Launching of "Japan Culture Volunteers Program" and Its Kick Off Event

May 15, 2008

1.  The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will launch a "Japan Culture Volunteers Program" as a FY2008. The program aims to dispatch up to 30 Japanese volunteers to four Central and South Eastern European countries, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, and Romania, for two years from next January to teach the Japanese language and to introduce Japanese traditional and pop culture on the grass-roots level.  The Government of Japan will start inviting applications for the volunteers from May 26 (Mon).  The Council on the Movement of People Across Borders of the Ministry (Chair: Mr. Cho Fujio, Chairman of Toyota).

2.  The four Central and South Eastern European countries to which the volunteers will be dispatched, are traditionally pro-Japanese, and there is a strong demand for Japanese language education, Japanese culture, and not only traditional but also pop culture, such as anime and Manga, are also popular.  Therefore, by promoting Japanese language and culture, the volunteers are expected to further enhance trust in and understanding of Japan in those countries.  To make the activities of the volunteers more effective, their nickname "J-CAT (Japan Culture Advance Team)" and a logo for it were created.

3.  The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will hold a kick-off event on the launching of the program at "Forum," Fuji Television Headquarters Building 22F, Daiba, Tokyo, from 17:00 on May 26 (Mon).  In the main session which starts at 19:00, there will be a panel discussion attended by Mr. Itsunori Onodera, Senior Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Peter Frankl, a Hungarian mathematician, an executive officer of Fuji Television Network, Inc, and an official from the embassies of the four Central and South Eastern European countries.  The participants are expected to discuss, inter alia, the significance of grass-roots-level international exchange and the popularity of Japan’s pop culture abroad.  The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expects that many people will be interested in the program and that there will be a wide range of applicants.

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