Message from the President

FY2017 marked the first year of the Japan Foundation's fourth medium-term plan. During the course of this plan, we will implement programs that respond to policy challenges in the three major program areas that have served as our pillars since our establishment: Arts and Cultural Exchange, Japanese-Language Education Overseas, and Japanese Studies and Intellectual Exchange. Additionally, we will implement programs that, driven by close collaboration through global outreach, respond to changes in the international environment surrounding Japan.

The "WA Project: Toward Interactive Asia through Fusion and Harmony," launched during our previous medium-term plan, celebrated its fourth year in FY2017. Also, the total number of dispatched members under the "NIHONGO Partners" program reached 1,225 as of the end of FY2017. This means we will attain our goal of 3,000 partners after dispatching an additional 1,775 partners. Turning to arts and cultural exchange programs, we hosted various events to provide Japanese citizens with opportunities to learn about the accomplishments of the Japan Foundation's exchange programs over the years. One such event was SUNSHOWER: Contemporary Art from Southeast Asia 1980s to Now, a contemporary art exhibition held in Tokyo to commemorate ASEAN's 50th anniversary, attracting some 350,000 visitors. With an eye toward the medium-term plan's final year in 2020, we are preparing to showcase the culmination of the Asia Center's programs in Japan and Southeast Asia, one aim of which is to further deepen exchanges in the future.

In May 2016, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and then French President François Hollande agreed to hold "Japonismes 2018: les âmes en resonance" as a major event for showcasing Japanese art and culture in Paris and other parts of France to celebrate 160 years of friendly relations between the two countries. Preparations for this event were carried out in FY2017 under the coordination of the Secretariat for Japonismes 2018, which was set up within the Japan Foundation. More than 60 official projects were decided in areas such as exhibitions, performances, films and lifestyles, based on discussions at the Japonismes 2018 Comprehensive Promotion Board chaired by Prime Minister Abe and on coordination by the intergovernmental Japan-France Steering Committee on Japonismes 2018.

The Japan Foundation also held other programs in line with its purpose of fostering a favorable international environment. These included holding the Japan Festival Support Program in the United States and four other countries, providing 908 Japanese TV programs for broadcast in 101 countries and regions and convening Japanese film festivals in 36 cities in 12 countries under the Asia-Pacific Gateway Initiative.

Meanwhile, programs for developing human resources and organizations serving as bridges between Japan and overseas countries over the long term continued to be an important undertaking for us. We steadily promoted these with the aim of fostering harmonious foreign relations, another core purpose of the Japan Foundation. The programs include Japanese-Language Education Overseas, Japanese Studies and Intellectual Exchange and grassroots exchanges between citizens.

As part of our efforts to help establish the bedrock for Japanese-language education programs—such as by creating curriculums and developing young teachers—we dispatched specialists to 120 posts in 41 countries. In addition, we produced learning tools such as the Marugoto coursebook based on the JF Standard for Japanese-Language Education and the Minato e-learning platform.

The Japan Foundation also worked to nurture the next generation of scholars in Japanese studies and strengthen international collaboration through organizations such as the East Asian Consortium of Japanese Studies, which is the first Japanese studies research network organization for the East Asian region, as well as the Association for Asian Studies in the United States and the European Association for Japanese Studies.

In the Long-Term Exchange Program for Chinese High School Students, we invited 61 students to Japan for 11 months and also implemented grassroots exchanges that included dispatching 13 grassroots exchange coordinators to the U.S. Midwest and South.

Japan's culture is attracting growing attention from overseas in the run-up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games. As an institution dedicated to carrying out international cultural exchange, the Japan Foundation passionately pursues its diverse endeavors to live up to the expectations of people in Japan and overseas, and to fulfill its mission of "Cultivating friendship and ties between Japan and the world." We sincerely appreciate your continued understanding and support.

Hiroyasu Ando
President
The Japan Foundation
October 2018