is responsible.

We respect diversity and capitalise on similarities among our markets, including both

external stakeholders and employees. We enjoy the privilege of working with different nationalities, languages and religions, and we strive to connect the neighbouring markets in order to bring sustainable values to societies across the region.

The unique advantage of the people of the region that I’m pleased to lead is their incredible agility, courage for innovation and commitment to persevere and not give up. And this is so much in line with the global values of Takeda that it enables us to take action locally while building the global Takeda mindset. This is why our activities aren’t limited to healthcare. We do our best to bring value to societies as a whole. Globally, Takeda has defined three strategic priorities related to environmental protection – water stewardship, carbon neutrality and waste minimisation – all with very ambitious goals and timelines. Our local team is fully committed to following the Takeda strategy to protect our planet and we are proud to be the leading team in planet-related activities among all European teams.

Your corporate philosophy can be boiled down to providing better health for people and a brighter future for the world. Where do you focus?

We focus on therapeutic areas where there is a greatest need for patients. With our

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investments in data and digital, we aim to improve patients’ lived experiences and revolutionise the way we treat disease.

Locally, operating in non-EU countries, we are doing our best to speed up regulatory and legal processes in order to bring our unique products and solutions at the same time, or just slightly after, EU countries.

A recent example is a patient with a short bowel syndrome, a rare disease which has dramatic impacts on the lives of people affected, who must live in hospital. We provided support not only with our product, but with an extensive support programme for the patient and his family and, amazingly, he is now fully enjoying his family life at home.

Let’s also mention here the prophylactic treatment for Hereditary Angioedema, where we were among the first countries in Europe where Takeda delivered this treatment to patients, supporting them additionally with a digital solution (app) that enables continuous communication between patients and their physicians, who can design personalised treatment to the individual’s specific needs. These are patients who were going to bed fearing that they wouldn’t wake up because of potentially life-threatening swelling attacks.

With prophylactic treatment in place, and continuous communication with their physician, they’re now living a relaxed life free of any attacks.

Last but not least, the first ever stem cell treatment recently approved in Europe has already been approved in Serbia, thanks to the great support of the authorities and our medical expert community. We facilitated on-site training in European centres for Serbian experts. Thanks to that, two healthcare centres in Serbia are already certified to apply stem cells to patients with complicated Crohn’s disease (complex perianal fistulas).

It is known that you collaborate with other innovative Japanese companies from the high-tech sector.

What is the objective; to find solutions for the further development of the healthcare system and patient care?

With the Japanese heritage that’s a source of pride for all of us, we focus on innovation – not only in terms of our products, but also

value-added services like digitalisation. I’m personally leading the Healthcare group within the Japanese Business Alliance in Serbia and partnering the High-Tech group within the same association, in order to identify the best digital solutions for our healthcare system. Very importantly, we partner local experts who can be engaged today and in future, and who can create long-term value for the local ecosystem.

A great example of this is our longstanding partnership with Serbia’s leading experts in genetics and the IT sector, aimed

It is very important that we partner local experts who can be engaged today and in future, and who can create long-term value for the local ecosystem at providing innovative, precise (personalised) medical solutions. We recently offered support to the Bio4 project, one of Serbia’s most important scientific, educational and technological projects for the future.

By capitalising on both Takeda’s global support and local expertise, our patients and the whole society will benefit from this partnership.

Is it true that Takeda didn’t experience a single day of interruptions in deliveries, despite the pandemic, and that you provided treatments for both COVID and NON-COVID patients?

The entire pharmaceutical industry, including individual companies and pharma associations, are supporting our healthcare system in overcoming tough situations like COVID. But this is not enough, as non-COVID patients also need support during

this unprecedented period. That’s why we focused on providing additional services beyond products. We are proud that, with our support, as of August 2021, telemedicine has been fully implemented in Serbia’s public healthcare system for the first time ever.

This remote service is currently available at KBC Zvezdara, where patients can have their regular check-ups online and the service is incorporated into the existing healthcare software. It is important to note that this service is fully reimbursed, meaning that it’s completely free-of-charge for patients.

Extensive changes to regulatory and legal fields had to be implemented in order to make this happen, but we managed that, together with all our partners on this project.

Takeda acquired Shire three years ago, while this year you formally became a single legal entity in Serbia. How do your employees benefit from this?

As of April 2021, Takeda is formally a single legal entity in Serbia, meaning that the acquisition has been finalised. For our employees, this change means a clear sense of belonging to one Takeda team, one family. Focusing on the wellbeing of our employees, we’ve introduced a hybrid working model in Serbia and provided employees with additional benefits and COVID and non-COVID related support, just as in other Takeda organisations worldwide.

Our people are our priority, which is why we’re proud of the Top Employer certificate we received recently, issued by the Top Employer Institute based in the Netherlands. This prestigious certificate is awarded on the basis of an extensive survey that covers all aspects of HR and employee-centric practices, including People Strategy, Work Environment, Talent Acquisition, Learning, Wellbeing, Engagement, Diversity & Inclusion and much more. I’m proud to share the news that Takeda Serbia received this prestigious certificate for the first time ever, while globally Takeda was awarded for the fifth consecutive year.

This is another major achievement of the whole Serbian team, which works tirelessly to provide better health for people living in this region, while striving to secure an exceptional working environment for all employees of our organisation.

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BOJAN GROBOLJŠEK, FANUC Serbia Office Manager

Digitalisation Is An Essential Step Towards Achieving Greater Efficiency Fanuc works to remove obstacles to automation and help customers optimise their production processes, which particularly came to the fore during the pandemic that had a great impact on the way business is done, accelerating digitalisation

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contact between employees. I myself believe that, for example, working from home can be very helpful in performing daily tasks, as it enables a lot of flexibility and also saves us quite a lot of time. However, on the other hand, such work limits our personal contact with people in person.

Database security can also be a major trap, because we’re talking about very sensitive data, such as trade secrets, from both the manufacturing company and its partner companies. The introduction of digitalisation must be conducted wisely, with both efficiency and security.

rue digitalisation means the digital transformation of all processes within a company, emphasises Bojan Groboljšek, office manager at FANUC Serbia, which is part of the Japanese FANUC group of companies, representing the world’s leading manufacturer of industrial automation products, with 4.4 million CNC controls and 750,000 robots installed worldwide.

Digitalisation is one of the most current trends in industry globally. What benefits does it bring to manufacturing companies?

Within the scope of production itself, digitalisation can make all processes more transparent. We can observe processes, break them down into individual elements and perform accurate analysis completely digitally. In this way, we can plan production and anticipate and plan maintenance times even better.

How do you think the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated digitalisation?

The pandemic has definitely touched the way businesses operate. We’ve started to learn to work in the digital environment even more, as face-to-face meetings simply disappeared over time. In the first wave, companies were left without the physical presence of workers virtually overnight.

How would you evaluate the progress achieved by local manufacturing companies on the path of digitalisation and digital transformation over recent years?

I can’t say that local manufacturing companies are more digitalised than those that are deeper into this process in the Adriatic area. Everything is done in accordance with 26

Database security can also be a major trap, because we’re talking about very sensitive data, such as trade secrets, from both the manufacturing company and its partner companies. The introduction of digitalisation must be conducted wisely, with both efficiency and security the latest digital trends and the decision to embark on digital transformation doesn’t depend as much on geographical location as it does on the strategy of the manufacturing company itself.

What do you think are the major pitfalls of digitalisation for manufacturing companies and how can they be avoided?

Business is people. The main trap of digitalisation is certainly the loss of personal

How does FANUC help companies on the path to digitalisation and digital transformation?

All our products are ready for the IoT, be it CNC controllers, industrial robots or machines. At Fanuc, we have quite a few IoT solutions, such as FIELD, MT-Linki, ZDT and FAR (Fanuc Assisted Reality) remote service assistance, which provide effective support and overviews of production, with an emphasis on hardware. With this equipment, our customers can connect production machines of different generations that are made by different manufacturers, which enables the collection of comprehensive data and subsequent analysis of the entire production process. The goal is clear: assure customers that their equipment will work one hundred per cent of the time, without unplanned downtime.

Fanuc works persistently to remove obstacles to automation and to help customers optimise their production processes.

For more highlights, you can follow the company on Linkedin - FANUC Serbia.

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Going Beyond Transformation Epson’s green future is at the core of its technology As many businesses around the world are investing in transformation towards a greener and more sustainable future, some companies aren’t only changing their practises and improving their organisation, but rather also advancing their customers and the entire industry towards sustainability.

Epson, as a company with innovation at its core, aims to deliver the very best in sustainable technologies for its customers. And, judging by its latest 2021 European Sustainability Report, it’s working

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pson’s heat-free printing technology is shaping up to be technology of a more sustainable future for many businesses and individuals, requiring much less energy and producing less waste than any other comparable printing technology. The reason it uses much less energy is that it doesn’t use heat to warm up the printer when it’s switched on from standby. It also requires fewer consumables, up to 96% fewer compared to other technologies like laser printing.

The heat-free structure of Epson inkjet printers also means that there are fewer parts that can fail, which reduces the amount of intervention required.

Altogether, Epson’s inkjet printers can cut power consumption and CO2 emissions by up to 83%. The Europe-wide adoption of these technologies would cut a billion kWh of energy use per year and 410,000 tons of CO2 emissions.

Epson’s EcoTank printers bring similar benefits across the value chain, eliminating the need for ink cartridges. To date, EcoTank printers have removed 1.6 million tons of plastic-based consumable waste from the environment. Further gains can be seen in Epson’s development of new textile printing technologies, which can slash water use by up to 90% and energy use by 30%. Epson’s heat-free technologies have inspired a partnership with National Geographic and its work to reverse the melting of permafrost and accompanying increase in methane emissions.

