JAPAN - CROATIA,
JEWELS

Darko Zubrinic, Zagreb, 2005

If we measure the quality (and popularity) of haiku poetry by a number of international prizes, then Croatia can be ranked very high: immediately after Japan and the USA (1993, 1995). This is due to continuous efforts and enthusiasm of Vladimir Devidé (1925-2010), a well known Croatian mathematician and japanologist. He obtained a prestigeous Japanese "Order of Sacred Treasure'' - Konsanto Zuihosho.

Order of the Sacred Treasure - Konsantõ Zuihôshõ, which Vladimir Devidé received from the Japanese Government in 1983

Japanese Princess Michiko, wife of Crown Prince Akihito (in 1989 they became Empress and Emperor of Japan), receiving a gift from professor Vladimir Devidé in Cavtat near Dubrovnik, June 12th, 1976. The gift was his book Japanska haiku poezija i njen kulturno-povijesni okvir (Japanese Haiku Poetry and its Cultural and Historical Framework), issued in Zagreb in 1976, published in Croatian.

Here is his haiku related to the aggression on Croatia written in 1991:

A small pool of blood -
Chilled in air raid:
little girl and her huge doll

In the burned-out village
a wounded stray dog
sniffing charred bones

The first competition in Croatia in haiku poetry among primary school children was organized in 1986, on the occasion of the grand exhibition Kyoto - svijet kulture (Kyoto - World of Culture) in Zagreb. About 500 children throughout Croatia participated. Kyoto and Zagreb are sister cities since 1972.

Academician Vladimir Devide discussing and reading haiku with childrenin Croatia

Haiku in Croatia

2nd Vladimir Devidé Haiku Award - Open Haiku Competition - deadline March 1, 2012

Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) defended his patents in 24 countries. One of his patents were defended in Japan in 1912.

It seems that a well known tune "U boj, u boj" from the opera Nikola Subic Zrinski by Ivan Zajc is taught in Japanese schools. Information by Mr. Nenad Bach, New York. Professor Vladimir Devidé, japanologist from Zagreb, considers this very probable: he remembered a very young boy walking on a Tokyo street Komaba, wearing a huge rucksack filled with books, and whistling the familiar melody - "U boj, u boj"! (personal information, 2004).

December 8, 2007, Tokyo, OAZO, Waseda University Glee Club singing U BOJ, U BOJ at the charity concert for refugee children. Source durianjp.com.jp

The web page "U boj, u boj" has been prepared for Japanese readers, with historical account, where you can listen to the tune performed by Japanese choire singing in Croatian! (Provided by Kwansei Gakuin Glee Club).

Listen to U BOJ, U BOJ (6MB), sung by Japanese choir in Croatian

"U Boj" STORY (in Japanese)

U boj! Kwansei-Gakuin Choir in Zagreb, Croatia, 11th September 2014.

Los Angeles Men's Glee Club sings U Boj!
at Croatian Cultural Extravaganza, Warner Grand Theatre, San Pedro, California, USA

"L.A. Men's Glee Club" has a website: www.laglee.org. Many thanks to Ms Heidi Granic, director of St Anthony's Tamburica & Kolo Club Croatia in Los Angeles, and to Nenad Bach.

Josip Mikulec, Croatian Globe Trotter, walked through Japan, China, India, South America, etc., collecting signatures of famous people in his huge book.

 
On the right, in Japanese:
The tenth year of DAZHENG (this is a way to count in Japan in one dynasty, and the related year is 1921).
Information by the courtesy of Ms Wang Mu from the Croatian program of Chinese Radio International.

It is interesting and little known that in Japan there exist two recordings of Vlaho Paljetak's well known song Marijana - in the Japanese language! I had opportunity to listen them on two records issued in Japan, when I visited Mr. Mario Kinel in his appartment in Zagreb (Mr. Kinel was a well known pop-music composer and translator; he even translated Vu plavem trnaci into Italian and German). Of course, out of Japanese verses I understood only - Marijana.

O Marijana (see bottom on the right), issued in Japan in 1976, sung by Seiji Tanaka, Japanese pop singer born in 1947.

Marijana is also very popular in Czechia. It was included in both Croatian original and Czech translation into the book "Svetove Evergreeny" (World's Evergreens), published in Prague in 2000 (Petr Jansky - MUSIC CHEB).

We invite you to listen to Vlaho Paljetak's tune O, MARIJANA, sung by Seiji Tanaka in Japanese and Croatian, recorded in 1976:

By the courtesy of Dr. Drago Stambuk, Croatian ambassador in Tokyo.

Vlaho Paljetak (1893-1944), born in Dubrovnik, on the photo and on the stamp. His Marijana is sung not only in Croatia, but also in Japan.

Izumi Yamaguchi, Japanese pop and jazz singer, surprized us all with her beautiful interpretation of a popular Croatian song Četiri stađuna (Four Seasons), which she sings in Croatian language. The song is orginally performed by Meri Cetinić, composed by Zdenko Runjić, and the accompaning text written by Tomislav Zuppa. See also the CROWN.

