At the 11th Japan-EU Summit in July 2002, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan, Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen of Denmark (in his capacity as then President of the European Council), and then President of the European Commission Romano Prodi, agreed to designate 2005, the middle year in the "Decade of Japan-Europe Cooperation," as the EU-Japan Year of People-to-People Exchanges. Its underlying concept was "exchanges between people." We called for the implementation of wide-ranging exchange events with a view to promoting mutual understanding and long-term exchanges between Japan and 25 EU Member States.

As a result, over 1,900 events (about 450 events in Japan and about 1,450 events in 25 EU Member States) were registered and held throughout the year 2005. Organizations comprised of those concerned from administrative, economic, and academic circles as well as from various exchange-related organizations were established in 12 countries to promote the preparations and implementation of the "EU-Japan Year" in each country (13 organizations in total [Note 1]).

Opening events were held across Japan and Europe (16 countries, 19 cities) between January and March 2005 (Note 2) and were participated by a wide range of people including royal family members and heads of state.

Reflecting the diversity and closeness of Japan-Europe relations, a broad array of people ranging from children to the elderly and general public to experts and professionals participated in the various events under the "EU-Japan Year." The events expanded the range of exchanges from those on a bilateral basis to exchanges involving several neighboring countries. For example, several joint events were organized by more than one EU country, together with Japan. There were also tours of Japanese performances/exhibitions held across several EU countries. Furthermore, the recent EU enlargement with the accession of ten countries in 2004 provided a new opportunity for promoting exchange between Japan and the newly acceded countries. The EU enlargement contributed to making the "EU-Japan Year" the largest exchange year which Japan has ever held in terms of the number of participating countries and events held. The "EU-Japan Year" became a good opportunity for people to sense the diversity and achievement of EU-Japan cooperation based on a close relationship between Europe and Japan.

Closing events were held between November 2005 and February 2006 in 16 cities in 14 countries (Note 3). At the closing events, participants reviewed the outcome of the "EU-Japan Year" in each country and expressed their wish to further strengthen the EU-Japan relations based on the experience and achievements gained in the "EU-Japan Year."