January, 2015: Breeze Issue #87

A Free Monthly E-Newsletter for Friends of Japan & Teachers of Japanese

The KAKEHASHI Project
Bridge for Tomorrow & Community Advocacy by Young Professionals

From January 18 – 24, the Kakehashi Project for Community Advocacy by Young Professionals from Japan, will bring young people from Japan to the US to share knowledge and promote dialogue about local revitalization. The six community leaders are representatives of six different prefectures (Iwate, Miyagi, Fukushima, Aichi, Wakayama, and Oita) of Japan and they will journey to Los Angeles and Denver to share their knowledge and promote dialogue about local revitalization in order to enrich their communities.

The objective of this youth exchange project is to promote mutual understanding among the people of Japan and the United States and enable future leaders of Japan – US exchanges to form networks, and help young people develop wider perspectives to encourage active roles at the global level for the future.

The young professionals from Japan will have an open dialogue with the people of the U.S. about topics such as local industry, tourism and exchange, urban planning, and the environment. Through this experience, the Japan Foundation aims to provide them a chance to develop their international views so they can contribute to the development of their local communities. They are excited to visit local facilities and interact with team members to share stories of their own communities’ struggles and revitalizations, as well have open discussions about building networks for future communications.

We believe that the youth exchange between the U.S. and Japan will develop a stronger friendship and promote collaboration for future generations. We hope they will continue to be active global partners with Japan and further discuss global and regional issues together in order to gain knowledge about Japan’s and America’s current struggles with their local communities.