Jan Čajník Kruba in the Land of the Samurai

Jan Kruba is a Czech fencer and theatre artist. At the invitation of Japanese actor and choreographer Kazunori Suzuki, he undertook a journey to Japan — despite never having flown before, never having travelled beyond Europe, and not speaking foreign languages.

He spent three weeks among the Japanese, almost completely isolated from outside influences. The main purpose of his stay was to lead workshops in European stage combat for actors and choreographers at Tokyo theatres — all communication took place in Czech and Japanese, with the help of pantomime. His Japanese friends also showed him their country in a way that ordinary tourists never experience.

At the lecture, Jan Kruba will share his experiences and observations from this journey.