Czech-Japan Hub Working Groups pool the cost of market intelligence, organise sector missions, and present one coordinated counterpart to ministries, regulators, municipalities and industry associations. The leverage is sectoral. The doors are the ones a single company would never open on its own.
A founding moment does not arrive every decade. Three independent dynamics are converging at the same time – and each one alone would justify acting now.
EXPO 2025 Osaka, Kansai built the most extensive Czech-Japan network in a generation. Relationships forged in the pavilion, during the conferences, meetings and informal events might lose its dynamic within 12 to 18 months without a proper follow-up. The Hub is that follow-up. Working Groups are how the network turns into deals.
Both jurisdictions are rewriting the rules at once. Japan: the Active Cyber Defense Law and the revised Wood Use Promotion Act. The EU: CBAM phase 2, the Cyber Resilience Act, and CSRD. Czechia: NIS2 transposition and the AI Act at national level. Each of these reshapes who can sell what to whom – and at what cost.
Supply chains across allied economies are being rebuilt around semiconductors, energy, critical materials, and mass-timber construction. Czechia and Japan sit on the same side of every one of those lines. The question is which sectors organise fast enough to capture it.
A Working Group is a permanent sector community of companies, universities, research institutions, and public-sector partners with a shared interest in a specific industry between Czechia and Japan. Each Group operates simultaneously in both jurisdictions, with consistent representation in Prague, Ostrava, Tokyo, and Osaka.
A Group is not an ad-hoc consortium for a single project. It is not a discussion circle. It is the structural unit through which the Hub commissions sector intelligence, coordinates missions, drafts position papers, and maintains formal ties with Japanese counterparts.
Sector analyses, regulatory briefings, and commercial reports financed collectively by Group members. What no single firm would commission for itself becomes available – in Czech, English, and Japanese – to everyone at the table. The deliverable is the document, not the discussion.
Ministries, regulators, municipalities or industry associations will not negotiate with individual companies in parallel. A Working Group is the madoguchi (窓口) – the single coordinated point of contact the stakeholders expects. And rewards.
Joint position papers on NIS2, the AI Act, CBAM, the CRA, JIS standards, and Japanese sector regulation. Direct, transparent input into regulatory consultations in Tokyo, Prague, and Brussels. Where a single company has no weight, the sector does.
Regular sector market reports in a Czech-Japan lens – collectively prepared and financed, member-only access.
Coordinated missions to Japan or from Japan – with a programme of meetings at relevant ministries, associations, and major-corporation level.
Joint position papers on relevant regulatory issues to the sector.
Group meetings in Prague, Ostrava, Tokyo or Osaka to strengthen the connections and relations.
Formalised partnership with a Czech and/or Japanese counterpart association or prefectural body.
The Hub provides the secretariat, translation, bilateral liaison, follow-ups, and continuity. Members bring the strategic input and the contacts.
Regular working meetings from 2027 onward, combining hybrid and in-person sessions in Czechia and Japan. In the founding year 2026, each Group opens with a kick-off event; the full rhythm establishes from 2027.
Each Working Group is led by a Chair appointed by the Chairman of the Hub. The Hub also assigns a dedicated coordinator to each Group, responsible for organisation, follow-up, and bilateral liaison between sessions.
Deliberately mixed: industry partners, universities, research institutions, public-sector partners, and individual experts. C-level executives and domain specialists rotate in according to the agenda for each session.
| Membership Tier | Access |
|---|---|
| Founding Cohort 2026 (until 30 June 2026) | All Groups + permanent Founding Member status + right to nominate the Group’s first-year agenda |
| President’s Circle & Patron Member | All Working Groups |
| Corporate Member & Institutional Member | One Working Group of choice |
| Individual Professional | Participation as invited expert, subject to Group Chair approval |
| Other tiers | By invitation to specific sessions |
Founding Cohort 2026 closes on 30 June 2026. After that date, Founding Member status is no longer available.
Where Czech materials engineering, mass-timber expertise, and modular construction meet Japan’s decarbonisation roadmap and the revised Wood Use Promotion Act. Anchored by the EXPO 2025 Czech Pavilion as a built reference.
The intersection of Czech precision technology – nanofibres, lasers, optics, cybersecurity, analytical instruments – and Japan’s drive for supply-chain resilience in semiconductors, deep tech, and critical infrastructure.
Czech craft – wine, beer, premium spirits, healthy and functional foods – meeting Japan’s premium consumer market and a generation of Japanese buyers actively seeking European authenticity backed by modern standards.
The Group that ensures every cultural and sport project carries a business layer. Production capacity on both sides, a single point of contact for Japanese partners, and the only platform translating cultural reputation into commercial relationships.
The Group that crosses the line between cyber and physical security, business continuity and incident response, IT and OT. Bilateral platform for CISOs, CSOs, and heads of crisis management under NIS2, CRA, and ACDL.
Czech expertise in dual-use technologies, cyber defence, and small-arms manufacturing meeting Japan’s accelerated security policy and the Active Cyber Defense Law.
Czech engineering in energy systems, hydrogen technologies, and small modular reactors meeting Japan’s energy transition and post-Fukushima diversification.
Czech strength in biotech, medical devices, and drug discovery meeting Japan’s ageing population and one of the world’s most demanding regulatory environments.
The Hub is actively seeking lead partners for the next wave. A new Working Group is established when at least five member organisations express concrete interest and a lead partner commits to chairing the first 12 months.
Working Groups are established only where concrete member commitment exists.
Working Groups are accessible through Hub membership at Corporate tier and above. Founding Cohort 2026 closes on 30 June 2026.
Whether you're a Czech company eyeing Japan, a Japanese firm exploring Europe, or looking for the right business partner on either side – we're here to help.
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