Ambitious plans to create a Japanese center in London have been unveiled.

The development is planned for West London, which already has a sizable Japanese community. Britain has the largest population of Japanese residents of any European country and has the third-largest Japanese community outside Japan, according to the project's backers.

Supporters of the plans envisage a center that would become the focus in the country for all kinds of Japanese cultural activities, from flower arrangement and haiku writing to martial arts.

They believe that such a project is long overdue in London, given that there are already centers in cities with fewer Japanese nationals, such as Paris, Milan, Italy, Amsterdam and Cologne, Germany.