Tokyo: Ambassador Kovač held a lecture as part of the Serbian Week event at Seijo University

Before the lecture a meeting was held with the president of the Seijo University, Yoshiyuki Sugimoto, on the topic of potential cooperation with universities in Serbia and student exchange programs.

Serbian Corner was also placed in the student lounge, with exhibits from the collection of the Embassy of Serbia on display throughout the week, including a copy of Japanese translation of the letter by King Milan I Obrenović addressed to Emperor Meiji in 1882 and folk crafts.

Prof. Mutsumi Kishiyama, who stayed in Belgrade during his studies as part of academic exchange, also gave a presentation about Serbia, as well as artist Akiko Koga, a former student of Seijo University and one of the founders of the My Serbia portal in Japanese.

Ambassador Kovač, in her lecture, which was held in a hybrid format, spoke about the history and culture of Serbia, and gave a detailed account of bilateral relations between Serbia and Japan. A special segment was dedicated to the topic of gender equality in Serbia and the legal framework that regulates this area, as well as a global view of this issue.

The students showed interest in the standards and progress achieved by Serbia in the field of gender equality and the advancement of women's rights, especially in terms of executive functions in the public and private sectors held by women, as well as the Covid-19 effects on the position of women.

The lecture was attended by President Sugimoto together with several professors of this and other educational institutions, as well as interested citizens.

During the tour of the campus, Ambassador Kovač was informed that the founder of the University, Masataro Sawayanagi, an important figure in the Japanese education system, visited Belgrade in 1902 and 1903, as the only capital in the eastern part of Europe. During his European tour, Sawayanagi collected information about educational methods in other countries.