Ivo Robic (1923-2000), a famous Croatian pop singer, in Japan

RADOJKA ŠVERKO - Let My Heart Keep Singing (WPSF1976 TOKYO, Japan)
Radojka Šverko, the great Croatian singer, and the song LET MY HEART KEEP SINGING, which she preformed at the WORLD POPULAR SONG FESTIVAL 1976 in TOKYO. This is a video from a Croatian TV SHOW.

Lovro von Matacic, one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century (1899-1985), started his career in 1919 as conductor of orchestras in Osijek, Novi Sad, Ljubljana, Belgrade, Riga, and in Zagreb in 1932. From 1942-1945 he was conductor of the Vienna Opera.

After 1945 he was imprisoned by the Yugoslav communist regime, and together with Croatian poet Tin Ujevic and painter Kristian Krekovic sentenced to confiscation of all movable and immovable property.

In 1950's he became organizer of Festivals in Dubrovnik and Split. In 1956 Matacic moved to Germany to conduct East Berlin Opera and the famous Dresden Staatskapelle, then conducted at Bayreuth in 1959, and from 1961 to 1966 was Gereralmuikdirektor in Frakfurt. He was also guest conductor in Vienna Opera, Milan Scala, in Chicago, Naples, Palermo, Rome, London, Cleveland, Tokyo, Prague, etc., and was elected the honorary director of the Japanese Orchestra in Tokyo.

From 1970 to 1980 he was conductor and artistic director of the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, and almost simultanesously from 1973 to 1979 had the same role in the Monte Carlo Orchestra.

Miroslav Miletic, viola player, founded the Pro Arte string quartet in Zagreb, which in 1970's was among 10 best string quartets in the world. Among his numerous students was Hiroshi Hirano, violist from Japan (Tokyo). As a composer he promoted Croatian folklore and church music (in particular from the island of Hvar). He considers the Croatian folklore music the most beautiful and the richest in the world. In 1975, accompanied by the Leningrad philharmony, he played his Viola concert. Maestro Miletic collaborated also with K. Stockhausen on electronic music. He has his works published at Schott, Berben, Meckverlag, Pizzicatto etc, and an LP issued in the USA.

Distinguished Japanese conductor Kazushi Ono was the Chief Conductor of the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra during six years, from 1990 to 1996. This was one of the most difficult periods of Croatia's past. When he arrived to Zagreb in 1990, he was at the age of 30.

Croatian violoncellist Monika Leskovar (1981) is winner of the prestigeous Tchaikovsky competition in Japan for 1995 (a student of maestro Valter Despalj), the third prize at the 1997 Rostropovic competition in Paris, the second prize at the 1998 Eurovision contest for young instrumentalists, winner of the 1999 Roberto Caruana competition in Milano, Italy, the second prize at the famous ARD competition in 2001.

Nenad Bach's work and his life story have been featured on all the major US TV networks (CBS, ABC, NBC), on CNN, on Sky Channel, and on TV channels in Russia, France, Germany, Italy, Great Britain, Spain, Japan, and many other countries.

Dragutin Šurbek is a famous Croatian ping-pong player, who had many encounters with Japanese table tenis players, among them with the legendary I. Ogimura. One of those who knew him in person was another legendary Croatian ping-pong player (and the university professor of biochemistry), dr. Žarko Dolinar. See the photos below from the invitation of dr. on the occasion of his 80th birthday, dedicated to the memory of I. Ogimura.

In memoriam I. Ogimura. Photo by the courtesy of Mr. Dragutin Šurbek.

Among Croatian Latinists and writers in Croatian a central place is occupied by Marko Marulic, who is the "father of Croatian literature" (born in Split, 1450-1524). He was the most famous spiritual writer of his time in Europe, and also the first who defined and used the notion of `psychology', which is today in current use.

His book De institutione bene vivendi (six volumes, 64 chapters), published in Venice in 1506, had fifteen editions until 1686 and was translated from Latin into

• Italian,
• German (five editions between 1583 and 1614, all in Köln, in parts already in 1568),
• French (7 editions, the first in 1585),
• Japanese (in Nagasaki, in parts, 1585) ,
• Portuguese and Czech,

altogether 40 editions.

It is well known that St. Francis Xaver had taken only two books on his long pilgrimage to the East (India, Japan and China): the Bible and De institutione. Furthermore, in his testament St. Francis Xaver asked that Marulic's book be burried with him. Therefore we may conclude that Marulic was a spiritual father of St. Francis Xaver.

St. Francis Xaver's personal sample of Marulic's book was kept in Madrid in a collection of valuables until 1937, when it had dissapeared. St. Ignazio Loyola included De Insitutione into the list of basic references for the formation of Jesuits.

Marulic left us many beautiful verses and the epic poem Judita written in the Croatian language, for which he sais expressly to be written in the Croatian verses (versi harvatski). Some of his original verses are held in Glasgow (GB). His Judith was translated into English, Hungarian, French, Italian, and some parts into Spanish. Marulic translated from Latin into Croatian the famous "De imitatione Christi" by Thoma de Kempis.

The original Marulic's manuscript of "De institutione bene vivendi" has been stolen from the Croatian National Library in Zagreb around 1980. Any information about this would be appreciated.

