Start of the “Japan-East Asia Network of Exchange for Students and Youths (JENESYS) Programme” (Japan-China 21st Century Exchange Program: Visit to Japan by Groups of Chinese Senior High School Students)

May 29, 2007

At the Second East Asia Summit (EAS), which was held in January this year, Mr. Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan, announced a plan to implement a 35-billion-yen youth exchange program, inviting about 6,000 young people to Japan mainly from the EAS member states (ASEAN, Australia, China, India, New Zealand, the ROK) every year for the next five years, with a view to establishing a basis of Asia’s stalwart solidarity by expanding youth exchange. Based on this plan, the Government of Japan will launch the Japan-East Asia Network of Exchange for Students and Youths (JENESYS) Programme in this fiscal year. Various kinds of exchange programs including inviting and dispatching youths will be implemented in cooperation with concerned countries and organizations.

As the first invitation project based on the program, a group of 200 Chinese senior high school students will visit Japan from May 30 (Wed) to June 7 (Thu). The group will visit the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and will attend a seminar on Japan-China relations in Tokyo. After that, the members of the group will interact with Japanese high-school students and citizens through attending joint classes and club activities in high schools, staying in Japanese people’s homes, and visit cultural, economic, and social facilities in Yamagata, Ibaraki, Aichi, Osaka, Hyogo, Hiroshima, and Okinawa Prefectures. (The Japan-China 21st Century Exchange Program, which started last year, will be comprised in the JENESYS Programme from this fiscal year).

Besides China, the Government of Japan intends to invite young people under this program from ASEAN countries, Australia, India, New Zealand, and the ROK.

This program is expected to deepen mutual understanding among young people who will assume important roles in the next generation in each East Asian country, establish a basis for Asia’s stalwart solidarity, and promote friendly feelings toward Japan in each country.

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