Strengthening Cultural Exchange in Asia

The Japan Foundation Asia Center aims to foster awareness of empathy and coexistence as neighbors who live together among the residents of Asia through exchange and collaboration. To that end, it implements projects in diverse fields, such as arts and culture, sports, Japanese-language education and academic exchange.

1 (1) NIHONGO Partners Program

This program dispatches NIHONGO Partners to secondary educational institutions etc. in Asia, mainly 10 ASEAN countries in order to support the local Japanese language teachers and students.
The NIHONGO Partners will support not only the educational activities of the local Japanese teachers but also aim to spread the charms of the Japanese language and cultures through their learning support and cultural activities inside and outside the classroom.

Through local activities and people-to-people exchanges, NIHONGO Partners themselves are also expected to deepen their understandings toward the language and cultures of the area or country where they stay, and serve as liaisons within Asian countries in the future.

Program outline (PDF:82.4KB)

Last updated September 30, 2021

Eligibility Area Japan
Applicant Individual
Application Instruction /
Application Form
  1. (1)Once the details are available, the application instructions and application forms will be available on the Japan Foundation Asia Center's website .(in Japanese).
  2. (2)Please note that the dispatch areas and duration of dispatch are tentative and subject to change.

1 (2) NIHONGO Partners in collaboration with Japanese Universities

This program dispatches student interns as “NIHONGO Partners” in collaboration with Japanese universities to support local Japanese language teachers and students at institutions of higher education in Asia, mainly 10 ASEAN countries.
Interns will support not only the educational activities of the local Japanese language teachers and students but also aim to deepen communications and understandings between locals and Japanese.

Program outline (PDF:89.4KB)

Last updated September 30, 2021

Eligibility Area Japan*
Applicant Organization*
*Japanese universities, graduate schools or junior colleges, which have Japanese language teacher training courses
Application Deadline December 1, 2021
Application Form AC-IP
Application Instruction /
Application Form

2 Grant Program for Enhancing People-to-People Exchange

This program particularly supports exchange / collaborative projects, that are implemented mainly by ASEAN countries and participants from Japan, and that do not involve the movement of people across countries.

*The call for proposals for “Grant Program for Enhancing People-to-People Exchange” is yet to be decided. In case the programs become available, details will be announced on our website after February, 2022.

  • *Please read the details of each program and the appropriate application forms thoroughly.
  • *Please refer to FAQs for more information.
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