Looking back at 2021, Epson achieved its second consecutive Platinum Status

rating with EcoVadis, one of the world’s most trusted business sustainability rating platforms. This rating recognises the company’s global corporate social responsibility initiatives. The company was also awarded Platinum Status with the Responsible Business Alliance, the world’s largest industry coalition dedicated to CSR in global supply chains.

Looking to the future, Epson plans to spend ¥100 billion (around €770 million) on its sustainability transformation over the next decade. Internally, this will see investment to decarbonise and close resource loops (maximising resource use).

Externally, Epson innovation will reduce the environmental impact of customers

and develop new products that are inherently sustainable.

The company’s commitment can also be seen in its recent promises, such as pledging to align with the 1.5-degree warming target and achieve 100% renewable energy use across all Epson Group operations by 2023, targeting reductions in direct (19%) and indirect (44%) emissions by 2025, meeting the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, and finally becoming carbon negative and underground resource free by 2050. And all of that while helping its customers reduce their carbon footprint and generate less waste by using heat-free technologies and delivering on the promise of a sustainable society.

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Many Opportunities For Fruitful Cooperation Work done by the JICA Balkan Office in 2021, in cooperation with its Serbian counterparts, in many fields – from support to future investments in agri-tourism and volunteerism – demonstrates why every year in the 140-year-long friendship between Serbia and Japan is history in the making

JIRO TAKEICHI, Chief Representative of the JICA Balkan Office

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ne interview is certainly not enough to explain in detail the plethora of activities performed by the JICA Balkan Office in the year behind us. Nonetheless, Jiro Takeichi, Chief Representative of the JICA Balkan Office, offered us an effective overview of major developments that occurred despite occasional confinement caused by the need to work remotely.

Among the most important highlights are certainly the improvement of public transportation in Belgrade, the pilot project in the area of agriculture and the work of 28

Japanese volunteers engaged in various fields, such as judo, support to people with disabilities and disaster management.

On top of all that, the JICA office was also engaged in presenting investment opportunities in Serbia.

While we are slowly approaching the second year of being more or less confined to working remotely, how do you manage to bring together Serbian and Japanese interlocutors to work on projects?

At the JICA Balkan Office, we have successfully combined working from the office and remote working. Due to the improved IT environment in the past two years, we have implemented remote working efficiently and without major obstacles.

On the other hand, as a member of the diplomatic corps, I am really grateful to the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for providing the Japanese staff at our office the opportunity to get vaccinated.

For that reason, we didn’t have to evacuate to Japan and we all remained and

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worked in Serbia for the past two years.

For JICA, continuing to work face-to-face on technical cooperation projects is a very important thing. When Serbian and Japanese counterparts work together, they deepen their mutual understanding and jointly develop solution strategies. It feels like face-to-face activities still have some irreplaceable advantages compared to online activities. Now, due to the rapid spread of the Omicron variant, most activities have reverted back to online platforms.

However, Japanese experts, who adhere fully to the epidemiological measures, are nonetheless being dispatched to Serbia, and I’m grateful to our Serbian counterpart for arranging that.

Looking back on 2021, which of your activities would you highlight as being the most successful?

I would like to mention the Project for the improvement of public transportation, which is being implemented together with the Secretariat for Public Transport of the City of Belgrade. This project aims to establish a sustainable public transportation system by offering a service that is aligned with the needs of citizens, and also by improving the system for the payment of commuting tickets. This is additionally related to the creating of a better living environment, provided it results in a decrease in commuting using private cars and an increase in the use of public transport. In 2021, Japanese experts visited Belgrade and finalised the detailed plan of this project, so that activities can proceed at full tilt.

In December, an international seminar on public transportation was organised in Belgrade and was attended by Deputy Mayor of Belgrade Goran Vesić and Japanese Ambassador H.E. Katsumata. Once the pandemic is under control, we hope that our counterparts from the Secretariat for Public Transport can visit Japan and gather some useful ideas for improving Belgrade’s public transport systems.

Since 2003, when Japan donated the “yellow buses” to the City of Belgrade, our longstanding cooperation has continued and is definitely an important field in relations between our friendly countries.

What are the major outcomes of your pilot project with the Ministry of Agriculture aimed at improving the living standards of Serbian farmers? We learned that frozen senga-sengana strawberries grown on open fields in Serbia have already been exported to Japan. What’s next?

I enjoy buying delicious fruits and vegetables on the open market every week.

Serbian agricultural produce is of high quality and represents a resource with great potential. Through this pilot project,

our aim was to change the farmer’s concept from “producing agriculture” to “selling agriculture”. If the produce reaches both domestic and international markets when needed, and in the quantities demanded, then farmers will be able to increase their profit. If there is a request for further cooperation in this field, it will be met with a positive outcome. Moreover, it seems that the development of tourism may also rely on the potential of agriculture and bring more profit to rural parts of Serbia. There is also a possibility for support in that sector.

The JICA office exerted efforts to draw the attention of Japanese companies to Serbia by sharing information. We would now like to combine the forces of the Embassy of Japan, the Japanese Business Alliance in Serbia (JBAS), the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) and Japanese companies to advance this endeavour

You are active across the Balkans.

How do you perceive the Open Balkan initiative?

If people and products are actively moving, the market will expand and new business opportunities will emerge for companies in the region. However, market expansion is both an opportunity and a challenge for companies. Once Serbia joins the EU, if small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are not sufficiently developed, young people will leave the country and seek job opportunities abroad. In order to develop and offer job opportunities, SMEs need to improve the quality control of their products and services and increase the 29

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efficiency of their management structures.

It is for this reason that the Development Agency of Serbia (RAS) has developed mentoring services through which trained mentors advise SME entrepreneurs. JICA has been supporting this programme for a long time and technical cooperation on mentoring is this year entering a new phase, which aims to strengthen the mentoring system and branding in the Western Balkan region.

Slowly but surely, we are seeing more Japanese companies arriving on our territory. From your perspective, how can this momentum be sustained and accelerated?

It is evident that Japanese companies are becoming more interested in Serbia and the JICA office received many requests from Japanese companies for consultations on Serbian conditions even during the pandemic. Serbia has many advantages, such as being surrounded by a huge market and having highly skilled human resources, which is further connected to the government’s continuous effort to attract foreign companies. The JICA office has actively participated in investment seminars organised in Japan and exerted efforts to draw the attention of Japanese companies to Serbia by sharing information. Moreover, we would like to tackle even more advanced support, which would strengthen the existing cooperation between the Embassy of Japan, the Japanese Business Alliance in Serbia (JBAS), the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) and Japanese companies.

Some of the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV) were dispatched to Serbia as of summer 2021. How many of them can we expect in 2022?

Through the JOCV programme, Japanese volunteers work together with their Serbian counterparts with the aim of deepening mutual understanding. By working together, Serbian people can experience Japanese seriousness and work ethics, while Japanese people can learn about Serbian kindness, cheerfulness and hospitality. When Japanese volunteers 30

Through the JOCV programme, Japanese volunteers work together with their Serbian counterparts with the aim of deepening their mutual understanding.

The plan is to have 10 or more volunteers in Serbia this year.

Perhaps the next volunteer will be dispatched to your town return to Japan, they continue to promote Serbia as a great country. Besides Belgrade, volunteers have also been dispatched to other places, from Novi Sad in the north to Niš in the south. We currently have a total of six volunteers working in various fields, such as judo, support to people with disabilities, disaster management etc. I’m really glad that the volunteers are appreciated at their host institutions, and that this programme is accepted well by their Serbian colleagues. The plan is to have 10 or more volunteers in Serbia this year. Perhaps the next volunteer will be dispatched to your town.

What will be JICA’s main activities in 2022?

This year marks the 140th anniversary of friendship between Serbia and Japan.

However, just prior to that establishing of diplomatic relations, Japan was an isolated developing country. After that, Japan experienced rapid development and became the first example of a developed country among the non-Western countries, without losing much of its tradition and identity in the process.

Japan established a free, peace-loving and democratic nation based on the rule of law, and as such is a top model of development. Japan can also become a leader in development studies, if we consider the experience and knowledge it gained through the process of establishing its education system, economy, working style etc. In order to disseminate the principles of Japanese development to outstanding Serbian students in the future, we have launched cooperation with Belgrade University on the introducing of a series of lectures. If the Japanese way of thinking attracts attention and becomes useful for Serbia, I will be very happy.

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Top Promoter Of Japanese Culture In Serbia Distinguishing itself as one of the top promoters of the Japanese culture and tradition in Serbia is company Japan Tobacco International. Led by its Japanese roots and the Kaizen philosophy that targets small, constant improvements in all areas, JTI has been striving to bring part of Japanese culture closer to our lands since the very launch of its operations in Serbia, thereby erasing borders and fostering friendly ties between the two countries

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n collaboration with the Embassy of Japan in Belgrade, JTI has presented numerous Japanese artists to Serbia in recent years, whose spectacular performances have had a great impression on the local public. Through the authentic sounds of musical band JapaLkan, known for its nurturing of Balkan melodies and the performing of music from our region, via the rhythmical sounds of the traditional taiko drums of the group Ondekoza and the intoxicating performances of famous pianist Ingrid Fuzjko Hemming, the Ser32

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bian public has received opportunities to pay brief virtual visits to the Far East.

Testifying to the claim that Serbia also represents a source of inspiration for Japan was the performing of the famous play Balkan Spy by Tokyo-based theatre troupe A la place, which adapted topics specific to the Balkans to the Japanese lifestyle.

Apart from a large number of artists, JTI has also presented some lesser-known Japanese customs to the Serbian people.

One of them is hanami – observing cherry blossom; marking the period of the year when Japanese people set aside their obligations to enjoy observing cherry blossom

TWO IMPORTANT ANNIVERSARIES

(sakura), which is believed to represent a symbol of happiness and prosperity. In a desire for this ancient custom to also find its place in our region, this company also supported the creation of Sakura Park, a garden of Japanese cherry trees in Belgrade.

