2017.8. 1

Serving as a Bridge between People in Japan and the United States through Grass-Roots Exchange

Today, numerous exchange programs are available in Japan aimed at promoting mutual understanding with people throughout the world. One of these programs is the Japan Outreach Initiative run jointly by the Japan Foundation together with Laurasian Institution in the US, a program for the deployment of grass-roots Japan-US exchange coordinators. This program, also called JOI (joy), the abbreviation of the program name, deploys Japanese coordinators from Japan to the US for two weeks to promote deeper interest and understanding of Japan through exchange activities rooted in the local community. The program is entering its 15th year in 2017, having started in 2002. In October 2016, a symposium was held at the Japan Foundation Japanese-Language Institute, Urawa in commemoration of the 15th year, entitled "The Value of International Exchange in the Community". In this issue we will introduce the activities of the JOI coordinators and some of the statements by the panelists at the symposium.