Kansai Association Switzerland-Japan

Kansai | Osaka, Chuo-ku (Secretariat)

Clubs & Associations

For the past 35 years, the ties between Swiss people and inhabitants of Western Japan have grown thanks to the help of a dynamic regional association.

The late 1970s and early 1980s were a period of intense interactions between Switzerland and the Kansai area. In 1978 and 1981, the Kansai Association of Corporate Executives and the Kansai Economic Federation respectively sent missions to Switzerland, leading to a return visit from the Swiss Union of Commerce and Industry in 1982. Indeed, owing to their federalist tradition, Swiss people have always attached a great deal of importance to interacting not only with state governments, but also with regional actors, and their cooperation with the Kansai area had already proved fruitful.

Under such favorable circumstances, it appeared natural to establish a permanent structure dedicated to facilitate exchanges between the Kansai region and Switzerland! Following the recommendation of Fritz Rudolf Staehelin, Ambassador of Switzerland to Japan (1980-1983), the Kansai Association Switzerland-Japan (KASJ) was founded on December 6, 1982, with the goals of promoting exchanges, contributing to mutual understanding and friendship, and developing business relations between Switzerland, the Kansai region, and Japan. As of March 2018, the Association had 38 corporate and 246 individual members, and was chaired by Hiroshi Tomono, Senior Advisor of Nippon Steel Corporation.

The KASJ organizes many exciting social gatherings for its members throughout the year (such as wine tasting events, business meetings, visits, dinners, concerts, history or culture lectures), and frequently patrons various cultural events related to Switzerland that are taking place in the Kansai region. In addition, thanks to the support of the Embassy of Switzerland in Japan and the City of Osaka, the Association has also co-sponsors the Japan-Switzerland Youth Exchange Program, which roughly every year since 1984 sends Swiss or Japanese junior high school students for a three summer weeks in Switzerland or Japan. If you live in the Kansai area, here is your chance to get in touch with a dynamic and friendly community of Swiss and Japanese people!