Specialists’ conferences, cultural events, language courses, exchange programs, a library and regular house publications – the Japanese-German Center Berlin (Japanisch-Deutsches Zentrum Berlin JDZB) is dedicated to its work in German-Japanese and international exchange.

The Foundation was established on January 15, 1985, by a proposal put forward by the then heads of government of the Federal Republic of Germany and Japan, Helmut Kohl and Nakasone Yasuhiro. It was a time when the both countries’ interest for the other country was growing strongly. The former Japanese Prime Minister Miyazawa Kiichi wrote in the Festschrift that was published in 2005 to celebrate the JDZB’s 20th anniversary: “German-Japanese relations are in general good and no special bilateral problems exist.” However he continued: “This brings with it a certain degree of complacency, which in the meantime could certainly be classified as a problem.”

Thus, it is more important now than ever to hold fast to the tasks of the JDZB as set out in the Foundation Charter:

“…to promote and deepen Japanese-German and international cooperation in the fields of science and culture and its connection to economic life.”

Hence, the JDZB is a unique institution that is dedicated to this task in Germany – and in Japan. From the beginning not only were bilateral relations in the foreground, but also the entire Asia-Pacific region and the countries of Europe as well as Japan and Germany’s involvement in international institutions and formulations of problems were included in the work of the Foundation.


NOTE
Conventional Chinese, Japanese and Korean name order is generally followed: family name first.