The Embassy of Serbia in Tokyo organized several events throughout the month of October in Japanese education institutions to present Serbia's profile. In addition to information on the country's geography and history, the events also featured Serbian culture and sports with culinary specialties on offer.

At one of the most prestigious Japanese institutions of higher education, Meiji University, the sixth lecture in a row on Serbia was held, which has become a tradition. At the invitation of Professor Koichi Toyokawa from the School of Arts and Letters, an Embassy representative, Tijana Nagato on 17 October held a presentation at this university entitled "Culture and Customs of Serbia" in Japanese. She spoke of Serbian cultural heritage, customs related to Christmas, Easter and family patron saint celebrations and provided information on major music festivals, folk dances and historical ties between Serbia and Japan. Video prepared by the Tourism Organization of Serbia "The Danube in Serbia" was also screened.



An hour-long lecture was attended by around thirty students from the European history department. They had a chance to ask questions about the history of Serbia during the First and Second World Wars, the influence of the Ottoman Empire and Austro-Hungarian Monarchy on Serbian culture as well as on issues related to the Serbian Orthodox Church and Christmas-related customs.



On 23 October, in primary and secondary schools of the Japanese city of Fujimi, a sister city of Sabac, during a lunch break the pupils were served Serbian food. According to the recipes provided by our Embassy, children could appreciate stuffed peppers, chicken stew, Serbian-style hamburgers and Russian salad.



On 12 October, Jelena Nikolic and Tijana Nagato conducted a presentation on Serbia in junior high school Ebara Dai-ichi in Tokyo. The pupils learned how to introduce themselves, to say hello and thank you in Serbian.



School Principal Takuma Komiyama thanked the Embassy for cooperation and said that this was the first visit ever by any Embassy representatives to this school. Ebara Dai-ichi School has more than 500 pupils and is the oldest junior high school in the municipality of Shinagawa, with 70 years long tradition. The school management wishes to encourage its pupils to get to know other cultures and countries. The school's motto is "We are all different, we are all good".



A representative of the Shinagawa municipality in charge of education and preparations for the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020, Ms Matsumi Kimura also attended the presentation.