Japanese-Serbian relations

Establishment

King Milan I Obrenovic , the first monarch of Serbia since the recognition of its independence at the Berlin Congress of 1878, after his coronation in March 1882, wrote a letter to the Emperor of Japan Meiji , which marked the beginning of diplomatic correspondence between Serbia and Japan. In that letter, he said that "the great European forces represented at the Berlin Congress on July 13, 1878 unanimously recognized the independence of Serbia." The letter has been translated into French and Japanese ^[1] .

In the future, Serbia and Japan developed their relations through the mediation of Russia, but they were not officially established. Some of the subjects of Serbia participated in the Russo-Japanese War : for example, Prince Arsen Karageorgievich , who served in the Cossack regiment with the rank of esaul and was awarded the Golden Weapon “For Courage” .

World Wars

In 1914, Serbia entered the First World War , as did Japan. The Japanese sent material assistance through Russia to Serbia, condemning the aggression of Austria-Hungary, Germany and Bulgaria. After the occupation of Serbia, the Japanese focused on fighting in Asia. Relations between the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and the Japanese Empire rapidly deteriorated after Japan entered the Anti-Comintern Pact , and after Yugoslavia was attacked and entered the Second World War, all Yugoslav diplomats were expelled from Japan. During the war in Tokyo, the Yugoslav intelligence officer Branko Vukelic worked closely with Richard Sorge .

The restoration of relations occurred only under Josip Broz Tito in 1952 ^[2] , who managed to build friendly relations with Japan and visited this country in 1968. In the late 1950s, the first friendship treaty was concluded between Japan and the SFRY. Since 1991, the successor to the SFRY was considered Third Yugoslavia, and now the Republic of Serbia.

Modern Development

Japan is considered Serbia’s largest trading partner in Asia ^[3] : in 1999, the Japanese donated an amount equivalent to 490 million euros to restore the economy of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia destroyed by the war . In 2003, Japan donated 93 buses to the city of Belgrade ^[4] ; In the same year, the Japan Trade Forum was founded in Serbia and Montenegro. In 2015, trade between the countries amounted to 137 million euros: from January to December, goods worth 98.8 million euros were imported from Japan to Serbia, and goods worth 38.2 million euros were imported from Serbia to Japan. In 2016, these figures amounted to 74.7 million euros and 44 million euros, respectively.

Despite friendly relations, Japan recognized the independence of the Republic of Kosovo and supported the initiative for Kosovo to join UNESCO in 2015.

Japan has a fairly large Serbian community: most of them are players who play in amateur teams or professional clubs of the J-League. Serbia had a great influence on Japanese manga comics and anime series, in which characters with Serbian roots are often found. So, the heroine of the anime Ansatsu Kyoushitsu and the film of the same name is a Serb Irina Elavich, presented as a killer (in the full-length film, her role was played by the South Korean actress Kang Chi Young ^[5] ).

In 1991, the slogan “ Serbia to Tokyo ” Appeared in Yugoslavia "Thanks to the victory of the Crvena Zvezda football club in the 1991 Intercontinental Cup draw held in Tokyo, which increased the Japanese interest in Yugoslav and Serbian culture.

Japanese Ambassadors

• Masafumi Kuroki
• Tadashi Nagai (2005-2009)

Ambassadors of Serbia

• Nenad Glishich
• Boyana Adamovich-Dragovich (since 2011)
• Ivan Mrkich (2006—2011)
• Predrag Filipov (2001-2006)
• Radoslav Bulaich
• Elijah Topalovsky (1982-1986)
• Krsto Bulaic (1967—)
• Vladimir Rolovich
• Lazar Latinovich
• Maximilian Bache (until 1954)

• Embassy of Serbia in Japan (Tokyo) (Serb.)
• Embassy of Japan in Serbia
• Јapanac Krsten at Old Slankamenu (“Evening News”, April 30, 2016) (Serb.)
• Beogradske case: Is the Chuvar of Pechat ruinous? (“Evening News”, July 8, 2016) (Serb.)