Sakura is also the symbolic name of the annual scholarship that JTI awards, in cooperation with the Embassy of Japan, to undergraduate and postgraduate students and researchers for the best research work on topics related to Japan, thus inspiring young people to research Japan and Japanese culture.

JTI will continue to represent a positive example in the future, and will continue working with commitment to deepening and nurturing the existing friendship between Serbia and Japan. And the best way to achieve that is via exchanges in the fields of culture, sport and the arts, which provide significant potential for further prosperous relations between the two countries.

JTI last year commemorated two extremely important anniversaries: the 65th anniversary of the founding of company Duvanska Industrija Senta [Senta Tobacco Industries]; and the 15th anniversary of the privatisation of the Senta factory and the launch of JTI’s operations on the Serbian market.

The marking of this occasion prompted the company to donate four drones and accompanying equipment, worth 1.2 million dollars, to the Phytosanitary Inspection Division of the Serbian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management, which will be used to combat the illicit production of tobacco. Since its arrival on the Serbian market, JTI has contributed a total of three billion U.S. dollars to the budget of the Republic of Serbia.

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JAPANESE ECONOMY

Japan Rapidly Approaching “Society 5.0” According to a Kyodo News survey, around 84% of major companies in Japan expect the country’s economy to grow in 2022. This coincides with the expectations of many analysts, who anticipate the rebound of Japan’s economy. In the longer run, Japan is moving rapidly towards “Society 5.0”, which will underpin the country’s plans to enter a new phase of building a more equitable, technology-driven society

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apan has one of the world’s largest and most developed economies. It previously occupied second place in terms of assets and wealth (behind the U.S.), until China took that spot in 2015.

Japan now has the world’s third-largest economy, in terms of nominal GDP, and the fourth-largest in terms of purchasing power parity. It is the world’s second-largest developed economy, with per capita GDP (PPP) having stood at $41,637 in 2020.

Furthermore, Japan is the world’s fourth-largest importer and fourth-largest exporter (based on 2018 results), while

it has the world’s second-largest foreign exchange reserves, worth $1.3 trillion.

Japan is also the world’s third-largest consumer market.

With its well-educated, industrious workforce, the country dominates many advanced industries. For example, it is the world’s third-largest automobile manufacturing country and one of the world’s most innovative countries. It focuses on the manufacturing of high-tech and precision goods, such as optical instruments, hybrid vehicles and robotics. Primary industries, including agriculture, account

for just one per cent of Japan’s GDP. A total of 51 Fortune Global 500 companies are based in Japan.

According to the latest government announcements, Japan intends to push for a green and digital transformation as part of its efforts to make the society more equitable. According to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, “Japan is determined to lead the global trend with a new form of capitalism and to demonstrate how capitalism can evolve, as Japan assumes the Group of Seven presidency next year”. Japan also hopes to create a “zero-emissions” com-

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munity in Asia, by promoting the use of hydrogen and other green energy sources.

The country’s economy was hit hard in 2020-21 by the Covid-19 pandemic, with real GDP contracting at an annualised rate of over 32% in the second quarter of 2020, before recovering by just over 20% in the next quarter, with more ups and downs coming over the subsequent few quarters. As of Q3 2021, Japan’s GDP was still below pre-pandemic levels.

However, the economic is expected to continue its recovery in 2022, while Japan

Primary industries, including agriculture, account for just one per cent of Japan’s GDP. A total of 51 Fortune Global 500 companies are based in Japan. is diversifying investments away from China and addressing some of its long-term problems, such as a low birth-rate and an aging population, given that China is no longer a source of cheap labour that enables Japan to maintain the competitive price of its products in the global economy. As an example, in 2018 China’s manufacturing labour costs were $5.51 dollars per hour, compared to $2.73 in Vietnam.

Analysts note that Japan is facing both cyclical and structural challenges in 2022.

The cyclical ones refer to the aforementioned global supply chain bottlenecks and labour market frictions. Among the structural challenges is Japan’s well-known inability to emerge from its three-decade-long economic slowdown. In 2021, the Government provided a $1 trillion infusion as a stimulus package to the economy, which will be followed by an additional $944 billion budget for fiscal year 2022.

It remains to be seen how recovery plans will affected by the supply chain bottlenecks and labour market frictions that create temporary mismatches between the demand and supply side of the economy. Rising food and energy prices are a particular problem for Japan, as it is highly dependent on oil imports to cater for its energy needs. Nonetheless, overall inflation still remains low.

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Moving towards “Society 5.0” As noted, Japan has a highly innovative economy. According to the government’s official website, Japan is moving rapidly towards “Society 5.0”, a new ultra-smart society where all things will be connected through IoT technology and all technologies will be integrated, serving to improving quality of life dramatically.

The Government of Japan is focused on encouraging various players, including start-ups and “hidden gems” among SMEs, to come up with brand-new and innovative ideas to provide the world with solutions.

Implementing the Internet of Things (IoT) in business requires huge initial investment, yet the invention of cloud-based platforms (an invention of one of Japan’s start-ups) reduces the cost significantly by replacing core physical IoT infrastructure with a cloud-based service, thus creating opportunities for smaller companies to launch creative and innovative IoT products and services, democratising the IoT. Other start-ups are focused on improving personal mobility and mobility infrastructure for last mile transportation; digital farming technology to help farmers use water and fertilisers more efficiently. By utilising the IoT and Artificial Intelligence to collect and analyse data from their farming practises and the surrounding environment, this technology enables even inexperienced crop farmers to implement such intangible techniques. This technology is expected to bring a huge change to the future of sustainable agriculture.

There are also Japanese start-ups focused on data exchanges via satellites through the development of cloud-based solutions to connect ground station antennas scattered around the world and enabling them to handle frequent data transmissions.

They are also exploring new approaches to develop medical treatments with fewer side effects and employ technologies that will shorten processes to develop new medicines dramatically and allow them to be sold at significantly lower prices.

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NINA DUSPER SUŠIĆ, President of the Board of Hitachi Energy Balkans Cluster

Targeting A Carbon-Neutral Future Headquartered in Switzerland, Hitachi Energy is present in the region through its Balkans Cluster, which encompasses Serbia, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Albania

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he region is certainly well on its way to becoming greener and we are looking forward to driving and supporting the energy transition in these dynamic times - assesses Hitachi Energy’s Nina Dusper Sušić.

Hitachi Energy has proven results in more than 140 countries and a wide range of smart solutions. What forms the basis of these solutions?

Hitachi Energy was established through Hitachi’s acquisition of 80% of the Power Grids Division of ABB in 2020. Headquartered in Switzerland, its employs around 38,000 people in 90 countries and generates business volumes of approximately $10 billion. Our smart and innovative solutions are based on over 230 years of combined experience and continuous investment in research & development, where over 3000 engineers work on a daily basis.

We have already broadened our energy market reach and portfolio into new growth areas beyond the grid, and we’re energised and motivated by our shared goal of accelerating a carbon-neutral future – in which electricity will form the backbone of the entire energy system.

Over the past year we’ve come to realise how much inclement weather, earthquakes, pandemics etc., can have a negative impact on the availability of electricity. Do you have a solution to that?

Hitachi Energy has solutions for both short-term and longer-term crisis management. Our solutions for mobile and modular substations offer an immediate solution for power transmission in areas that have sustained damage – they can be

The main challenges facing all countries are the predictability of the supply of power from renewables and the stability of the grid, given this underlying predictability trailer-mounted, fully mobile, supply all voltage levels, can be connected to bridge damaged infrastructure and ensure power supply continuity for affected areas.

Our battery energy storage system (BESS) is a longer-term solution that strengthens grid resilience, reduces energy costs and represents a large backup power source, while improving the efficiency, reliability and user availability of the power system.

Around a dozen years ago, renewables accounted for just 9.5% of all electricity generated in Japan. A decade later, they’d doubled, while the goal is for solar, wind, geothermal, hydro and biomass energy to become the country’s main sources of electricity.

Could our region take that same road?

Our region has already started developing in this direction and, given the recent establishment of the legislative framework for renewable energy sources, we are expecting implementation to accelerate. The legislative framework, however, as much as it is a condition sine-qua-non, is not sufficient in itself for the green transition to succeed: we need to take into account the functioning of the ensemble of interested parties: producers, consumers, transmission grids and energy trading markets. The main challenges facing all countries are the predictability of the supply of power from renewables and the stability of the grid, given this underlying predictability. Both producers and transmission companies have an interest in power being supplied, and the responsibility to ensure that it is, which implies a well-balanced grid. There are various solutions to ensure the achieving of both of these factors, such as a structured asset enterprise management system and digital software solutions. At Hitachi Energy we’ve developed several layers of solutions through our Lumada platform, each of which is adaptable and provides stakeholders with everything they need to optimise investments for the sake of higher reliability and improved performances of their managed assets, as well as ensuring grid stability for transmission and distribution companies.

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OLYMPIC COMMITTEE OF SERBIA, TOKYO 2020 EXPERIENCES

Excellence, Friendship And Respect Despite all the difficulties caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee, in cooperation with the IOC and the Japanese government, found brilliant solutions and successfully organised the Olympic Games, which hardly any other country could organised in the given circumstances. They showed that everything is possible in the spirit of Olympism and Olympic values

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he Olympic Committee of Serbia cares for the continuity of performance at the Olympic Games, which is confirmed by the fact that our athletes have not missed a single appearance at the Olympic Games from Stockholm in 1912 until the most recent games in Tokyo 38

in 2021, which only a small number of the largest and most successful countries can boast. The XXXII Summer Olympics were the fourth games held in Japan, after the 1964 Tokyo games (summer games), the 1972 Sapporo games (winter games) and the 1998 Nagano games (winter games).

