Public Diplomacy

In Shiga Prefecture, you can enjoy cycling at "Biwaichi" 200km cycling route around Lake Biwa, while watching the beautiful scenery and historical heritage that spread along the shore of the lake. Shiga Prefecture is making various efforts so that many people enjoy Biwaichi cycling safely and securely in cooperation with municipalities and businesses in the prefecture. In November 2019, "Biwaichi" was selected as one of the first "National Cycle Routes" and will soon mark the first anniversary.

An Official Development Assistance project to Moldova in cooperation with a local company of Tsuruoka City led to the Host Town partnership with Moldova. Tsuruoka City and Nishikawa Town in Yamagata Prefecture have actively promoted the Host Town Initiative online even under the circumstances of various restrictions caused by COVID19. Tsuruoka City held a friendly match ”Japan-Moldova Remote Archery Match”. Nishikawa Town hosted a competition “2020 Moldova Canoe Cup”

Many foreigners who come to Japan dream of living and working in big cities like Tokyo or Osaka. Mr. Jonathan Jenkins, an Australian teacher moved from Melbourne to Urausu Town, Hokkaido, provides a different opinion and introduces his experiences in rural area of Japan. He finds himself drawn to rural Japan for four main reasons – the local pride, the community spirit, the warmth of the peoples’ heart and the convenience of country life.

Fujieda City, having a sister city relationship with Penrith City in Australia and Yangju City in South Korea, has actively continued international exchanges using Skype between elementary schools and junior high schools since 2014. Through a wide variety of interactions using pictures, photographs and demonstrations, students come to realize the importance of face-to-face communications. Let's take a look at their online exchanges in the classroom.

Autumn, a perfect season for good appetite, has come! A tweet about the fruits of Sado gained the most attention this month. Sado is one of the leading region of fruits production in Niigata Pref. Various special fruits are harvested, among which there is a special kind of fig, called "phantom black diamond“. You can imagine how juicy and sweet it is even from the photo. Special fruits also greatly contribute to improving the attractiveness of the region!

In January 2019, participants of the diplomats’ Tour visited the all-weather training field in J-Village, that opened in September of the previous year. It is the largest indoor training field in Japan, and the spacious field is covered with lush artificial turf. J-Village is the starting point for the torch relay of the Tokyo 2020 Games. Next spring, Japan will highlight the "Recovery Olympics and Paralympics" from Fukushima!

Omotesando Niigatakan N'espace opened in 1997 and has been at the forefront of trends in Omotesando, which is one of the leading sources of fashion in the Tokyo Metropolitan area. The annual number of visitors exceeded 1 million for 9 consecutive years, and it continues to gain popularity.
Do you know what "N'espace" means? Now, let's find the answer and unravel the secret of popularity!