According to investigations of a French specialist Charles Béné, Marulic's texts have been used extensively by Thomas More and Henry VIII. It is known that Marulic's "Evangelistarium" that was read by Henry VIII bears many comments by the King. It is considered that two of the king's three literary works were written under the influence of Marko Marulic. Marulic's poem "Carmen de Doctrina Domini Nostri Jesu Christi pendentis in cruce" was translated into English as "A Dialogue betwext a Christian and Christ hanging on the Crosse" by Philip Howard, Earl of Arundel (1557-1595).

According to C. Verdiani, Marulic is also the author of the Florence Codex, which contains a biography of St Jerome written in the Croatian language. There he wrote St Jerome is our Dalmatian, a glory, honour and fame, and brilliant crown of the Croatian language. In Croatian: Jerolim je nass Dalmatin, on je dika, posstenje i slava i svitla kruna hrvatskoga jezika. It is worth mentioning that preserved manuscripts of Marko Marulic show that he also used the cursive glagolitic script. Marko Marulic sent a dramatic letter to the Pope Hadrian VI, describing an extremely tragic position of the Croats threatened by the onslaughts of the Ottoman Empire and asking for help. His books were known not only in the whole of Europe, but also in Japan (in the 16th century) and South America. For example, parts of De institutione bene vivendi were translated into Japanese already in 1585, published in parts in Nagasaki under the title Sanctos no gosayuno, see Franolic (he mentions 1595 instead of 1585).

When St. Francis Xaver arrived to Kogoshima in Japan in 1549, he also brought Marulic's "De insitutione bene vivendi". According to bishop Hamao from Yokohama, president of Japanese Bishop's Conference and of Asian Caritas, the formation of earliest Japanese Christians had been very probably based on the spirituality of Marulic. See here (in Croatian).

It is interesting that in Berlin a monument of Marko Marulic was set up in 2000. In the Library of Congress, Washington, a symposium was held devoted to his work.

IT WOULD BE OF GREAT INTEREST TO HAVE A PHOTO OF THE FRONT PAGE OF MARULIC'S BOOK PUBLISHED IN JAPAN IN 1585.

Anthony Maglica, holder of hundreds of patents and trademarks, founded Mag Instrument, Inc, in Los Angeles in 1955, and designed Mag-Lite flashlight, which is now an American product icon, among 100 top products that "America makes best". The Maglite products have been honoured by the Japan Institute of Design and the Museum for Applied Art in Germany. Mag Instrument donated thousands of flashlights to aid in the rescue efforts at the World Trade Center and Pentagon in 2001. Born in New York, and as a child raised in Croatia, Tony Maglica has plenty of other interests which include also Zlarin, Croatia, where he grew up.

The SUVAG center for voice transmission for reeducation of speach disorders and deafness has been founded in Zagreb in 1961 by Academician Petar Guberina (1913-2005). The name of SUVAG is coined from Systeme Universel Verbotonal d'Audition Guberina.

His books were translated into many languages, including Arabic and Japanese. In France, he was awarded the Legion of Honour: Knighthood in 1968, the Officer's Cross in 1989, which he was awarded in main quadrangle of the Sorbonne in Paris.

Danilo Blanusa (1903-1987), Croatian mathematician, professor at the University of Zagreb, was born in Osijek. He discovered a mistake in relations for absolute heat Q and temperature T in relativistic phenomenological thermodynamics, published by Max Planck in Annalen der Physik in 1908. This result that he published in Glasnik mat.-fiz i astr., 2/1947 in his article "Sur les paradoxes de la notion d'énergie", was rediscovered 13 years later by Heinrich Ott, and published in "Zeitschrift für Physik" in 1963. It is already time to correct wrong attribution of this discovery to Heinrich Ott in the scientific literature, since Blanusa's priority is indisputable.

Blanusa's most important work is related to isometric immersions of two-dimensional Lobacevski plane into six-dimensional Euclidean space and generalizations. This result is included in authoritative Japanese mathematical encyclopedia Sugaku jiten published by Iwanami shoten, Tokyo, 1962, p. 612. His work about imbeddings of hyperbolic spaces into Euclidean spaces has been cited in 1956 by John Nash (well known mathematician, Nobel prize for economy; Blanusa is cited in his paper "The imbedding problem for Riemannian manifolds", Annals of Mathematics, Vol 63, No. 1, 1956, pp. 20-63).

The Baroque art in the Croatian north is described by a famous Japanese photographer Keiichi Tahara:

Quand un ami française m'a conseillé d'aller voir les églises baroques en Croatie...je n'ai pratiquement rien trouvé sur ce sujet. Cela m'a paru étrange, et j'ai cédé a la tentation...

Keiichi Tahara: Les Anges de Croatie, éd. Assouline, Paris, 1995 (Baroque art of the Croatian north), translated into Croatian under the title Pamcenje andjela, Nakladni zavod Globus, Zagreb, 1996.

Mrs. Masumi Shimooka Štiglić is a Japanese living in Zagreb since 1970. Her husband is Croatian. When a Japanese delegation visited Zagreb during the International Folklore Festival in the 1970s, then the organizers prepared a big surprise for them: Mrs. Shimooka Štiglić, dressed in her solemn kimono, was among Croatian hosts at the Zagreb airport, when the Japanese delegation arrived. In Zagreb, she is teaching ikebana and traditional Japanese cooking.