In many ways, the Tokyo Games were unique. Tokyo was the first city to host the Summer Olympics twice. These are also the first games to be postponed for a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus and seen as a “beacon of hope for the whole world in difficult times”,

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while the Olympic flame represented “Light at the end of a dark tunnel”. For the purpose of continuity and reduction of marketing costs, it was agreed that the games will continue to be called Tokyo 2020, despite the change in the date. The games were held without the presence of spectators with an obligation to wear protective masks and comply with all defined protection measures against the virus. For this reason, these Games were historic in that they were held under such circumstances, and that there was no repeat of the history of Tokyo’s hosting in 1940, when the games were cancelled due to the Sino-Japanese war.

A record number of countries participated in the games - a total of 206, with 33 sports

Olympic Committee of Serbia, the Embassy of Japan and the Japanese Business Alliance presented Olympic circles made from Japanese cherry trees. In this way, the people of Serbia also had the opportunity to enjoy the famous Japanese custom of observing the flowering of this tree - hanami.

The trees were donated by the members of the Japanese Business Alliance as a sign of the eternal friendship between Serbia and Japan, before the Olympic Games and the departure of the Serbian participants to Tokyo. Lanterns on the cherry trees were symbolically lit on the day of the opening ceremony of the Games, 23th July 2021.

Emperor Naruhito formally opened the Games at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo. As

was carried by Jovana Preković (karate).

Tokyo is considered one of the world’s metropolises that best show the combination of the traditional and the modern, where alongside glass skyscrapers and robotic restaurants, there are also ancient shrines, ryokan and teahouses. The places where the Olympic Games were held were decorated in the same spirit. Tokyo is generally aiming for continuous improvement and a tendency of urban transition to become even more modern and advanced, and the Olympic Games were one of the steps on that path. The capital of Japan has once again shown its capacity for innovation, as it did once before, at the XVIII Summer Olympic Games in 1964.

and 50 sporting disciplines. A total of 339 sporting events were organised, with 11,090 athletes participating.

The 140-year-long tradition of Serbian-Japanese friendship was marked by one unforgettable event before the Olympic Games in Tokyo. On 16th April 2021, the

part of the traditional “Parade of Nations”, for the first time in history the flag bearers were one female and one male athlete from each country. The flag of Serbia was carried

by Sonja Vasić (basketball) and Filip Filipović (water polo). The closing ceremony was held on 8th August and the flag of Serbia

The area where the Tokyo 2020 Olympics were held was divided into two zones, the heritage zone and the Tokyo Bay zone, with the participation of additional facilities within a radius of 8 km. The first zone included complexes used during the 1964 Games, while the second was a set 39

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of modern facilities, many of which were connected to the water. In the heritage zone was Nipon Budokan, the spiritual home of Japanese martial arts, where in 1964 the sport of judo was included in the Olympic programme for the first time. At the last Summer Games, a karate competition was symbolically held for the first time. On the other hand, the modern zone of Tokyo Bay was the centre for water sports where, for example, there was a main pool with 10 lanes, and with the help of the latest technology, the length and depth of the pool could be adjusted by moving the bottom and walls. This was not the only display of modern and advanced solutions, as the power was supplied from solar energy.

Although this symbiosis of traditional and modern has always been part of the city’s development and transition plan, with the awarding of the Tokyo Olympics in 2013 the plan evolved. Moreover, the IOC adopted the idea of demanding that future hosts of the games make maximum use of existing facilities, reducing construction costs and emissions of harmful gass. So out of a total of 43 competition facilities, only eight were newly built, 10 were temporary structures and as many as 25 facilities were reused. One of the most prominent was the Yoyogi National Gymnasium, due to its characteristic design, which mixes traditional Japanese and modern Western aesthetics.

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In the second zone, in the Harumi coastal district, an Olympic village was built with 21 buildings 14-18 floors high, with a capacity of approximately 18,000 inhabitants. The village lay in a very convenient location between the bay zone and the zone of famous tourist attractions. All the apartments where the members of the Mission stayed were temporary structures and after the Games they were converted into apartments for sale. In the residential part of the Olympic Village there were: a restaurant, a fitness centre, a medical centre (polyclinic), an administrative NOC centre, facilities (containers) for testing for Covid-19 and a temporary Covid-19 hospital.

The Serbian Olympic team shared accommodation with the delegations of Slovenia, Uruguay, Ireland, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and others. The quality of accommodation met the standard for the Olympic Games, and a special impression was left by the minimalist decoration, with cardboard beds that were recycled after the Games. The restaurant had a choice of 700 dishes. The precautionary measures against Covid-19 were strict and effective, from gloves to disinfectants, even hand washing points, all the way to plexiglass barriers installed between the tables. The same solution was implemented in the gym. In the village, screens were set up with information about the occupancy of various facilities. Because of all this, people began to call these Games surreal. The Olympic sponsor, Toyota, provided specially designed vehicles as a means of transport in the village to facilitate the movement of athletes and other mission members, and vehicles for transport to other facilities and venues.

Due to the specific situation and the ban on movement outside the village, training and competition facilities, the Serbian Mission rearranged the common room in the building that the athletes used for socialising in their free time. Also, when the weather conditions allowed, an openair space was organised in front of the entrance to the building, which athletes and coaches were happy to use. Spontaneous receptions of athletes who won medals were also organised in this area. In this way, we managed to create a good atmosphere among the members of Team Serbia, and athletes and coaches had their own corner

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where they could exchange experiences and spend quality time together.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games were organised under unusual conditions, with no spectators and the wearing of masks most of the time. Covid officers were an important part of each team and took care to implement all procedures and measures to protect all members of the mission during their stay in Japan and before leaving. Another novelty introduced for these Games were two applications that were used to record the state of health and monitor movements during the Games. One of the obligations of all participants was a daily PCR test.

Speaking of communication with members of the Organising Committee of the Games, it is not enough to say that impressions are positive. Although the rules were extremely strict, we encountered great tolerance and willingness among volunteers and other staff to help us in crisis situations.

When we needed help to search for the phone of one of the athletes, even after working hours, the volunteers were ready to join us.

Always cordial and smiling, the volunteers were respectful, very patient and hardworking and promoted Japanese culture and its traditional values in the best possible way.

Throughout the entire process of preparation for Serbia’s performance at the Tokyo Olympic Games, the Olympic Committee of Serbia enjoyed the unreserved professional help and support of the Embassy of the Republic of Serbia in Tokyo. His Excellency, Ambassador Nenad Glišić and later, before and during the games, Her Excellency, Ambassador Aleksandra Kovač and the entire staff of the Serbian Embassy were involved in the preparation, arrival and stay of the Serbian Team in Tokyo, providing diplomatic and technical support. There is no doubt that the long-standing friendship between Serbia and Japan has greatly contributed to all challenges being resolved swiftly.

The final impression is that, despite all the difficulties caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee in cooperation with the IOC and the Japanese government found brilliant solutions and successfully organised the Olympic Games, which hardly any other country could organize in the given circumstances. They showed that everything

is possible in the spirit of Olympism and Olympic values.

At the Tokyo Games, the Serbian Olympic team numbered 87 athletes who competed in 16 sporting disciplines. Compared to previous performances at the Olympic Games, the results they achieved can be considered a pinnacle, with 9 medals (3 gold, 1 silver and 5 bronze) and placement in the top 10 in seven sports. We won the largest number of medals since the Seoul Olympic Games of 1988, when we performed as Yugoslavia. The results ranked our country in 28th place for gold medals, or the 26th place in the total number of medals among the 206 countries that participated in the Olympics.

Gold medals were won by: Milica Mandić (taekwondo), Jovana Preković (karate) and the men’s water polo team. Damir Mikec (archery) won a silver medal. Bronze medals were won by: Milenko Sebić (archery), Tijana Bogdanović (taekwondo), Zurabi Datunašvili (wrestling), the women’s volleyball team and men’s 3x3 basketball team.

In addition to athletes, the Serbian mission consisted of 62 officials (coaches, a medical team, mission management) and 2 Covid-19 liaison officers, who were mandatory members of the mission in accordance with a decision of the Organising Committee of the Games and the IOC. We must also praise the exceptional cooperation and correct attitude of the athletes, coaches and members of delegations, as everyone understood the challenges and logistical problems that the OCS mission encountered in trying to provide the best possible conditions for the Serbian Olympic team during the Olympics. The good atmosphere and communication in the Serbian Team among all members of the delegation meant a lot in difficult times.

As head of the Tokyo 2020 mission, I am proud of our team, who with dedication and mutual trust and respect achieved a common goal and provided athletes, coaches and other members of the delegation with the best possible conditions for participating in the Tokyo Olympics.

Nataša Janković, Head of the OCS Mission for Tokyo Olympics 2020 41

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Contributing – Quietly, But Steadily

– To Improving People’s Lives

This year is an important milestone for the Japanese Business Alliance in Serbia, marking our fifth anniversary and, more importantly, 140 years of diplomatic relations between Japan and Serbia. We have ambitious plans for the coming period.

OLIVER LEPORI, JBAS Executive Director

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he state of Japanese business in Serbia is stable thanks to the dedication of each of our member companies, which represents a sure footing for continuing the activities of JBAS, says JBAS Executive Director Oliver Lepori.

2021 proved to be a year filled with events and activities in every way. “Last year was rather intensive for JBAS. We had many activities that were predominantly orientated towards supporting our members, but also further strengthening relations between Serbian and Japanese institutions, and the many Japanese expatriates working in Serbia and the region,” says Lepori.

Undoubtedly, adds our interlocutor, we will remember 2021 for the Tokyo Olympics and the nine medals won by Serbia.

“Related to this event, our local victory was the opening of Sakura Park on the Sava riverbank, together with the Olympic Committee of Serbia, the Embassy of Japan and the City of Belgrade. We built it to honour the eternal friendship between Serbia and Japan,” says the JBAS Executive Director. “With Japanese cheery trees planted to form the shape of the Olympic rings, we are particularly glad that this park is also a pleasant place for sport, meetings and leisure, for all citizens of Belgrade and Serbia to enjoy”.

