1. On June 5, the 28th Plenary Meeting of the United States-Japan Conference on Cultural and Educational Interchange (CULCON) convened in Washington D.C., the United States. CULCON received the messages from Prime Minister Abe and President Trump. This conference discussed challenges to be tackled and counter-measures against them mainly on the following three committees; Educational Exchange Review Committee (ERC), Japanese Language Education Committee (JLEC), Art Dialogue Committee (ADC) and Next Generation Task Force(Next Gen TF). The outcome of the discussions was released as a Joint Statement.
2. The Educational Exchange Review Committee (ERC), submitted the Interim report and will continue to monitor and refine both progress and challenges in reaching for the goal of doubling the number of students studying in each other’s country. The Japanese Language Education Committee (JLEC)JLEC submitted the final report and the CULCON committee members agreed to continue to monitor Japanese-language education in the United States as part of the ERC, and to add an additional Japanese-language expert from each side. The Art Dialogue Committee (ADC) submitted the report and should continue to explore ways for the important work to continue after 2020 with various stakeholders, including the private sector. The Next Generation Task Force submitted the executive summary and will continue its dialog until the next Plenary Session to explore ways to implement its recommendations.
3. The plenary meeting was co-chaired by Mr. Ryozo Kato, Japan CULCON Chair (Former Ambassador of Japan to the United States) and Mr. Harry Hill, U.S. CULCON Chair (Member of the Board, New Business Development, Oak Lawn Marketing. Inc.), and was participated in by the panelists representing government and various sectors such as business and academia, as well as Mr. Shinsuke Sugiyama, Japanese Ambassador to the U.S., and Ms. Marie Royce, Assistant Secretary for Educational and Cultural Affairs, U.S. Department of State.