Ivan Rabuzin (1921-2008) designed a curtain decorating the stage of one of the best Kyoto theaters (Japan), as well as the Takarazuka Theatre in Tokyo (10.5 x 24 m, 1980), and several other museums in Japan: Sategaya Art Museum in Tokyo, Saitama Museum of Modern Art in Urawa, Isetan. He also had exhibitions at Daimaru and Shinsabashi in Osaka.

A detial from Ivan Rabuzin's drop curtain in Takarazuka Theatre in Tokyo. Photos from Croatia, homeland of Marco Polo,
Croatian national tourist board, 2008.

Many thanks to Mrs. Lana Filippi Brkić for her kind permission to take the photo from her office in the city of Korčula.
The photo represents the Takarazuka Theatre in Tokyo.

The above mentioned ceremonial drop curtain at the Takarazuka theatre in Tokyo was produced by the Heizo Tatsamura Institute, Textiles Arts Kyoto, in 1979 and 1980. Twenty four weavers were working for three months to make it. Among other materials, 30 kg of gold thread was used. Moritani Shiro produced a film about Rabuzin's ceremonial drop curtain. This information is from Croatia, homeland of Marco Polo, Croatian national tourist board, 2008.

Since 1976 his designs are used by "Rosenthal", renowned producer of procelain ware. He is also a member of the Croatian Parliament (Sabor). It is interesting that Rabuzin's father was a miner, while his mother was blind. His art was exhibited throughout the world: Zagreb, Paris, Antibes, Zurich, Milano, USA (Louisiana, Smithsonian Institution, Carnegie Insitute Museum of Art, Scottsdale Center for the Arts, Milwaukee Museum Art Center, Chicago Public Library, C.W. Post Art Galery/Long Island University, Pittsburgh), Oslo, Munich, Dusseldorf, Amsterdam, Verona, Brescia, Florence, Tokyo, Osaka, Geneva, Cologne, London, etc.

As many as 10 films have been made about Rabuzin's work, including one in Japan (Moritani Shiro, Kyoto). Amonog 13 monographs devoted to his work we mention only the following one: Masayoshi Honme, Ivan Rabuzin / Taiji Harada, 1990, published by Kodanasha, Japan.

www.rabuzin.com

Lace Tent is an interesting project initiated by Akiko Sato, a japanese artist (photographer). The tent measures 3x2 meters. In order to finish it, ten local lace-makers worked for two monts, six hours a day. The project has been supported by the Embassy of Japan in Croatia and by the City of Lepoglava, and the project has been realized in 2007, in the presence of H.E. Mr Shirakawa, ambassador of Japan in Croatia, and his wife. One lace tent is kept in the City Museum in Lepoglava, and another in Japan.

Akiko Sato enjoying in her Croatian lace tent in Lepoglava.
Source Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia

Akiko Sato (3rd from the right) with Lepoglava women

Akiko Sato in Lepoglava

Akiko Sato, September 20, 2007, addressing in Lepoglava

Address of H.E. Mr Shirakawa, ambassador of Japan in Croatia.
Photos from The Embassy of Japan in Croatia and hagakure.blog.hr

Ambassador of Japan in Croatia, H.E. Tetsuhisa Shirakawa, presented Mr. Ivica Maričić, Commissioner General of Croatia for EXPO 2005, with decoration "Silver Cups with the Chrysanthemum Crest" that was awarded to him by the Japanese Government, on behalf of His Imperial Majesty Akihito, the Emperor of Japan.

The Embassy stated that the Government of Japan very much appreciates Mr. Maricic's great contributions to the success of the EXPO 2005, and his devoted efforts to the promotion of friendly and cordial relations between two countries. It is the first Japanese honor awarded to a Croatian since Croatian independence.

Source: www.croatiaexpo.org

Silver cups with chrysantemum crest, that Ivica Maričić received from the Emperor Akihito of Japan in 2006.

Recognition by the Emperor Akihito of Japan conferred to Ivica Maričić in 2006, with traditional Japanese seal in the middle.

Photos by the courtesy of Mr. Ivica Maričić

Theme / Exhibition

Source

Šegrt Hlapić (Apprentice Hlapić) by Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić, Croatian fairy tale in Japanese. The book was exhibited at the National and University Library in Zagreb in 2008.

The unique beauty of Croatian landscape is offerend by the magnificant mountain of Velebit, and the famous Primosten vineyards, where folk builders used drystone walls to protect every handful of soil from being washed away from the arid rocky terrain. Thus an amazing rocky lace of Primosten has been obtain over the centuries, whose large sized photo can be seen inside the building of United Nations in New York. It is not surprising that Velebit's Endemic Garden and Vineyard from Primosten have won the gold medal at Japan Flora 2000 international exhibition of garden arrangmenents. The exhibition in 2000 was held on Awaji islands near Kyoto, with participation of 60 countries.