Recognised as one of the driving forces of the Serbian economy, JBAS participated in many business events in 2021, but also shared its vision at the prestigious Kopaonik Business Forum and World in 2022 conferences. This association also organised a lot of online and face-to-face activities and gatherings for members to address current business-related issues and trends, adds Lepori.

JBAS and the Development Agency of Serbia (RAS) have signed a memorandum of understanding with the goal of efficiently coordinating activities aimed at further supporting the improvement of economic cooperation between Japan and Serbia. What are your main expectations of this collaboration?

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We last year supported RAS in the organising of the most important investment seminar ever held to promote investment opportunities in Serbia for investors from Japan. The result was impressive, with 380 participants and over 280 potential investor companies.

The economic measures of the Government of Serbia provide a sound foundation to attract potential investors, but an active approach is most welcome in order to create even better results.

We collaborate with many Serbian institutions with the aim of promoting Serbia as an investment destination.

After a year in the position of executive director of JBAS, how have your ideas about the further development of the Alliance evolved?

The essence of the Japanese business culture is a constant change for the better. This is a process of gradually but continuously improving operations that involves everybody concerned. It also provides guidance for defining new strategies and redefining visions.

With the strong involvement and active participation of our Board of Directors, we’ve improved the operations of JBAS significantly since the beginning of 2021. The range and quality of our services were upgraded, and the number of members has increased.

We have created a completely new framework for 2022, a kind of working platform where each member will be able to find their own interest in participating directly in JBAS activities and which will improve contacts and cooperation among members.

I’m glad to note that the state of Japanese business in Serbia is stable thanks to the dedication of each of our member companies that’s leading, growing, innovating, changing and improving the Serbian economy and the communities in which each of our members operate, which is a sure footing for continuing the activities of JBAS. Many business associations that operate in Serbia are doing an excellent job of supporting their members.

What distinguishes JBAS from the others; and how do you view cooperation with your colleagues?

We believe strongly in synergy and the importance of cooperation among business associations and institutions representing the international business community in Serbia. Our members

operate as Serbian companies and, as such, we all operate under the influence of the same local and global economic factors. We are proud of the fact that these relations have only grown stronger since the beginning of the pandemic.

Some of the most distinguishing characteristics of the Japanese business culture shape the operations of our investor companies and the JBAS family. Japanese investments are long-term, in viable products and services, and include lasting relationships with suppliers and customers. The Japanese approach to doing business is more sophisticated than the local one. Our companies contribute, quietly but steadily, to reducing pollution, cleansing industry and reducing landfill waste, data and information

We collaborate with many Serbian institutions with the aim of promoting Serbia as an investment destination safety, storage and transfer, the digitalisation of every aspect of life, including the public administration and cadastral registry, powering our cars, planes and boats, traffic optimisation, the development of agricultural and industrial technology, industrial automation and practises. We help to improve the lives of persons with special needs and provide healthcare to members of the population suffering from rare diseases. Overall, Japanese companies bring a silent, qualitative change to the communities and the market in Serbia.

Japanese investments seem to be more frequent today than they were in previous years. What are your views on their importance and effect?

Apart from bringing a qualitative change and having a strong impact on the work culture, but also an important additional impact on exports from Serbia, recent investments from Japan are expected to bring Serbia under the spotlight among many other investment locations.

At a moment of international trade disputes, energy imbalances and supply chain disruptions, existing and future Japanese investments will gain importance and require the further growth of JBAS.

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CASTLES OF JAPAN

Amazing Beauty Fortresses have been built in Japan since ancient times. A particular need for castles arose in the 15th century after the central government’s authority had weakened and Japan had fallen into the chaotic era of warring states (sengoku jidai). During that era, Japan consisted of dozens of small independent states that fought each other and built small castles on top of mountains for defensive purposes

HIMEJI CASTLE

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hen Oda Nobunaga reestablished a central authority over Japan in the second half of the 16th century, and his successor Toyotomi Hideyoshi completed the reunification of Japan, many larger castles were built across the country. Unlike the earlier castles, they were built in the plains or on small hills in the plains, where they 44

served as a region’s administrative and military headquarters and a symbol of authority. They became the centres of “castle towns”.

After the end of the feudal age (1868), many castles were destroyed as unwelcome relics of the past or were lost in World War II. Only a dozen “original castles”, i.e. castles with a main keep that dates from

the feudal era (before 1868), survive today.

Furthermore, several dozen castles were reconstructed over the past decades.

HIMEJI CASTLE The Japanese daimyo Akamatsu Sadanori built the first iteration of Himeji Castle (originally called “Himeyama Castle”) in 1346, just west of the city of Kobe.

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FUSHIMI CASTLE

Due to its beauty and extraordinarily good preservation, Himeji Castle was the first UNESCO World Heritage Site listed in Japan, in 1993. That same year, the government of Japan declared Himeji Castle a Japanese National Cultural Treasure.

The five-storey structure is actually just one of 83 different wooden buildings on the site. Its white colour and flying rooflines lend Himeji its nickname, “The White Heron Castle.”

Tens of thousands of tourists from Japan and abroad visit Himeji Castle each year. They come to admire the grounds and keep, including maze-like paths winding through the gardens, as well as the lovely white castle itself.

FUSHIMI CASTLE Fushimi Castle, also known as Momoyama Castle, was originally built in 1592-94 as a luxurious retirement home for warlord and unifier Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Some 20,000 to 30,000 workers contributed to the construction effort.

When died in 1912, he was buried at the original site of Fushimi Castle.

In 1964, a replica of the building was constructed out of concrete at a site close to the tomb. It was called a “Castle Entertainment Park,” and contained a museum of Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s life.

The concrete replica/museum was closed to the public in 2003. Tourists can still walk

NAGOYA CASTLE

through the grounds, however, and take pictures of the authentic-looking exterior.

GUJO HACHIMAN CASTLE

NAGOYA CASTLE Nagoya Castle is a flatland castle.

That is, it was built on a plain, rather than on a more defensible mountain-top or riverbank. The shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu chose the site because it sat along the Tokaido highway, which linked Edo (Tokyo) with Kyoto. As many as 200,000 workers spent six months building the stone fortifications. The donjon (main tower) was completed in 1612, and construction of the secondary buildings continued for several more years. Nagoya Castle remained a stronghold of the most powerful of the three branches of the 45

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Tokugawa family. The Imperial family took over the castle in 1895 and used it as a palace. In 1930, the Emperor gave the castle to the City of Nagoya. On 14th May 1945, an American fire-bombing raid scored a direct hit on the castle, burning the majority of it to the ground. Only a gateway and three corner towers survived. Between 1957 and 1959, a concrete reproduction of the destroyed portions was constructed on the site.

GUJO HACHIMAN CASTLE The Gujo Hachiman Castle in the central Japanese prefecture of Gifu is a mountaintop fortress on Hachiman Mountain, overlooking Gujo town. Daimyo Endo Morikazu started construction on it in 1559, but had only finished the stonework when he died. His young son, Endo Yoshitaka, inherited the incomplete castle. Trouble came to Hachiman Castle in 1868, with the Meiji Restoration. The Meiji Emperor had the castle completely dismantled down to the stone walls and foundations in 1870.

Fortunately, a new wooden castle was built on the site in 1933. It survived World War II intact and serves today as a museum.

Tourists can access the castle via cable car.

While most Japanese castles have cherry or plum trees planted around them, Gujo Hachiman is surrounded by maple trees, making autumn the best time to visit.

The white wooden structure is set off beautifully by fiery red foliage.

NAKATSU CASTLE

NAKATSU CASTLE The daimyo Kuroda Yoshitaka started to build Nakatsu Castle, a flatland castle on the border of Fukuoka Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, in 1587. The final samurai clan to own Nakatsu Castle was the Okudaira family, who lived there from 1717 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868.

During the Satsuma Rebellion of 1877, which was the last gasp of the samurai class, the five-storey castle was burned to the ground. The current incarnation of Nakatsu Castle was built in 1964. It

OKAYAMA CASTLE 46

houses a large collection of samurai armour, weapons, and other artefacts, and is open to the public.

OKAYAMA CASTLE The first castle constructed on the site of the current Okayama Castle in Okayama Prefecture was built by the Nawa clan, between 1346 and 1369. At some point, that castle was destroyed, and the daimyo Ukita Naoie began construction of a new five-storey wooden structure in 1573. His son Ukita Hideie completed the work in 1597. From 1602, control of Okayama Castle passed to the Ikeda clan in Daimyo Ikeda Tadatsugu was the grandson Tokugawa Ieyasu. Although later shoguns became alarmed at the wealth and power of their Ikeda cousins and reduced their landholdings accordingly, the family held Okayama Castle through the Meiji Restoration of 1868.

TSURUGA CASTLE In 1384, the daimyo Ashina Naomori began to build Kurokawa Castle in the northern mountain spine of Honshu, Japan’s main island. The Ashina clan was able to hold on to this fortress until 1589, when it was captured from Ashina Yoshihiro by rival warlord Date Masamune. Just one year later, however, the

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unifier Toyotomi Hideyoshi confiscated the castle from Date. He awarded it to Gamo Ujisato in 1592.

Gamo undertook massive renovations of the castle and renamed it Tsurunga.

Local people continued to call it either Aizu Castle (after the region it was located in) or Wakamatsu Castle, however.

In 1874, the Meiji government demolished Tsurunga Castle and razed the surrounding city. A concrete replica of the castle was built in 1965; it houses a museum.

