Common ground

A VALUE PROPOSITION
Four philosophies shared by Austria and Japan

1. DEEPER QUALITIES
Austria and Japan boast significant expertise in mechanical engineering as well as the automotive and semi-conductor industries. These success stories point to an alignment on deeper qualities too: a shared attitude to business that places value on quality, craftsmanship and innovation.

2. INNOVATIVE APPROACH
Both nations value collaboration between academia, business and government institutions to foster innovative ecosystems. This is evident in Japan’s emphasis on public-private partnerships and Austria’s support for its thriving startup ecosystem, which drive the development of future technologies.

3. TRUSTED PARTNERSHIPS
Half of Austria’s businesses are family-run, while 90 per cent of Japanese companies have passed between generations, thousands remaining in family hands for more than a century. Businesses in both nations know that trusted relationships, built over time, are the bedrock of successful entrepreneurship. 

4. BUILDING FOR A BRIGHTER FUTURE
By funding cutting-edge scientific research, both nations are making tangible strides towards achieving ambitious environmental targets. Austria applies its expertise in areas such as the storage and conversion of renewable energy, while Japan is committed to putting zero plastic in the sea by 2050.

Nicola and Christoph Rath
Crafting links between nations

When Nicola and Christoph Rath met at dance school in the early 1990s, the subject of craftsmanship – let alone sustainability – was scarcely on the global agenda. “It was really niche but we grew fond of that idea, even as our friends made careers in finance,” says Nicola, as the pair settle with a cup of Japanese green tea in their central Vienna flat.

When the Raths launched Meisterstrasse in 1999 in Salzkammergut, working with local craftspeople to connect them to a broader market, they had both the expertise and the pedigree for such an undertaking. Christoph hails from the family behind renowned glassmaker Lobmeyr, one-time purveyor to the Austrian imperial court and a lasting symbol of national artisanship. Yet, even while raising four children, the couple never stopped their quest to discover and represent new talent. Before long, their interests drew them to Asia.

What the Raths admire most about the Japanese is the genuine gratitude when someone takes an interest in their culture. In November, as the couple prepared for Expo 2025 Osaka, they curated an exhibition at the Austrian Embassy in Tokyo that featured the work of ceramicist Josef Wieser, who is renowned for using a traditional Japanese anagama kiln. Initially, the Raths were unsure whether there was a market for an outside take on such a quintessentially Japanese technique. The couple pressed ahead and were vindicated by the response, as the largely Japanese audience took great pride in the ceramics of someone who displayed “such a deep connection to their traditions”. For the Raths, it was proof of the value that they place in finding genuine talents: “At that show in November, Wieser was one of the best sellers.”

Machiko Soshin Hoshina
Reviving ceremonial porcelain

Having hosted Japanese tea ceremonies for almost 40 years, Machiko Soshin Hoshina has a great empathy and appreciation for the tools of her trade. During one such ceremony at the Austrian ambassador’s residence in Tokyo in 2015, she was “totally shocked” to hear about a vast collection of broken porcelain, hidden from view in Loosdorf castle. These valuable ceramics, including many rare pieces of Old Imari from Japan, had been amassed over generations, before being destroyed in 1945 by Russian soldiers. Rather than discard the shards, the family held onto them for 70 years, treasuring their memory. That appreciation for the porcelain’s imperfect condition chimed with Hoshina’s innate understanding of the Japanese term wabi-sabi. “The family had a good understanding of the ideas behind it without knowing the word,” she says.

So began the Reviving Old Imari Project (ROIP), which used ancient techniques to restore the shards to complete forms and culminated in a 2020 exhibition at Tokyo’s Okura Museum of Art. The ROIP involved many trips to Vienna, where Hoshina felt at home among the classical music and Sachertorte. “Japan’s first exposure to the West was through Austria so that image of European culture was already familiar to us,” she says.

With the restoration complete, Hoshina is determined to ensure that the collection doesn’t return to obscurity. The ROIP will continue its work with a programme of events, including a tea ceremony at Expo 2025 Osaka. “I’m so grateful that many people are still involved with this project,” she says. “But if I stop now, then it might be forgotten.”

Florian Wiltschko
Japan’s first Austrian Shinto priest

Aptly for someone who straddles two cultures, 37-year-old Shinto priest Florian Wiltschko prizes a measured approach to life. “A balance of knowledge and experience is the most essential part of being a professional,” he says. “One of the interesting parts of my job is finding ways to communicate history in today’s day and age.”

Born and raised in Linz, Austria’s third-largest city, Wiltschko was drawn to traditional Japanese culture from an early age. Visiting the country for the first time as a teenager, his natural curiosity led him to the world of Shinto, Japan’s indigenous faith, wherein he discovered architecture, costumes, tools and customs unchanged for centuries. “The culture felt truly alive,” he says. “I was fascinated to see things still being used as originally intended, rather than being confined to museum showcases.”

After tertiary studies in Vienna, Nagoya and Tokyo, Wiltschko started as an
assistant priest at Shibuya’s Konnoh Hachimangu shrine in 2012. Four years later, he relocated to Tsu, a city in the Mie prefecture, becoming a priest at Hisai Hachimangu. Responsible for the shrine’s daily operations and rituals, he is thought to be the first accredited, non-Japanese kannushi (Shinto priest) working in the country.

“There are currently about 80,000 shrines across Japan, each with a story of its own,” says Wiltschko. “My main role is to continue the 355-year history of Hisai Hachimangu,” he adds with pride. “In Japan, particularly at shrines, there is a concept known as naka-ima. It stresses the importance of the present moment: we serve as a link between our ancestors and descendants.”