PHOTO OF THE CROATIAN GARDEN OF JAPAN FLORA 2000 IS REQUESTED

Charles Billich is outstanding Croatian painter born in 1934 in the town of Lovran in Istria, and since 1956 working in Australia. He has permanent exhibition of his works at Hakane Museum in Tokyo since 1997, and was designated the official artist of the Australian Olypic team for Olympic Games in Sydney in 2000. I like his Canberra cantata. In 1998 Charles Billich completed his series of Bleiburg paintings. He was elected the official painter of Australian and the USA national teams at Olympic Games in Greece, 2004. In 2004 he was elected the Official Artiest of the 2008 Bejing Olympiad. Laurate of the Milan & Spoleto Award, Italy, in 1989.

His most famous galeries are Billich Gallery in Sydney (100 George Street), Australia, and Fortezza Gallery in the lovely town of Lovran, Croatia. In 2004 he had the exhibition of some of important Croatian contributions to science, held in the building of United Nations in New York (portraits of Faust Vrancic, David Schwartz, Lupis Vukic, Slavoljub Penkala, Josip Vucetic, Nikola Tesla, Marin Getaldic, Rudjer Boskovic, Marco Polo, Andrija Mohorovicic, Spiridion Brusina, Lavoslav Ruzicka, also Croatian cravate, and an oil representing one of truly painful Croatian themes from the period 1945-1948 immediately after the WW2: Bleiburg). He was commisioned to paint East Timor's official independence painting. He presented a pinting to pope John Paul II.

Charles Billich Collections (incomplete):

• The Vatican Collection
• The Parliament of Japan
• The Royal Collection of Thailand
• The City of Rijeka,
• Croatia The Town of Lovran,
• Croatia The City of Orebic (Franciscan Monastery: The Way of the Cross), Croatia
• Embassy of Croatia, Canberra,
• Australia City of Düsseldorf
• The City of Osaka, Japan
• The City of Sydney, Australia
• State Theater, Sydney, Australia
• The City of Melbourne, Australia
• United States Sports Academy
• New York State Govt. Port
• Authority Hall of Congress, Washington D.C., USA
• Internatinal Olympic Museum, Lausanne, Switzerland
• QinShiHuang BingMa Yong Museum, X'ian, China ...

Croatian ballet dancer Jelko Yuresha (Željko Jureša) sojourned with his wife Belinda Wright-Yuresha in Japan, where they collaborated with Tetsuya Kumakawa Theatre:

http://www.croatia.org/crown/articles/11046/1/Jelko-Yuresha-Croatian-ballet-prodigy-at-the-Royal-Ballet-in-London-since-1962.html

srdačan pozdrav,

http://www.croatia.org/crown/articles/11046/1/Jelko-Yuresha-Croatian-ballet-prodigy-at-the-Royal-Ballet-in-London-since-1962.html

A world-wide reputation in thai boxing had Branko Cikatic from Split, winner of many international tournaments, including the grand 1994 K-1 Tokyo tournament.

The name of Croatian sportsman Mirko Filipovic Crocop is well known in Japan.

Blanka Vlasic celebrating her victory with Croatian flag in her hands,
at the World Championship in Athletics, Osaka, Japan 2007, source CROWN

Drago Stambuk, Croatian ambassador: Squaring the circle and rounding the square, "... I spent one weekend last winter [2005/06] at the snow festival in Tokamachi. ... The first prize in the kimono competition at the festival went to a checkered red-and-white kimono called Croatia..."

Project of Croatian house in Tokamachi Japan

Japan-Croatia Friendship House Project presented in Tokamachi

Eugen Viktor Feller initiated the industrial production of Elsa fluid and its variants in Croatia (soaps, shampoos, shaving creams, balsams, hygienic and cosmetic products, elixirs, etc.), which was a world wide success, sold in the whole of Europe, Asia (Japan and China), Africa (Egypt), and in the USA. It would be interesting to find a photo of his products in Japan. His son Vilim Feller (William Feller) was a distinguished Croatian - American mathematician.

Dr. Drago Stambuk, Croatian ambassador in Japan:

• Speech in Hiroshima for the Vukovar victims, 2007
• Speech at the Holy Mass for Vukovar Victims, Tokyo 2008

Maestro Vjekoslav Sutej, distinguished Croatian conductor, had concerts in Tokyo and Nagoya.

Tsutomu Yamauchi, Japan, sudionik Bijelog Puta (izvor fotografije [PDF], str. 276) 

Bijeli Put

Helen Merrill issued several gramophone records in Japan (she sang in Japanese as well!):

• Helen Merrill: Big in Japan
  
• HELEN MERRILL Live 1986 Kyoto
• Helen Merrill Live In Japan 1990 (at the age of 60)
• Sand Pile - Helen Merrill singing in Japanese
• Helen Merrill In Tokyo
  
• Helen Merrill - Bossa Nova In Tokyo

Her songs are even today very popular and studied in great detail among young people in Japan:

• Helen Merrill - You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To フリガナで解説！
  
• Let's sing a jazz song vol 5 / You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To / ジャズボーカルレッスン
  

Helen's son Alan Merrill (1951-2020) was very popular in Japan.

• Alan Merrill, Something In This Town, Japanese pops 1970.
  