OSAKA CASTLE Between 1496 and 1533, a large temple called Ishiyama Hongan-ji emerged in central Osaka. The people of the surrounding region looked to the temple for safety whenever warlords and their armies threatened the Osaka area. This arrangement continued until 1576, when the temple was besieged by warlord Oda Nobunaga’s forces. Three years later, Toyotomi Hideyoshi began building a castle on the site, modelled on his patron Nobunaga’s Azuchi Castle. Osaka Castle would be five stories tall, with three subterranean levels, and flashy gold-leaf trim. Between 1629 and 1868, Osaka Castle saw no further warfare. The Tokugawa Era was a time of peace and

TSURUGA CASTLE

prosperity for Japan. However, the castle still had its share of troubles, as it was struck by lightning three times. In 1928, Osaka Mayor Hajime Seki organised a fund drive to restore the main tower of the castle. He raised 1.5 million yen in just six months. The construction was finalised in November 1931; the new building housed a local history museum dedicated to Osaka

Prefecture. This version of the castle was not long for this world, however. During World War II, the U.S. Air Force bombed it to smithereens. To add insult to injury, Typhoon Jane came through in 1950 and caused enormous damage to what remained of the castle. The most recent series of renovations to Osaka Castle began in 1995 and finished in 1997.

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JBAS Activities For JBAS, 2021 was the year when the sails of the ship of the Japanese business community in Serbia were reset to pursue a new direction, towards the extension of services, development of membership, empowering of the institutional role and building of capacities to further promote the values of Japanese business and new Investments in Serbia

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MARCH Meeting of the JBAS Board of Directors with newly appointed Ambassador of Japan to Serbia H.E. Takahiko Katsumata and his team in an effort to further strengthen the existing good cooperation between the institutional and private sector in bringing Japanese investments and Japanese business closer to Serbia.

Speaking in the meeting with our board members, H.E. Takahiko Katsumata, Ambassador of Japan to Serbia, said “the eyes of Japan are on Serbia”.

Investments from Japan are considered “high-quality” or “value added investments” because, in addition to the transfer of technology and knowhow, they necessarily include the introduction of good practices and high business ethics from Japan.

Thus, special attention must be given by JBAS.

JBAS supports social mobility and combating the brain-drain with a view to improving the country’s business environment and investment climate.

Japanese companies not only contribute to job creation, but also invest in the long-term development of employees and local communities.

Access to the markets of both the EU and Russia, a tradition of industrial production and the FDI support provided by the Government of the Republic of Serbia are identified as the three main pillars for attracting Japanese investments.

APRIL JBAS, the National Olympic Committee of Serbia, the Embassy of Japan and the City of Belgrade jointly opened a unique park with Japanese cherry trees planted to form the shape of the Olympic rings in New Belgrade’s Republika Srpska Park.

As a gift of JBAS members to honour the eternal friendship between Serbia and Japan, this park is also a pleasant area for sport, meetings and leisure, to be enjoyed by all citizens of Belgrade and Serbia.

APRIL JBAS, as the “first port of call” for new investors from Japan, participated in the online conference “Invest in Serbia”, organised

by JBAS member Mizuho Bank, Ltd., honorary JBAS member JETRO - Japan External Trade Organization Vienna office and the Development Agency of Serbia.

This event was attended by a remarkable number of 374 participants, mostly from 280 Japanese companies.

JBAS President Goran Pekez underlined that JBAS, apart from being a family of Japanese companies in Serbia, also plays a crucial role as a strong and experienced actor in supporting investments in all areas and sectors.

APRIL Seminar “What Makes Serbia an Attractive Investment Destination for Japanese Investors”, with Manpower Serbia, the Development Agency of Serbia and Mitsubishi Corporation.

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MAY JBAS held a cocktail reception to welcome new members and introduce them to the Japanese business community and Institutions in Serbia. On this occasion, JBAS gave thanks the Embassy of Japan, JICA and JETRO for their precious institutional support to our community.

JUNE The JBAS summer gathering in New Belgrade’s Sakura Park introduced Japanese culinary specialities, with Japanese Embassy chef Mr Otsuka preparing famous Japanese Yakitori.

This was also the first time he’d ever cooked at an event for the public in Serbia.

MAY JBAS members and the Japanese business and cultural communities joined the traditional Balkan Japan Bowl 2021, the Japanese language competition organised by Professor Divna Tričković of the University of Belgrade Faculty of Philology’s Japanese department.

SEPTEMBER The International Networking Reception saw 12 bilateral chambers and alliances operating in Serbia host representatives of their member companies. By disregarding the boundaries of the countries or regions represented by each of these chambers, JBAS created an opportunity for its members to explore cooperation and growth opportunities.

MAY JBAS, as one of the most influential investor community organisations, shared its views on the investment climate in Serbia at the Kopaonik Business Forum. JBAS President Goran Pekez emphasised that Serbia is presently in the limelight of Japanese investors and suggested further recommendations aimed at improving the business environment, including the development of human resources and employee mobility, as well as the need to adopt clearly targeted strategies for particular industries.

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OCTOBER A JICA-supported business mission to the Serbian City and Municipality of Niš provided an opportunity for participants to learn from their cordial hosts – Niš Mayor Dragana Sotirovski, Science Technology Park Niš, the University of Niš and the Naissus Business Club – about the fantastic potential to develop the business of Japanese companies and expert resources available in this part of Serbia.

OCTOBER JBAS participated in the annual meeting of the Serbian Automotive Cluster as a special guest, in order to keep upto-date with current developments in the automotive sector by highlighting the important contribution of Japanese tech companies in every single segment of this industry that’s crucial to Serbian exports.

DECEMBER JBAS participated in The Economist: The World in 2022 conference, which was held at the National Assembly of Serbia.

DECEMBER JBAS held its annual gala reception to jointly celebrate the 2021 business year with the Japanese Embassy in Serbia, Jetro and JICA, as well as the entire Japanese business community.

NOVEMBER JBAS supported an event dedicated to data pseudonymization for compliant data (internal & external) in the finance/banking sector, which was jointly organised by companies Ingram Micro and Hitachi Vantara.

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AKIRA KUROSAWA

Humanist’s Quiet Sensibility Kurosawa, the son of a military institute’s athletic instructor, became one of the colossal figures in film history -- an autocratic perfectionist with a painter’s eye for composition, a dancer’s sense of movement and a humanist’s quiet sensibility. Dozens of directors have acknowledged his enduring influence

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hen Kurosawa’s ‘’Rashomon’’ reached Western audiences in 1951, little was known outside Japan about the country’s cinema. That changed overnight with ‘’Rashomon,’’ a compelling study of ambiguity and deception that provides four contradictory accounts of a medieval rape and murder recalled by a bandit, a noblewoman, the ghost of her slain husband and a woodcutter. The characters, Mr. Kurosawa said, have a ‘’sinful need for flattering falsehood’’ and ‘’cannot survive without lies to make them feel they are better people than they really are.’’

Kurosawa’s calculated blend of Japanese folklore with Western acting styles and storytelling techniques provided a link between the two worlds, reintroducing Japanese culture to a postwar global audience and leading to an amazingly fertile decade that saw him produce several films that have widely been acclaimed as among the 52

finest ever made, including ‘’Seven Samurai,’’ ‘’Ikiru’’ and ‘’Yojimbo.’’ ‘’I suppose all of my films have a common theme,’’ Kurosawa once told the film scholar Donald Richie. ‘’If I think about it, though, the only theme I can think of is really a question: Why can’t people be happier together?’’

Tall and large-boned, Kurosawa mixed a workingman’s thick, powerful hands with the face of a professor, sometimes a very stern professor. He was known by colleagues, not always affectionately, as ‘’the Emperor.’’

Kurosawa’s ecumenical interests in Western literature, Japanese folk tales and American westerns led him to source material as diverse as Gorky’s ‘’Lower Depths,’’ Shakespeare’s ‘’Macbeth’’ and Ed McBain’s ‘’King’s Ransom.’’

He was a master of both of the most popular Japanese film genres of his era, the jidai-geki (a costume-action film involving

medieval samurai) and the gendai-geki (a more realistic, often domestic drama rooted in contemporary Japanese life).

In her introduction to ‘’Voices from the Japanese Cinema’’ (1975), Joan Mellen wrote: ‘’It is possible to draw a line from Kurosawa’s finest film, ‘Seven Samurai,’ which Donald Richie has called the greatest Japanese film ever made, back to Daisuke Ito’s ‘Man-Slashing, Horse-Piercing Sword’ in 1930. But if Ito created the genre of jidai-geki, Kurosawa perfected the form and gave it so deep a historical resonance that each of his jidai-geki has contained within it the entire progress of Japan from feudal to modern times.’’

Kurosawa chafed when Japanese critics described his work as too Western. ‘’I collect old Japanese lacquerware as well as antique French and Dutch glassware,’’ he said. ‘’In short, the Western and the Japanese live side by side in my mind naturally, without the least bit of conflict.’’

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Stories of his perfectionism are plentiful.

He once halted production to reconstruct a hugely expensive medieval set because he noticed a nail head was barely visible in one shot. For the climax of ‘’Throne of Blood,’’ his 1957 samurai version of ‘’Macbeth,’’ he insisted that his star, Toshiro Mifune, wear a protective vest and perform the scene while being shot with real arrows.

On the set, where he rarely brooked dissent, Kurosawa developed his own technique for filmmaking that allowed him to edit each day’s scenes that night and be finished with a rough draft of the film within hours of shooting the final scene.

He rehearsed all of the scenes meticulously, sometimes for weeks, then shoot them from beginning to end, using three cameras positioned at strategic points. ‘’I put the A camera in the most orthodox positions, use the B camera for quick, decisive shots and the C camera as a kind of guerrilla unit,’’ he said.

This is quite different from the way films are normally made, beginning with a ‘’master shot’’ that is then augmented with close-ups and reverse-angle shots that are pieced together into a final version. Kurosawa wanted his scenes to be a record of a single performance. ‘’The editing stage is really, for me, a breeze,’’ he said. ‘’Every day, I edit the rushes together, so that by the time I am finished shooting, what is called the initial assembly is already completed. It’s not all that bad.

I just stay for maybe an hour or an hour and a half after everyone has left. That’s all it takes me.’’

