Visit to Japan by Pesantren (Islamic Boarding School) Teachers from Indonesia

January 24, 2012
Japanese

A group of teachers from Indonesian Pesantren (Islamic boarding schools) will visit Japan from Wednesday, January 25, to Saturday, February 4 as guests of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan.
The group will visit Tokyo, Hiroshima, Kyoto, Nara, Kobe, and Osaka. They will experience a wide range of activities such as classroom visits, inter-faith dialogue at Todaiji Temple, a home-stay program, traditional Japanese cultural programs, company visits, and disaster management institution visits. They will also have the opportunity to exchange views with students, experts, and teachers.
This invitation of Pesantren teachers, who are local opinion leaders throughout Indonesia, aims at enhancing educational exchanges and mutual understanding between Japan and Indonesia. It also intends to contribute to raising the quality of education in Islamic boarding schools, which constitute an important part in the educational system of Indonesia, and encouraging the development of moderate Islam communities.
This program has been conducted annually since 2004. Since then, we have received positive feedback from participants such as that they have utilized their experiences at their local Pesantrens back home, and that they have also increased their sense of affinity to Japan.

(*This is a provisional translation. The above date denotes the date of the issue of the original press release in Japanese.)

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