The 2005 Japan-EU People-to-People Year

from the 12/04 paper Ibaraki Report

Acting as an "ambassador of friendship between cultures," my position is largely concerned with contacts with the Ibaraki local community. For me, therefore, the opportunity to organize a French/EU booth for the International Festival has been an extremely rewarding experience.

Delivering presentations and organizing seminars both in the International Association and Ibaraki University is a challenge I enjoy responding to but I believe that the seminars and presentations delivered owed a great part of their success to the active and constructive participation of the audience.

During my presentation I ask, among other things, for participants to guess the responses made by French people to a variety of questionnaires and surveys on the French society. This provides me with a great opportunity to open discussions with the audience on a wide range of subjects. At the end of my presentation I tell the audience what the responses of the French people surveyed actually were to the questions we have been discussing. I always look forward to this part of the seminar relishing the chance to observe the looks of surprise on the faces of many of my audience as I share the survey results with them!

Exploring the myths and realities of the French society is a delight.

With regards to the topic of multicultural communication, you may find this extract of interest and you may wish to send us your comments.

Another enjoyable facet to my role is the participation in the World Caravan.

Launched in 1999, this project has established itself as a valuable method of deepening the understanding of foreign cultures. Volunteers with diverse backgrounds visit the schools of Ibaraki Prefecture and introduce their home country to the local people. To this purpose, good communication skills are a must and imagination both in terms of content and presentational style is highly prized. The curiosity and kindness of the children always help to make it a nice experience for everyone involved. Come to think of it, wouldn't such a program be useful in Europe to promote mutual understanding and foster a European identity? Groundwork remains to be done in this field.

In the framework of the "2005 Japan-EU People-to-People Year" and in association with schools in Ibaraki, an exhibition is scheduled in France in the College of Villiers Saint George, Seine et Marne.

Further projects between France and Japan are in the pipeline, taking advantage of this year of friendship.

I should also say that assisting the Working Group on Universal Design with the preparation of documents is also a challenge I enjoy. To finish with, I would like to ask you, if you wish so, to send us pictures that you haven taken in Ibaraki Prefecture (interesting pictures showing the daily life of Japanese people are welcome).

The "2005 Japan-EU People-to-People Year"

The 2005 Japan-EU People-to-People Year is a campaign aimed at increasing awareness and understanding of cultural differences and encouraging visits between the people of Japan and residents of the European Union. It is a joint project between the Japanese Government, the European Commission and the Member States of the EU and aims not only at bringing together people and cultures but also at generating self-sustaining projects that will continue far beyond 2005.