While he was quite strict with his technical crew, Kurosawa was more patient with actors. ‘’It is really strange,’’ said Shiro Miroya, one of Kurosawa’s assistant directors. ‘’Kurosawa, who can be a real demon at times, when he’ll scream out, ‘The rain isn’t falling like I want it to,’ or ‘That damn wind isn’t blowing the dust right,’ is always so terribly gentle with actors.’’

Kurosawa described his approach this way: ‘’Unless you can see, as an actor, what the director is trying to express simply by how he looks and acts himself, you are going to miss the finer points. When my cast and I are on location, we always eat together, sleep in the same rooms, are constantly

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talking together. As you might say, here is where I direct.’’

Though internationally renowned, Kurosawa was not much of a globe-trotter. He spent most of his time, when not working at his Tokyo studio, at the nearby home that he shared with his wife, Yoko Yaguchi, a former actress, who died in 1984. They had one son, Hisao, and one daughter, Kuzuko, both of whom survive him.

Financial reversals following the release of ‘’Dodeskaden’’ in 1970 combined with a persistent and painful ailment (later diagnosed as gallstones) led him to attempt suicide in 1971. Though he recovered, he seemed changed. After having made 19 films between 1946 and 1965, he made only 6 in the 28 years following ‘’Dodeskaden,’’ although two of them are considered among his finest works: the historical epics ‘’Kagemusha’’ (1980), centered on a thief in feudal Japan

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RAN 53

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who assumes a dead man’s identity and becomes heroic, and ‘’Ran’’ (1985).

His final films, ‘’Rhapsody in August’’ (1990) and ‘’Madadayo’’ (1993), were poorly received and struck many as containing a new, strident note of Japanese nationalism.

But his influence on American filmmakers continued unabated.

In 1960, Kurosawa’s ‘’Seven Samurai’’ was remade by the director John Sturges as ‘’The Magnificent Seven.’’ In 1964, ‘’Rashomon’’ was remade by Martin Ritt as ‘’The Outrage.’’ In 1964, ‘’Yojimbo’’ was remade

by Sergio Leone as ‘’A Fistful of Dollars,’’ then remade again in 1996 by Walter Hill as ‘’Last Man Standing.’’

THRONE OF BLOOD

RASHOMON

And George Lucas has acknowledged ‘’The Hidden Fortress,’’ a 1958 adventure by Mr. Kurosawa in which a princess is escorted to freedom with the help of two bickering peasants, as one of the inspirations for his ‘’Star Wars’’ series, in which he replaced the peasants with two bickering robots.

Akira Kurosawa was born in Tokyo on 23rd March, 1910. His father was a former military officer who had become an athletic instructor at the Imperial Army’s Toyama Academy. His mother had come from a well-to-do merchant family. ‘’My mother was a very gentle woman,’’ Kurosawa said, ‘’But my father was quite severe.’’

The Kurosawa family had once been in the feudal nobility, tracing its lineage to a legendary 11th century samurai, Abe Sadato.

But they had been living in Tokyo for four 54

generations by the time Akira was born and no longer had wealth or status.

Akira was the youngest of four sisters and four brothers. In the book he wrote about the first decades of his life, ‘’Something Like an Autobiography,’’ he remembered himself as ‘’a crybaby and a real little operator.’’ He also suffered from periodic seizures caused by a form of epilepsy.

While Kurosawa was in his second year of primary school, the family moved to the neighborhood of Edogawa and he entered the Kuroda School, where a charismatic teacher inspired an interest in painting.

Kurosawa’s father encouraged this, but the family often did not have enough money to buy art supplies. Later, Akira moved on to a more militaristic middle school and gravitated toward a brother, Heigo, who shared his interest in art. Heigo, who was four years older than Akira, did not get along with their

father and no longer lived at home.

Without his father’s knowledge, Akira spent much of his time with Heigo during his teen-age years. Heigo was very interested in a traditional form of storytelling known as kodan, which featured tales of samurai and often involved intricate, stylized swordplay.

But what Akira remembered most about those years was going to the movies with his brother, who had taken a job as a benshi, or silent-film narrator. ‘’We would go to the movies, particularly silent movies, and then discuss them all day,’’ Kurosawa later wrote. ‘’I began to love to read books, especially Dostoyevsky, and I can remember when we went to see Abel Gance’s ‘La Roue’ and it was the first film that really influenced me and made me think of wanting to become a filmmaker.’’

When sound came to films, Heigo lost his livelihood. Shortly thereafter, with what at the time seemed to Akira to be no warning, Heigo went on a trip to the mountains outside Tokyo and killed himself. ‘’I clearly remember the day before he committed suicide,’’ Kurosawa wrote. ‘’He had taken me to a movie in the Yamate district and afterward said that that was all for today, that I should go home. We parted at Shin Okubo station. He started up the stairs and I had started to walk off, then he stopped and called me back. He looked at me, looked into my eyes, and then we parted. I know now what he must have been feeling.’’

Akira enrolled in the Doshusha School of Western Painting in 1927 and tried to supplement the family’s income with his work, but was never able to make much money. Finally, he postponed his hopes of becoming a serious artist and took piecework for magazines and cookbook publishers.

In 1936, desperate for cash, he noticed a small advertisement for Tokyo’s P.C.L. Studios, which later became the Toho Film Production Company. It was looking for a half-dozen young men interested in becoming apprentice assistant directors.

All applicants -- there were 500 of them -- were asked to present themselves for an interview and to bring along an essay they had written on ‘’The Basic Defects of the Japanese Film Industry.’’ Armed with his own essay, a 26-year-old Kurosawa found himself facing Kajiro Yamamoto, then the most prominent film director in Japan.

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Yamamoto later remembered the young Kurosawa as extremely intelligent and refreshingly honest. He recommended that Kurosawa be hired and, shortly afterward, took the young man under his wing.

Kurosawa worked as Yamamoto’s assistant for seven years. Finally, in 1943, he was given the chance to direct his first film, ‘’Sanshiro Sugata,’’ a slick judo adventure aimed at the popular market. It was a box-office smash in wartime Tokyo. Kurosawa followed it with ‘’The Most Beautiful,’’ a blending of documentary and dramatic scenes about Japanese women working in factories, and ‘’Sanshiro Sugata, Part II,’’ another huge hit.

He also made ‘’The Men Who Tread on the Tiger’s Tail’’ at that time, but it was not released until 1952. ‘’During the war, I hungered for the beautiful,’’ Kurosawa said. ‘’I therefore drowned myself in the world of Japanese traditional beauty. I perhaps wanted to flee from reality, but through these experiences I learned and absorbed more than I could ever express.’’

After the war, Kurosawa found traditional, stylized storytelling too confining and hungered for realism and the kind of filmmaking he saw in the works of Roberto Rossellini and Vittorio De Sica.

In 1946, Kurosawa directed ‘’No Regrets for Our Youth,’’ about persecutions in postwar Tokyo by elements in the Japanese right wing. ‘’It was the first film in which I had something to say and in which my feelings were used,’’ Kurosawa said.

Two years later, he made ‘’Drunken Angel,’’ a crusading drama about an alcoholic doctor in the Tokyo slums. The film made his critical reputation in Japan.

In 1950, Kurosawa released ‘’Rashomon’’ in Tokyo. The Japanese critics thought it a commendable though not exemplary work, nowhere near the director’s best.

Nevertheless, the film won the Venice Film Festival’s grand prize and an Academy Award as best foreign-language movie. Its success made Kurosawa Japan’s most famous and popular filmmaker. ‘’For the Japanese people, who had lost the war as well as their pride, this meant immeasurable encouragement and hope,’’ Kurosawa said.

His next film, a strange adaptation of ‘’The Idiot’’ by Dostoyevsky, was poorly rece-

ived. But he followed it, in 1952, with ‘’Ikiru,’’ which some consider his finest work. ‘’Ikiru,’’ which means ‘’to live,’’ is entirely unlike the later samurai epics that would cement his international reputation. Set in contemporary Tokyo, it follows a joyless, dying bureaucrat, memorably played by Takashi Shimura, who decides to help slum parents build a playground. The film was immediately recognized as a great work, both in Japan and abroad.

But it was soon overshadowed.

In 1953, the Allied occupation forces rescinded the restrictions on the making of

Kurosawa struck many as cold and distant, even hostile. To some, he seemed to shrug off the film, saying he would rather have made ‘’Ran,’’ an epic version of ‘’King Lear.’’ But the success of ‘’Kagemusha’’ made ‘’Ran’’ possible.

When he returned to the New York Film Festival in 1985 with ‘’Ran,’’ he seemed a changed man: friendlier, more relaxed, even granting a handful of interviews. ‘’As my son frequently says to me now,’’ Kurosawa said in one of those interviews, ‘’ ‘Dad, you have changed completely. You are a much more relaxed, open person than you were.’ I am not sure why this is. It is simply a greater degree of relaxation and

SEVEN SAMURAI

films and the freedom stirred an amazing burst of creativity. In that one year alone, Yasujiro Ozu made ‘’The Tokyo Story.’’ Kenji Mizoguchi made ‘’Ugetsu,’’ Kon Ichikawa made ‘’Mr. Pu,’’ and Akira Kurosawa made ‘’Seven Samurai.’’ It was the high-water mark of Japanese filmmaking.

Kurosawa’s four-hour epic, often referred to as among the greatest action films ever made, tells the story of down-on-their-luck samurai who agree to defend a small village from bandits.

Though he had a major international success in 1974 with ‘’Dersu Uzala,’’ a Soviet production about the friendship between a Russian explorer and a Manchurian hunter, he remained elusive and incommunicative.

It won the 1975 Academy Award for best foreign-language film.

Even in 1980, at the premiere of ‘’Kagemusha’’ at the New York Film Festival,

peace with myself, not having the tension that I had before.’’

