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\gdef\mujnazevCS{Gratulace z~Japonska}
\gdef\mujnazevEN{Congratulations from Japan}
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\gdef\mujauthor{Ryozo Miura}

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\Adresa{Professor Emeritus Hitotsubashi University, Japan}
%\author{Ryozo Miura}
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I~would like to sincerely congratulate Professor Jaromir Antoch on his 70th birthday and would also like to thank him for his friendship, kindness and hospitality provided to me for years.
  
In the middle of 1980s, I~came to know the name of Jaromir Antoch as a~young statistician working on the asymptotic theory of statistics which I~was also working on, in a~conversation with a~Czech probabilist Dalibor Volny who was visiting Osaka. Then I~wrote a~letter to Jaromir to start exchanging our research papers. Based on these communications, I~brought up a~plan of visiting Prague in 1988, but this was not realized regrettably for some reason: my physical conditions.

In 1989, I~moved to Tokyo from Osaka, from Osaka City University to Hitotsubashi University and then I~became very busy on working in a~new field of now so-called Financial Engineering/Mathematics. Thus, I~was quite absent from statistical meetings and journals for a~long time. However, 20 years later in 2008, I~found the name of J. Antoch in the list of main participants at the International Conference for Computational Statistics held in Yokohama, Japan.  After making sure that this is the statistician I~had known during 1980s, we met each other in Yokohama. There, Jaromir asked me if I~still want to visit Prague. I~said ``Oh, Yes!'', and my visit to Charles University was realized the following year.
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My interests in visiting Prague and Czechia were two-fold; academics and history/culture.
Academic interest is in Rank statistics, Asymptotic Theory of Statistics. I~used to read the book Theory of Rank Test by Hajek and Sidak, and I~knew Prague is the center for Rank statistic. 
Cultural Interests is, as well as Music performances, History/Culture of Czechia especially the Introduction of Christianity (by Saints Cyril and Methodius) during the 9th century and the movement by Jan Hus, Petr Chelcicky and their followers, with the related matters.

On my first visit to Prague in November 2009, Jaromir arranged a~meeting with Professor Jana Jureckova, it was my first time to meet her. During 1980s she recognized my work on adaptive estimates of location which I~published in a~very local journal of my department of commerce (in English), and she referred it in a~chapter of Handbook for Nonparametric Statistics. (I~wanted to meet her to express my gratitude for this matter.)
After this visit, I~was fortunate to have opportunities to give a~seminar talk and then in 2011 a~series of lectures on my work in the fields of Mathematical Statistics, Mathematical Finance and Financial Engineering, and Financial Data Analysis, at the department of Statistics in Charles University.

Jaromir knew my cultural interest in the country of Czechia as well as my academic ones.
He thus arranged my visit to Liberec Technical University in 2011 where I~gave a~few general lectures, and Professor Linka kindly took me for an excursion to a~mountain area called Paradise. 
As for my historical Interest in Chelcicky, there was a~very kind help and hospitality of Professor Jana Klicnarova at Faculty of Economics of South Bohemia University. 
I~was introduced to her by Professor Dalibor Volny on my first visit with him (an academic visit) to Ceske Budejovice in November, 2012. This was a~beginning of my recurrent visit to the university. Later on, I~was given an opportunity to give lectures to undergraduate students in English (maybe under Erasmus program). She understood my historical interests and kindly guided me to the Chelcicky museum and to several historical places (including Tabor 2) related Chelcicky.
Jaromir also arranged my visit to Masaryk University in Brno in November 2012 where I~gave a~lecture. Professor Ivanka Horova arranged for me some visit to the interesting places in Brno, e.g. Mendel Museum. Right after Brno, Professor Marek Omelka on his holidays at his hometown, helped me very much for my stay and visit to Velehrad and the Church there where I~could learn about Saints Cyril and Methodius. 
Several years later, Jaromir introduced me to Professor Ondrej Vencalek to make my visit to Palacky University in Olomouc in April 2018. Then I~could fortunately make a~visit again in the next year 2019 to have some academic exchange with him and his faculty. Ondrej kindly took me for a~drive to Velehrad and other nearby towns/cities in Moravia. 

One day I~discussed with Jaromir about an academic exchange with Japanese statisticians. Later this was realized in a~form of the academic exchange agreement between Department of Statistics Charles University Prague and Institute of Statistical Mathematics Tokyo Japan. 
Based on this agreement, a~team of three statistician: Professors Marek Omelka, Daniela Jaruskova, and Jaromir Antoch together visited the Institute of statistical mathematics in March, 2012. Then, Professor Marie Huskova visited the Institute in September 2013.
Jaromir visited Japan on another occasion as well. It was in November 2017. He was invited by Professor Yasumasa Matsuda to visit Department of Economics of Tohoku University in Sendai for a~workshop. On this occasion I~took Jaromir to Sakunami Onsen near Sendai over the weekend to experience a~Japanese open door hot spring (Iwa-buro): a~rock bath with a~pretty river-side view.
Also, we discussed on the development of rank statistics for linear regression models and I~made many questions about the theoretical assumptions set for deriving properties of the tests and estimators, especially about the assumptions set for the independent variables (explaining variables). He explained me the most recent form of the theoretical assumptions. A~summary of this will be coming up as a~paper for publication.

Since 2009, I~visited Czech every year (except in 2013) until 2019. In 2020, a~meeting of ``Robust Statistics'' was planned to hold in Bardejov, Slovakia where I~wanted to join. But because of the Covid-19 Pandemic this meeting was cancelled for the year. 
For me, every visit to Czechia starts from arriving at the airport in Prague: Vaclav Havel Airport, then stay for a~few days at least to visit the department of statistics to meet Jaromir. Every time I~visited his office, it was my opportunity for gaining my knowledge to recover my absence from the field of theory of statistics for 20 years. I~questioned him on recent developments on theory of Rank Test and Estimation, then he kindly guided me to the related papers and the related chapters of books.
Alongside to academics, Jaromir guided me to many places to attract my cultural/historical interests such as Rudolfinum, Vysehrad, Strahov Monastery/Library, Japan Garden, etc. And he also took me even for a~long drive to visit monumental places outside of Prague area. Most recent and memorable one is Mitsuko exhibition at Horsovsky Tyn.

Yes, I~owe him a~lot and had a~good time with him. 
I~would like to thank him again and wish him good health and his continued success in research and teaching.
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Ryozo Miura, September 2023 