• Alan Merrill, Automatic Pilot, Vodka Collins (in Japanese) アラン・メリル
  
• Alan Merrill and the Tokyo All Stars, Jan 2010

Ana Vidović, a distinguished Croatian guitarist, had a series of recitals in Japan (source www.anavidovic.com):

June 6, 2009 - 3:00 PM - Otaru, Japan
Otaru Shimin Center, Recital

June 5, 2009 - 5:00 PM - Sapporo, Japan
Watanabe Jun-Ichi Bungaku-Kan, Masterclass

June 4, 2009 - 7:00 PM - Tokyo, Japan
GG Salon, Recital

June 3, 2009 - 7:00 PM - Nogi, Japan
Nogi-Cho Bunka Kaikan, Recital

June 2, 2009 - 7:00 PM - Tokyo, Japan
GG Salon, Recital

June 1, 2009 - 8:00 PM - Japan Tour

May 30, 2009 - 3:00 PM - Nagoya, Japan
Munetsugu Hall, Recital

November 26, 2006 - 8:00 PM - Takayama, Japan
Japan Tour, Concert

November 24, 2006 - 6:45 PM - Yonago, Tokyo
Japan Tour, Concert
Yonago-shi Kokaido

November 23, 2006 - 8:00 PM - Okinawa, Japan
Japan Tour, Concert
Uruma Shimin Geijutsu Gekijo

November 22, 2006 - 7:00 PM - Yaizu, Japan
Japan Tour, Concert
Yaizu-shi Bunka Center

November 21, 2006 - 7:00 PM - Kashiwazaki, Japan
Japan Tour, Concert
Sangyo Bunka Kaikan Hall

February 20, 2005 - 8:00 PM - Tokorozawa City, Japan
Japan Tour
Shoumeidou Music Hall, Recital

February 19, 2005 - 8:00 PM - Tokyo,Japan
Japan Tour
Musashino Civic Cultural Hall, Recital

February 18, 2005 - 8:00 PM - Numazu City, Japan
Japan Tour, Concert
Numazu Shimin Bunka Center

February 17, 2005 - 8:00 PM - Nagoya City, Japan
Japan Tour
Studio Runde, Recital

Listen to her interpretation of Cavatina, played in Japan:

Cavatina - Ana Vidovic


The name of Ana Vidović in Japanese:  アナ　ヴィドヴィッチ

Performance by Ana Vidović (in Japanese)
Many thanks to Professor Satoshi Tanka, Okayama University of Science, and to Mr. Takeshi Harada,
for their explanation of the text in Japanese.

A Japanese doll from the collection of the King of Dolls (Ljeposlav Perinić, 1922-205), kept in Zagreb's
Ethnographic Museum. The dolls are collected from presidents of various states, queens, kings,
prime ministers and other dignitaries. This doll has been donated in 1963 by the then
Japanese Prime Minister Mr. Eisaku Sato.

Here is a brief explanation provided by the courtesy of Yoko Nishii, Japanese pianist:

The doll represents a figure  figure from the No or Kabuki drama which is titled "REN JI SHI" (Father and Son Lion Dance). The actor of Father Lion (shishi) has white hair, while the actor of Son Lion (shishi) has red hair. Two entertainers dance a tale of the legendary shishi or lion-like spirits that live at the foot of a holy Buddhist mountain. Later, the shishi themselves appear and perform their dance with wild shaking of their long manes. The dance shows a parent shishi forcing his cub to undergo harsh training in order to grow up strong. This theme is often associated with the training which a parent actor gives his son.

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Adventski koncert Splitskih virtuoza i Mai Suzuki 2015. pod ravnanjem maestra Wladimira Kossjanenka

Croatian pupil Martin Kotarski and Bill Gates awarded in Japan
by The Goi Peace Foundation

Martin Kotarski Croatian pupil winner of prestigious humanitarian award in Japan

Kimono Croatia worn in honour of Croatian ambassador Stambuk's birthday

Tokamachi factor, a paradigm for Japan-Croatia emotional attachement

The winning silk kimono named Croatia has been made in Tokamachi in the memory of the Croatian national football team's presence during the World Cup 2002 in Japan. The Mayor's daughter has worn it for the Croatian ambassador's birthday.

For more details see Kimono Croatia

Photos by the courtesy of Dr. Drago Štambuk, ambassador of the Republic of Croatia in Japan.

Drago Stambuk Croatian ambassador in Japan writes about a beautiful friendship

LADO prestigious Croatian national folklore ensemble visited Japan in 2006

Japanese Ambassador in Croatia, H.E. Yoshio Tamura uses CroTram to go to work

Miro Gavran's drama "How To Kill the President" will be premiered in a stage reading on December 16 2009, organised by the Japanese Centre of ITI, at the IWATO Theatre in Japan. Ayako Funakawa has translated the play into Japanese, while the director of the reading is Yoshiko Nozaki.

Japanese cherry in the Botanical Garden in Zagreb. Photo by Mr. Nikola Piasevoli.
Sophora Japonica pendula (on the lelft) in the Botanical Garden in Zagreb. Photo by Mr. Nikola Piasevoli.

Kazuichi Miura, ambassador of Japan in Croatia from 1943 till 1945, author of the book
"Japanese about Japan" (Japanac o Japanu). published by Croatian-Japanese Society in Zagreb in 1944.