Though he often diverted the conversation when asked about his approach to filmmaking, Kurosawa frequently described his attitude toward art in similar terms. ‘’To be an artist,’’ he once said, ‘’means never to avert one’s eyes.’’

Kurosawa also once described a trip he made with his brother, Heigo, through the ruins of Tokyo after a massive earthquake in 1923. More than 140,000 people died in the fires that followed the quake. But as the pair moved through the ruins, Mr. Kurosawa said, his brother insisted that the young Akira look closely at the charred corpses. ‘’If you shut your eyes to a frightening sight, you end up being frightened,’’ Akira remembered Heigo telling him. ‘’If you look at everything straight on, there is nothing to be afraid of.’’

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CULTURAL EXCHANGE - HANAMI

Sincere Friendship Connects Us With Japan The Vršac-based “Hanami” Association is preparing numerous cultural and sporting events that will commemorate the 140 years of unbreakable and sincere friendship between Serbia and Japan

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tanding behind “Hanami” and everything it does is a special woman, Adrijana Barši, a medal winner in Japanese fencing and a fan of the Land of the Rising Sun, Japanese culture, art, language and customs.

The Goshinkan Club of Japanese Martial Arts and Sports from Vršac has brought guests from Japan to Serbia every year since way back in 2005, with those guests promoting sport and their cultural activities.

With many fans of the Land of the Rising Sun having gradually gathered around 56

the club, a need also emerged to organise as many activities as possible that would familiarise not only the citizens of Vršac with Japan, but also Serbia as a whole. It was then that one special woman, Adrijana Barši, decided to form the “Hanami” Association of Serbian-Japanese Friendship.

The association is named after a beautiful Japanese custom that see friends and family come together to enjoy observing flowers, most often the blossoming of the Japanese Sakura cherry, which is one of the symbols of Japan.

CRANES BROUGHT GRANTED WISHES Adrijana organised the first “Days of Japan” event in a desire to connect all friends from Japan and Serbia, recreating the Japanese flag from “Senba Zuru” [a thousand origami cranes]. The members of the Association spent a week folding paper cranes, carefully measuring the proportions between the red circle and the white rectangle.

“Legend has it that everyone who makes a thousand cranes has the right

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for one wish to be granted, and ours was for “Hanami” to one day become what it is today. To be a centre of activities for fans of Japan in Serbia and fans of Serbia in distant Japan,” reveals Adrijana, explaining that in recent years they’ve organised numerous schools of the Japanese language, origami, taiko drums, calligraphy, martial arts, Japanese ceramics courses, haiku poetry evenings, ikebana flower arranging, manga comic strip drawing, competitions in video games, master classes in Japanese music, Japanese cuisine, “Cosplay” parties etc.

All of these activities were free of charge thanks to the support of numerous supporters of the “Hanami” Association, including institutions from Japan, the Serbian ministries of culture & information and youth & sport, provincial secretariats for culture & information and sports & youth, but also the City of Vršac, which has been the host of all activities for 17 years already.

of the ‘sado’ tea ceremony. Attendees learned how green “matcha” tea is used, how it is prepared and what the ceremony that precedes the drinking of the tea looks like,” recounts Mrs Barši proudly.

Our interlocutor adds that an evening of Japanese culture was organised in Novi Sad, in honour of the promotion of the latest hybrid vehicle of company Toyota Tago Car, while concerts of the JapALkan band in Belgrade and Aisa Ijiri and the LP Duo in Tokyo were organised together with the Association for the Promotion of Music Exchanges Between Japan and

TEA DRINKING IS PRECEDED

BY AN ENTIRE CEREMONY Japanese scholar Marijana Rašković Ph.D. led a Japanese language school under the patronage of company Mitsubishi at the Borislav Petrov Braca High School in Vršac. Then, after several years that included numerous successfully organised activities and the great expansion of the network of fans of Japanese culture, she became the programme director and most important link in “Hanami”.

The covid-19 viral pandemic brought a new organising of activities between the two countries, resulting in the first Serbian-Japanese newspaper, called “Hanami”, which is very widely read in both countries. The newspaper covers ordinary people who aren’t often seen in the media, despite contributing significantly to strengthening cooperation between Japan and Serbia. These are artists, athletes, retired diplomats, exchange students etc.

“We are proud of our newspaper, but also of our cooperation with the Faculty of Philology in Belgrade and Milica Jotov Ph.D., thanks to whom we organised educational activities and presentations 57

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WE CELEBRATE 140 YEARS OF FRIENDSHIP IN 2022 Adrijana says that this year is very important, because numerous activities will be organised in both countries to mark the 140th anniversary of friendly relations between Japan and Serbia.

Serbia. Following a series of successful events, the president of this association, Mrs Etusko Tsunozaki, together with “Hanami”, is making preparations for a major concert to be held in Tokyo this November by Japanese pianist Aisa Ijiri and Serbian trumpeter Danijela Veselinović.

MUĆKALICA STEW ARRIVES ON JAPANESE SUPERMARKET SHELVES “While we’re on the topic of music, I can’t fail to mention that we organised a concert in Vršac in cooperation with the Embassy of Japan, which secured the arrival of Yosuke Irie, a great star of the shakuhachi bamboo flute. This occasion provided the pupils of the Vršac Music School with an opportunity to try to produce sound on this traditional Japanese instrument. Together with Yuko Yoshikai, the Japanese girl who played a Serbian trumpet at the Guča Trumpet Festival wearing a kimono, we published a large number of articles, organised a series of educational sessions and concerts, while the most interesting fact is that she wrote a book about the Serbian trumpet in Japanese,” says Adrijana, recounting the achievements of the association she heads.

Thanks to the efforts of the association MySerbia.Jp, which promotes Serbia, 58

one Serbian dish found itself on the shelves of supermarkets all over Japan: mućkalica stew. And thanks to Tijana Zdravković, who tirelessly holds lessons on Serbian cuisine, ever more Japanese people are getting acquainted with our culinary delights.

“Hanami” also participated in the Japanese-Serbian Film Festival of actress Jovana Stević, which is being held in Tokyo, Belgrade and Novi Sad, as well as in the organisation of major photography festival “Fotorama”. It is held annually in Kragujevac and brings together a large number of art photographers from all over the world, and particularly from Japan.

“We have created a logo that will promote the good relations between our two countries during all activities. The logo includes the artwork of renowned, multi-award-winning Niten calligraphy artist Sumiko Takei (97) and talented high school pupil from Vršac, Maša Šalinački (16). Sumiko last year donated a valuable work of art, her golden calligraphy on “washi” paper, to the Serbian Embassy in Japan, and Maša has won prestigious art competitions and is a great connoisseur of Japanese pop culture,” notes our interlocutor.

This apparently great contrast in years, 97 and 16, and the contrast between traditional calligraphy and modern pop art, is connected with the circle of “Enso”, which, Adrijana explains, represents a circle of togetherness.

“It is drawn in one stroke as a distorted circle, but actually represents the beauty of imperfection, art without expectations and the beauty of creation in the moment,” explains Mrs Barši, before mentioning some of the events that will be organised by the end of this year.

The Vršac house of famous writer Jovan Sterija Popović will host the first international Serbian-Japanese piano festival “Aisa and friends”, which will be held from 15th to 25 th October and will feature famous Japanese pianist and honorary Steinway artist Aisa Ijiri.

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Music school “Josif Marinković” Vršac performs the Japanese anthem “Kimigayo” The “Aisa and friends” festival will be the largest cultural event commemorating the 140 years of friendship between the two countries, and it will be preceded by a series of concerts in Tokyo, London and Belgrade. Interestingly, in honour of this great jubilee, Ijiri recorded a duet with the princess of the Serbian trumpet, Danijela Veselinović, with motifs from the traditional Serbian song “Igrale se delije”.

The duo achieved great popularity thanks to their collaboration, which is why a concert of these two ladies is planned to be held in Japan this November.

EUROPE’S BEST SAMURAI ARRIVE IN SERBIA The second major event planned for this anniversary year is a sporting competition that will bring the best young samurai in Europe to Serbia for the 12th European Sports Chanbara Championship, which is being organised by the Kendo Federation of Serbia and will be held from 6th to 9th May. The Serbian national team has achieved notable results and is even the top favourite to win medals in some categories.

And to ensure that no one feels left out, a video game called “Nea and Kuki discover Japan” is being prepared for schoolchildren from the first to fifth grades of primary school. The idea for the game is the brainchild of a girl ca-

lled Nea, a great Japan enthusiast who wanted to use the medium of a game to show her friends how to learn the names of Japanese foods, important places in

Japan, basic words for communication...

For older schoolchildren in Japan and Serbia, a bilingual social game, called “Meet our two countries”, is being developed in cooperation with Vršac’s Borislav Petrov Braca High School.

“Over the course of 2022, “Hanami” will host more than a hundred artists from Japan, who will present their work within the framework of our activities across Serbia. It is a great honour for us to have the support of the Embassy of Japan in the Republic of Serbia in our activities. We believe that all great deeds begin with small agreements, which is why great international cooperation is based on personal contacts among ordinary people. May 2022 – as the year in which we celebrate 140 years of friendly relations between Japan and Serbia – bring new acquaintances, new cooperation and new projects, and show that 9,170 km is only a short distance if we have similar interests.”

Winning a medal was the turning point “My sporting career ended with me winning a medal in the Japanese fencing Sport Chanbara at the World Championships in Tokyo in 2015. That was both the pinnacle and the finale of my career. After returning to Serbia, I had a lot of energy, I missed competitions, so I continued my career as a coach. However, I didn’t feel fulfilled enough doing that, so I decided to bring together all fans of Japan, for us to start actively organising the promotion of Japan in Serbia, but also Serbia in Japan.

And the rest is history,” says Adrijana, explaining to us how she came up with the idea of establishing the “Hanami” Association of Serbian-Japanese Friendship.

Adrijana Barši, Founder of “Hanami” Association of Serbian-Japanese Friendship

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