( sr-Cyrl, Србија до Токија), meaning "

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

", is a slogan and

catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...

dating back to the early 1990s. In 1991, Socialist Republic of Serbia, Serbian (then-Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Yugoslav) football club Red Star Belgrade won the 1990–91 European Cup, European Cup and the worldwide title in Tokyo, Japan, winning the 1991 Intercontinental Cup, Intercontinental Cup. This was the greatest success of any football club ever in Yugoslavia, and was much envied by the other nations at the time of Log Revolution, increased ethnic tensions. The phrase has been used by Serbian football fans to taunt fans from rival Ethnic groups in Yugoslavia, ethnic groups in the beginning of the Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s. The phrase is evoked by both Serbian nationalism, Serbian nationalists, and Serbs jokingly mocking Serb exceptionalism alike.

Origin of the phrase

On 29 May 1991, as inter-ethnic relations in Yugoslavia were growing tenser, Red Star defeated French team Olympique de Marseille to win the European Cup – the first Yugoslav team to do so, and the second Eastern European. As the winners of the European Cup, Red Star Belgrade earned a place in the Intercontinental Cup, which was held at the National Stadium (Tokyo, 1958), Tokyo National Stadium. Exultant fans coined the phrase to glorify their team's upcoming adventure. On 8 December 1991, Red Star won the Intercontinental Cup, defeating Chilean team Colo-Colo. By that time, the tension that had underlain the European Cup match had ignited into the Yugoslav Wars, with a short-lived Ten-Day War, war in Slovenia, and a full-scale Croatian War of Independence, war in Croatia. In this context, the phrase's associations with Serbian victory made it particularly appealing to nationalists and Militarism, militarists.

Occurrences

Graffiti containing the message are present in

, as well in Republika Srpska and other parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina.Anti-Minority Incidents Continue in Vojvodina

/ref>
Such graffiti was also seen in Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija, Kosovo during the Kosovo War.In Ruined Village, a Mother Lives With Her Son's Blood
/ref> In the Kosovo village of Lozica in the Mališevo municipality, the local Kosovo Albanians, Albanian population was claiming that the graffiti "" was written by Army of FR Yugoslavia, Serbian military forces during the destruction of the village. During the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, the phrase was expanded. "", meaning "Serbia to Tokyo, but over Milwaukee", in order to show disagreement with United States' role during the bombing. After the bombing ended, phrase extension was abandoned.Srbija do Tokija al preko Milvokija
/ref>

References in popular culture

* Serbian alternative rock band Goribor released a demo (music), demo album ''Stondom do Tokija'' (''Stoned to Tokyo'') as a parody for the slogan.

References

{{reflist

External links

Article on the 2006 secession of Montenegro from Serbia, exploring how "Srbija do Tokija" is no longer applicable
at the International Herald Tribune
Article on Serbian/Albanian conflicts in 1999, including the use of "Serbia to Tokyo" as a graffito
at the New York Times
Review of Melanie Friend's ''No Place Like Home: Echoes from Kosovo''
in which "Serbia to Tokyo" is compared to threats of rape and murder. Graffiti and unauthorised signage Serbian nationalism Serbian political phrases Slogans Association football fandom Yugoslav culture