About us

 

The Hungary–Japan Friendship Society (HJFS) was established in Budapest in 1987. The initiation was taken by a handful of enthusiastic founders, and since then we have registered hundreds of members, who have a deep interest and respect for Japanese culture, ways of life and traditions. Both Hungarian and foreign citizens are welcome to join the society. We aim at disseminating the traditions and values of Japanese culture and present an authentic picture on Japan on the grass-root level in Hungary. Our society is managed from membership fees and donations. All board-members and operators of the society are undertaking tasks on a purely voluntary basis.

With Budapest as its center, the society has had branches operating in a great number of cities within Hungary, like: Baja, Dunaújváros, Győr, Hódmezővásárhely, Kecskemét, Keszthely, Pécs, Székesfehérvár, Szentendre, Szolnok, Szombathely, Tolna county, Vác, Veszprém county, Zalaegerszeg – just to name the recently most active ones. Apart from regional branches, there are thematically organized interest-groups like: bonsai, budo, economics, haiku, ikebana, Japanese gastronomy, origami, etc.

We regularly hold meetings: lectures on diverse topics, reports from traveler-members, art-demonstrations. We also organize Japanese cultural events throughout the country and run Japanese language courses depending on demand in Budapest.

We have an excellent relation with our partner-organization in Japan: The Japan–Hungary Friendship Association. We take turns every four years in organizing a „Friendship Cultural Festival” to demonstrate traditions and ways of Hungarian culture in Japan, or vice versa to bring achievements of Japanese culture closer to the Hungarian public respectively. In 2000 took place in Japan the last Hungarian Cultural Festival of this type. In the year of 2009 – however on the occasion of the celebrations of anniversary in connection with Austria-Hungary dozens of Japanese cultural organizations will come to our national festival by contributing exhibitions, performances, demonstrations and lectures in order to make Japanese culture more familiar for Hungarian.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to write us!