Press Releases

1. On June 17, the 27th Plenary Session of the United States-Japan Conference on Cultural and Educational Interchange (CULCON) will be held in Tokyo. The purpose of this conference is to hold discussions by experts from both Japan and the U.S. on the issues related to cultural and educational exchanges between the two countries, and to make recommendations on necessary measures and policies to the governments and societies of the two countries.

2. This plenary session will be co-chaired by Mr. Ryozo Kato, Japan CULCON Chair (Former Ambassador of Japan to the United States) and Mr. Harry A. Hill, U.S. CULCON Chair (CEO and President, Oak Lawn Marketing. Inc.), and will be participated in by the panelists representing governments, and various fields such as business and academia, as well as H.E. Ms. Caroline Kennedy, U.S. Ambassador to Japan. (see the attached list of the panelists of CULCON).

3. Through this conference, the subjects, such as the follow-up of the goals of "doubling two-way student exchange by the year 2020", mentioned in the Annex of the Joint Statement issued at the Japan-US summit meeting in 2014, Japanese language education in the U.S., exchanges in the field of arts, and intellectual and people-to-people exchanges will be discussed, with a view to fostering next generations of leaders for the Japan-U.S. relations and Japan-U.S. exchanges in the future. The outcomes of the discussions will be issued as a joint statement on counter-measures for the problems to be solved.

4. Prior to this conference, on Thursday, June 16, Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs will host a reception at Iikura House to welcome the CULCON participants.