Public Diplomacy

In order to strengthen relations between Davao and Japanese local governments, Consul General Ishikawa to Davao, visited Kitakyushu City which has a sister city relationship with Davao, and Hamamatsu City which has active exchanges with Davao, and exchanged views with Mayors of both cities. He also visited organizations and companies that have cooperative relations with Davao. This article introduces the exchanges between both cities and Davao.

In June 2024, a reception was held to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the sister city relationship between Tilburg, a core city in the southern part of the Netherlands, and Minamiashigara City in Kanagawa Prefecture. In response to recent recycle-based society and energy issues, Tilburg City, whose interest in Japan is gradually growing, has been actively collaborating with Japanese companies. Under these circumstances, it was a very useful opportunity to hold the reception to commemorate the sister city exchange between Japanese and Dutch local governments with officials from both sides, promoting the relationship between the two cities.

In June 2024, Ambassador Takeuchi to Zambia visited Marumori Town and exchanged views with Mayor Hoshina and other officials of Marumori Town. This article introduces the exchange that Marumori and Zambia have continued since 2011, which emphasizes people-to-people connections through the promotion of agriculture.

In May 2024, the 3rd Japan Parade was held in New York. Yamaguchi City became the first Japanese local government to participate in the parade, after Yamaguchi City was featured in the New York Times' list of "52 Places to Go in 2024." The parade of Yamaguchi City has broadened New Yorkers' interest in Japan and has been noted as a good practice for attracting inbound demand to regional cities, which is significant from the perspective of promoting regional cooperation.

Saga Prefecture Film Commission is working to invite the location shooting of domestic and international productions to raise awareness of Saga Prefecture and promote tourism by publicizing information about the prefecture through visual images. This article presents how to attract the Malaysian drama "From Saga, With Love," which was a huge hit in Southeast Asia, the promotion of its appeal, and the response it received.