Keiko Mitani: Priručnik hrvatskoga jezika = Kuroachia do handobukku, Tokyo : Daigaku shorin, 1997. - 260 str. ; 24 cm

Photo by the courtesy of Yoko Nishii, Ise, Japan.

Keiko Mitani is also the author of a grammar of Croatian language:

Keiko Mitani: Kuroachia go no Shikumi (Grammar of Croatan language). Here, "Shikumi" means Grammar, Mechanism, Structure, Construction... etc.

Keiko Mitani: Kuroachia go no Shikumi (Grammar of Croatan language).
Photo by the courtesy of Yoko Nishii, Ise, Japan.

In 2017, she participated the scientific confererence The Phenomenon of the Glagolitic Script held in the cities of Biograd and Zadar. In Biograd, she visited a monument of crane dedicated to friendship with the city of Hiroshima:

Dr. Keiko Mitani (third from left) is
president of the Japan-Croatia Friendship Society in Tokyo. The monument contains the following haiku:

NA KRILIMA LJUBAVI (On the wings of love)
DONESI MIR (bring peace)
GRADU HIROŠIMI (to the city of Hiroshima)

BIOGRAD NA MORU (Biograd on the Sea)

On the photo: Andrei Sobolev (Russia), Draženko Samardžić (curator of the Biograd Museum), Keiko Mitani (Japan), Josip Bratulić (of Croatian Academy of Sicences and Arts), Božo Došen and Giorgio Ziffer (Italy). Photo by D.Ž.

This very nice monument is placed in the city of Biograd, quite near the coast. Professor Keiko Mitani wrote a very interesting article (in Croatian) about language characteristics of Moravian Croats:

She defended her PhD in 1988 at the University of Zagreb, under supervision of Professor Stjepan Damjanovic.

Kazuo Maeda and A. Kurjak: The newest advances in ultrasound in gynecological diseases
- with a focus on inferitility and tumors

Kazuo Maeda and A. Kurjak: Atlas of ultrasound in fetal diseases
Many thanks to Yoko Nishii for translating the above two Japanese titles into Englesh.

Vladimira Paleček: Voćnjak mira (1982.)
Vladimirin otac Vladimir Paleček, osnivač je i voditelj Međunarodnog fonda "Gladno dijete" (Hungry Child).
Kaligrafirani prijevod na japanski jezik: Yasuyo Hondo-Devide
Crtež: Ivan Lacković-Croata

Ivan Lackovic Croata distinguished painter inspired Fumiko Yamazaki in Japan

F. Zlatko Špehar, Croatian Franciscan, wrote his travel book "Putovima nade nastajanja", Ogranak Matice hrvatske Vukovar, Vukovar 2009, ISBN 978-953-95493-3-4 (a rough translation of the title could be: Along the paths of hope for growth), dealing with his visits to Finland and Japan (pp 133-343).

During his sojourn in Japan in July 2008 he was accompanied among others with Croatian soprano singer Mayumi Kamei. She was born in Tokyo, and lives in Croatia since 1997, employed at the Choir of Zagreb Radio Television.

Source of the photo www.kulisa.eu

Mayumi Kamei singing a tender song about Hiroshima in the main hall of Matica hrvatska / Matrix Croatica, during the presentation of the book of F. Zlatko Špehar in December 2009. Accompanied on piano by Martina Mičija.

In one of the halls of the Matica hrvatska / Matrix Croatica in Zagreb. Mayumi Kamei with a group of women from thriloge city of Vukovar, on the right to her Štefica Šarčević, president of the Matica hrvatska Vukovar. Many thanks to Mr. Stjepan Sučić, vicepresident of Matica hrvatska in Zagreb, for hospitality.

Simultaneous chess game by Yudai Iwasaki, Japan, with attendants of the Chess School at the XXIst Winter Chess School in 2007 in the town of Ravna Gora, Gorski kotar, Croatia. The town is the only one in the world with a street called the Chess Street!

 
Studnets in Kyoto, photo by Professor Mervan Pašić, Croatian mathematician. 
Kyoto and Zagreb are sister cities.

Ivana Brlić Mažuranić: Croatian Tales of Long Ago, Japanese edition in 2010.

Croatian Tales of Long Ago by Ivana B. Mazuranic published in Japanese in 2010

Mrs Ikuko Jamamoto translated the book from Croatian into Japanese in 2010. 
Photo from the main square of Croatia's capital Zagreb.

Kinjo Gakuin high school from Japan visited High School Sesvete in Croatia in 2019

Vukovar hosting fantastic Japanese Ningyo dolls exhibition 2020

Božidar Prosenjak: Priča o kravati / The Story About Cravat, translated by Yasuo Yamamoto
in Japanese | in Croatian original | in English

  Spomenka Štimec: Nesenditaj leteroj el Japanio (i.e., Nonsent Letters from Japan), Zagreb - Hukuoka, 1990
(three editions, published in Japanese and Chinese)

Spomenka Štimec (of the Esperanto Croatian-League in Zagreb): Nesenditaj leteroj el Japanio
(i.e., Nonsent Letters from Japan), in Chinese.

