The General Commissioner of Czech participation Ondřej Soška visited on 10-19 June 2023 Japan on a business trip. Together with entrepreneurs, representatives of universities, and the Union of Industry and Transport, he became part of the delegation of the Deputy Prime Minister for Digitization and Minister for Regional Development Ivan Bartoš (Pirates).
On Tuesday, June 13, 2023, Soška together with Minister Bartoš visited Japanese Minister for EXPO 2025 Naoki Okada. Together they discussed the upcoming EXPO world exhibition, the state of preparations for the Czech participation, or the revitalization of the regions. Minister Okada praised the winning design of the Czech pavilion by Apropos Architects in the shape of a glass spiral. At the same time, Commissioner Soška presented Minister Okada with a rare gift, a baseball jersey with the distinctive number 2025 (the year of the EXPO exhibition) signed by Czech baseball players in Okada’s name.
The Commissioner General met with the mayor of Osaka, Hideyuki Yokoyama on Wednesday, June 14, 2023, and together they discussed the state of preparations for the Czech participation and the pavilion itself. The signed jersey of the Czech baseball players pleased the mayor who is a big baseball fan himself.
Baseball is very popular in Japan, and in March of this year at the World Baseball Classic, which was held in Japan, the Czech national team won considerable support and recognition from the home fans for their great performance against strong competition. The Czech baseball players don’t make a living from this sport, but unlike other professional athletes, they devote themselves to it in their free time. The Czech baseball players played Group B in Tokyo, where they defeated China and played solid matches against the Japanese champions, Korea and Australia. The World Baseball Classic is one of the two most important international baseball tournaments..