Our team

PhDr. Roman Kodet, Ph.D., is the head of the Center of Japanese Studies and is also the Head Assistant of the Department of Historical Sciences (Faculty of Arts, University of West Bohemia). His research focuses on early modern Japanese history and Far Eastern history. He published a considerable number of scientific studies on this topic and is the author of a monograph, “Války samurajů” (The Wars of the Samurai; 492 pages), for which he received The Prize of Miroslav Ivanov in 2016. In the year
2018, he published a synthesis of pre-modern Japanese history “Příběh samurajů” (The Story of the Samurai; 632 pages), analyzing the life and warfare in pre-modern Japan. He received The Prize of Miroslav Ivanov for this book in 2020. During his academic work, he has lead lectures on Japanese history at the universities in Ljubljana and Lodz. He visited Doshisha University (Kyoto) and Kokushikan University (Tokyo) as an invited professor (or scholar). Roman Kodet was also the head of the research team in several scientific projects. He is also a co-editor of a scientific journal West Bohemian Historical Review. In 2020 he received a Japan Foundation Fellowship with a project titled
„Western Perception of Japan in the Bakumatsu Period“.

Dr. Hosoda Takashi is a lecturer at the Department of the Historical Sciences (Faculty of Arts, University of West Bohemia). His primary research focuses on the history of modern Japanese security policy development. He also dealt with the history of Japanese literature in his previous academic assignments. Dr. Hosoda graduated from the Faculty of International Relations, Nihon University, Tokyo, Japan – one of Japan’s most prestigious educational institutions. He published numerous articles in prestigious academic journals in Japan, Great Britain, and the Czech Republic during his career. He also participated in numerous international conferences in Japan, Germany, Portugal, Vietnam, and the Czech Republic.

Prof. Otaka Toshio is an external member of the Center of Japanese Studies. His main field of research is applied science and engineering. He is also dedicated to the interconnection of Japanese culture and technology. Prof. Otaka visited The University of West Bohemia as a visiting professor in 2016. He was a guest of the Center of Japanese Studies in 2019 when he had several lectures for the students of the Department of Historical Sciences. Thanks to his continuous support he helped the Center of Japanese Studies to create possibilities for cooperation with Japanese universities and other scientific institutions.

Mgr. Aleš Kotva is a Ph.D. student at the Department of Historical Sciences (Faculty of
Arts, University of West Bohemia) and a member of the center of Japanese Studies. His MA thesis was dedicated to the history of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance of 1902. In postgraduate studies, he concentrates on the history of Franco-Japanese relations during the Bakumatsu Period. He also contributes to the public activities of the center and manages its social accounts. For his work he was awarded prize of the dean of the Faculty of Arts and gained a stipend from the Pilsen municipality.