At a ceremony hosted by the Embassy of Serbia in Tokyo, on 12 April, Ambassador Nenad Glisic presented a gold medal to Mrs Etsuko Tsunozaki, Chairperson of the Association for the Promotion of Music Exchange between Serbia and Japan and a member of the Japan-Serbia Society, for a long-standing contribution to the promotion of our country in Japan.

Ambassador Glisic highlighted the commitment of Etsuko Tsunozaki to the promotion of music and cultural cooperation between the two countries over a period of more than a decade, as well as her participation in various humanitarian events and programs both in Serbia and Japan. He underlined, in particular, her role as spouse of an Ambassador of Japan in Belgrade, in organizing numerous events and concerts she took part in also as an artist, and the fact that her activities of connecting the two countries continued after her return to Japan.



Etsuko Tsunozaki thanked for the recognition which she said was a great honour to her, saying she could not have achieved anything without the unselfish support of many people, including Ambassador Glisic and the Serbian Embassy in Tokyo. She expressed special gratitude to all citizens of Serbia who, following a devastating earthquake and tsunami in 2011, offered assistance to Japan, which she witnessed herself while still being in Serbia at the time.



The President of the Japan chapter of the World Piano Teachers Association, Rika Fukuda, played the national anthems of Serbia and Japan on the piano, while students of Tokyo University of Foreign Studies dressed in national costumes danced a series of folk dances. It is a folk group that has been successfully performing our national dances for many years, the first members of which visited Serbia and attended in the workshops with Branko Cvetkovic Cultural and Art Society thanks to the efforts of Etsuko Tsunozaki.


President of the Japan-Serbia Society and honorary citizen of Belgrade, Tadashi Nagai, said that Serbia was still not known enough in Japan, but that thanks to the advocacy of Etsuko Tsunozaki in the promotion of Serbian culture, especially Serbian music, it was becoming visible for many Japanese citizens. At the reception, guests were served traditional Serbian dishes and drinks.