Public Diplomacy

Ise City has promoted universal design and barrier-free environment.
Aiming for the registration of "Host Town of a Harmonious and Inclusive Society" of the Tokyo 2020, the City had come to know the initiative of Laos in terms of "inclusive track and field" which accepts athletes of all abilities.
Through the further exchanges with Lao people including Para-athletics athletes, the City was finally registered as a Host Town of Laos. After the registration, the bilateral exchanges between people from Laos and City’s residents have become more and more intensive. As a great example, the elementary school students in the City designed uniform colors for Lao athletes. The athletes gave an online lesson for the students in return.
In June 2021, students in Laos had an online interaction and exchange with the municipal officers of Ise City. It was a good opportunity for Lao students to learn the charms and various efforts in the field of agriculture and fishery of Ise City, their Host Town.

Originally Saitama Prefecture had planned various exchanges with foreign athletes visiting Japan for the Tokyo 2020 such as homestay experiences, they were forced to switch the plan to the online exchange due to the unexpected situation of COVID-19 pandemic.
However, thanks to the utility of online platforms, the scale of exchange is surprisingly expanding beyond the prevision!
A total number of overseas athletes and people interacted with their host families is actually more than 300 through the total 6 times of online exchange events starting from December 2020.
Their host families cheered them up as supporters and also introduced them various charms of Saitama such as sightseeing spots and local foods through the monitor. Former medalist also joined in the event! Both the athletes and their host families must have had a great time.

Since the conclusion of a friendship agreement in 2006, Fukuoka Prefecture and Bangkok Metropolitan Administration have had exchanges in a wide range of fields such as economy, environment, culture, education, and youth development. Based on the friendly relationship, the Consulate-General of Royal Thailand was established in Fukuoka in 2018.
In 2020, an exchange program was launched for students majoring in future technology fields which would be necessary for the fourth industrial revolution for the sustainable development in both of two regions. In this program, students from both regions gather together to broaden their insights through lectures by experts and deepen exchanges through joint workshops where students from both regions may discover the possible solutions to the common issues. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic of COVID-19, the first session was held online. 10 students from both regions proposed solutions to the existing issues for supporting the lives of the elderly, including the design and development of applications and robots to support the mobility. Kept the countermeasures against infectious diseases, the program will be planned in this year too. They will further deepen the friendly partnership.

In June 2021, “MOFA’s Local Partnership Cooperation Project Presentation Meeting” was held online for the first time. More than 160 people from local governments such as prefectures and ordinance-designated cities participated. Projects to co-hosting with the local governments such as diplomats’ regional study tours and regional promotion seminars, projects related to regional cooperation from the perspective of Japan House and SDGs, overseas safety measures, and the risk of economic disputes in international transactions were introduced.

Mr. Leo Luchuk, born in Ukraine, has been interested in various cultures and foreign languages, and he especially got interested in Japanese literature and language after he learned them in the university. 
Now, he works at Kobe City Government as an international affairs officer.
In the position, he engages in interpreting governor’s words and negotiating with foreign counterparts. In addition, he contributes on internationalization and regional revitalization of Kobe City by participating in eco-volunteering with university students and developing international network in the area of stat-up business. 
With his professional knowledge and rich background, he will contribute on Kobe City further! 

In March 2021, the Consulate-General of Japan in Chongqing held the reception celebrating His Majesty the Emperor’s birthday at a hotel in Chongqing. In this special occasion, Japanese local charms was presented to about 140 guests, limited number of guests compared with other years, due to COVID-19 pandemic.
A number of Japanese local governments had booths there for the PR of their local charms, such as authentic sake and cocktails from Hiroshima City, which has a Friendship City Agreement with Chongqing City, authentic shochu produced in Miyakonojo City, Miyazaki Prefecture, which has also a friendship exchange with Jiangjin District. .Furthermore, sightseeing spots were introduced by Shizuoka Prefecture.

A mysterious temple built on the middle of a steep cliff!
The tweet about Nageiredo, a national treasure in Misasa Town, Tottori Prefecture, gained the most attention this month. It is said that, over a thousand years ago though the construction date is not clear, En-no-gyoja, the founder of Shugendo, threw the entire building from the flat ground into the cliff by his supernatural power.
It seems worth following the steep mountain roads to visit this magnificent temple that has continued to be praised by its majesty in the harsh environment of the wind and snow.