Program to Invite Former JET Participants to the Disaster Stricken Areas in Tohoku (Second Batch to Visit Japan)

September 6, 2011
Japanese

A second batch for the program to invite former Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) participants will make a “homecoming” starting from Tuesday, September 6. This batch will be four people from China and one person from Australia for a total of five former JET participants, with four people going to Iwate Prefecture and one person going to Miyagi Prefecture for about one week each.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is cooperating with the Japan Tourism Agency to hold a program that will support the “homecoming” of experienced former JET participants who worked for two years or more as Assistant Language Teachers and/or Coordinators for International Relations to the disaster-stricken areas where they formerly served. This will be held in local municipalities in the three prefectures of Iwate Prefecture, Miyagi Prefecture, and Fukushima Prefecture that were stricken by the Great East Japan Earthquake for about two months starting from August 1 with the cooperation of the three prefectures and the city of Sendai. The plan is to have a total of 14 former JET participants make their respective “homecomings” for about one week in the first batch, with seven people having already visited the disaster stricken areas.
Holding this program will deepen the participant’s understanding with regard to the current conditions in Japan, including within the stricken areas, as well as the safety of traveling and residing in Japan. It is also hoped that information like the circumstances that they encounter during their stay in Japan and their impressions from their viewpoint as foreigners will be communicated via various means, including media contributions and appearances, as well as websites, Twitter, and Facebook.

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

(END)