PICK UP FY2021
To fulfill JF's mission of “cultivating friendship and ties between Japan and the world”
even during the prolonged COVID-19 crisis, in FY2021 we continued to explore various ways to
carry out our activities making use of online and other means.
Here is a selection of the activities that attracted the most attention.
STAGE BEYOND BORDERS—Selection of Japanese Performances— Attracting People All Over the World
We distributed Japanese stage performances with multilingual subtitles. In FY2021 we distributed a total of 92 works, which were viewed 9.5 million times in 111 countries and regions. 50 of those works were presented in collaboration with the executive committee of the Emergency Performing Arts Archives and Digital Theater Support Project (EPAD), which was formed to support performance troupes struggling during the coronavirus crisis.
ひきだすにほんごActivate Your Japanese!
Japanese-Language Learning Program
The drama part of the series features the growth of the main character Xuan, a Vietnamese person who goes to Japan to work in a hotel.
The Japan Foundation, in collaboration with NHK Educational, has developed a new TV series that introduces Japanese society and culture and teaches the Japanese language, with audiences seeking to live and work in Japan as its main target. The series started worldwide broadcast and online distribution through NHK WORLD-JAPAN.
Japanese Film Festival Online 2022
An interview with YOKOHAMA Satoko, director, and KOMAI Ren, star of the movie Itomichi at the Japanese Film Festival Online
We started the Japanese Film Festival Online as a new initiative in FY2020. In February 2022, it was expanded to 25 countries and held over a two-week period. A broad lineup of 20 Japanese films was broadcast for free with subtitles in 15 languages, with a total of 320,000 viewers and a view count of 540,000. We held simultaneous special screenings and events featuring guests in various countries, and the exchanges held online were very well received as well.
Online Book Club
As part of our support for Japanese language learning activities, the Japan Foundation offices in Rome, Cologne, Madrid and Budapest jointly organized an online book club. Intermediate and advanced learners from various countries and regions discussed Japanese literary works using Japanese as a common language.
CGP and the Asahi World Forum 2021
From right to left: FUKUOKA Shin-Ichi (Professor, Aoyama Gakuin University; Visiting Professor, Rockefeller University.), Michael Sandel (Professor, Harvard University), NAGANO Tomoko (Newscaster, journalist)
We held a special co-organized session at the Asahi World Forum 2021. Dialogues and panel discussions about post-coronavirus society were streamed online and watched by over 6,000 people in real time while the archived videos were watched by over 10,000 people.
Introducing Japanese Television Programs
The graduation ceremony for the six foreign residents living in Japan who underwent the top class Nakai training
The Japanese Hospitality Challenge - Bride & Pride Spin off, a documentary produced together with Tokai Television, featuring six foreign residents living in Japan who undergo the top class Nakai (staff at ryokan who welcome, serve and attend to the needs of their guests) training at a long-established traditional Japanese inn, was provided to seven countries in Africa, Eastern Europe and South and Central America. In response to changes in the program viewing environment, in addition to the television broadcast, we also offered a format suitable for broadcasting over the internet to certain TV stations overseas.
JOI Program and Nippon Broadcasting System, Inc. Present "Common Occurrences in the American South, Midwest and Mountain States?"
Radio program banner
ATSUGIRI Jason, program host
To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Japan Outreach Initiative (JOI) Program, a special corner hosted by comedian ATSUGIRI Jason was broadcast on the radio program "All Night Nippon" for one month. A YouTube program was also streamed as a special edition.
Online Japanese Culture Seminars at Centers for “Face-to-Face Exchanges” in China
Japanese cooking and food culture: Japanese traditional New Year‘ food Lecturer: OOHASHI Naoko (Japanese food researcher)
We held online seminars on topics that Chinese students are highly inaterested in (in FY2021 this was interpretation, voice actors, writing of literature, traditional Japanese musical instruments, traditional Japanese sweets and Japanese cooking) through the Centers for “Face-to-Face Exchanges” in China.