DOBRO Restaurant in the center of Tokyo, near Ginza

Max Emanuel Cencic, Croatian singing prodigy, is gifted with the most beautiful countertenor voice of our time. He was a member of the Vienna Boys' Choir, subsequently pursuing a solo career. He was awarded as the best new singer of the year 2003 by "Opernwelt" magazine. His performance of Andromeda Liberata in Tokyo was named the best concert of the year 2005 in Japan. Since 2007 Max EmanueI Cencic is recording with the top-label EMI/Virgin Classics.

Two Croatian mathematicians in Japan in November 2012

Participants of Handayama Differential Equation Seminar organized by the Department of Mathematics of the Okayama University of Science 2012: Professors Satoshi Tanaka, Yuki Naito, Manabu Naito, Darko Žubrinić (Croatia), Hiroyuki Usami, Mervan Pašić (Croatia), Shin-Hwa Wang (Taiwan), Kuo-Chih Hung (Taiwan). Photo by Dr. Masakazu Onitsuka.

Professors Masakazu Onitsuka, Mervan Pašić and Hiroyuki Usami at the Okayama University of Science, Japan, November 2012.

Famous Sangaku (Japanese mathematical problems in geometry) in a Japanese temples.
Professors Satoshi Tanaka, Darko Žubrinić, Shin-Hwa Wang, Hiroyuki Usami, Mervan Pašić; November 2012.

Professors Mervan Pašić and Darko Žubrinić, University of Zagreb, in front of the Research Institute for Mathematical Sciens (RIMS) at the University of Kyoto in November 2012.

Lectures at the RIMS Workshop at the University of Kyoto, the first day:
Global qualitative theory of ordinary differential equations and its applications [PDF]

Lecture by Professor Mervan Pašić, on the right Professors Satoshi Tanaka and Hiroyuki Usami.

Lecture by D.Ž. at the Reasearch Institute of Mathematical Sciences (RIMS), University of Kyoto, November 2012.

A part of auditorium at RIMS. In the second row Professor Ryuji Kajikiya (in white jacket), Saga University, Japan.

Professors Mervan Pašić, Manabu Naito and Norio Yoshida at the Research Institute of Mathematical Sciences of the Kyoto University.
Professor Pašić is an editor in chief of Differential Equations and Applications, Croatian scientifi journal,
which has several Japanese mathematicians in its editorial board.

Professor Mervan Pašić at the Department of Applied Mathematics, FER, University of Zagreb,
with a gift of Professor Norio Yoshida - his monograph on oscillation thery...

...containing the following dedication:

The international conferences in Okayama and Kyoto have been superbly organized
by Professors Satoshi Tanaka, Hiroyuki Usami, and Yuki Naito.

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Mirna Potkovac - Endrighetti: Metoda Suzuki, Japanska metoda ranog glazbenog odgoja, Mathias Flacius, Labin 2002. ISBN 978-953-6875-04-7. This book is intended for music teachers working with small children, according to the method of Suzuki. Mrs. Mirna Potkovac - Endrighetti is academic musician (violinist) working in the opera orchestra of the Croatian National Theatre in Rijeka  and a certified Japanese translator, living in Sv. Kuzma near the city of Rijeka.

Gđa. Mirna Potkovac Endrighetti stekla je magisterij na Sveučilištu za strane studije u Osaki (danas Fakultet za strane studije Sveučilišta u Osaki), a tijekom dugog niza godina prevela je mnoga japanska književna djela na hrvatski jezik, dajući tako velik doprinos širenju japanske književnosti i promicanju razumijevanja Japana u Hrvatskoj. U znak uvažavanja za spomenuta dostignuća, veleposlanik Iso uručio 11. studenog 2022. je gospođi Potkovac Endrighetti Priznanje ministra vanjskih poslova Japana.

Priznanje ministra vanjskih poslova dodjeljuju se pojedincima i organizacijama za njihov doprinos promicanju prijateljstva između Japana i drugih zemalja i područja. Priznanja također imaju za cilj promicanje razumijevanja i podrške japanske javnosti za aktivnosti primatelja.

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Prof.dr. Zlatan Car (bivši stipendist sa Sveučilišta u Kobeu, trenutno prorektor Sveučilišta u Rijeci) izabran je za novog predsjednika Hrvatsko-japanskog akademskog društva. G. Zlatan Car je dobitnik Priznanja ministra vanjskih poslova Japana 2024. godine.

Please help Japan
Japan has been struck by the tragedy of Biblical proportions. Pray for Japan.

Croatian skier Ivica Kostelic won the World Cup slalom title, the combined World Cup title, and the overall World Cup title in 2011. He poses with a Japanese flag in tribute to the victims of the earthquake and ensuing Tsunami. Photo by Getty Images.

Concerts for Japan in Croatia 2011

Haiku in Croatia

Croatia - Japan cultural and economic society

Embassy of Japan in Croatia

Embassy of Japan in Croatia's capital Zagreb

Boškovićeva street 2, Zagreb

Embassy of Croatia in Japan

Hrvatsko-japansko kulturno i gospodarsko društvo

Japan Croatia Association (Branko Cikatic)

Kućanica u Japanu

Croatia - Austria

Croatia - France

Croatia - Great Britain

Croatia - Russia

Croatia - China

Croatia - India

Croatia - Slovakia

Croatia - Ukraine

Croatia - USA

Croatia - its History, Culture and Science