CEPEX

As the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program celebrates its 35^th anniversary, alumni members from across the US, plus a few attendees from Canada and Japan, gathered in Seattle, WA, for a special reunion conference. The JET35 event was a mixture of official programming with speeches and panels, plus off-site excursions and activities arranged by USJETAA with support from the Pacific Northwest JETAA alumni chapter. 150+ attendees representing 41 of the 47 prefectures registered, with Gunma the most represented. The first major gathering for many to attend in-person after the pandemic, attendees wore face masks indoors for the official programming, except for when eating, drinking and the group photo at the Haru Matsuri dinner reception.

Consul General Hisao Inagaki welcomed everyone on behalf of the Japanese Consulate in Seattle.

Special video messages were played from Minister of Foreign Affairs Yoshimasa Hayashi and Consul General of the US in Osaka-Kobe, Richard Mei.

Minister Hayashi noted the roles JET alumni take on in support of the US-Japan relationship and range of careers that build upon their JET experience.

Consul General Mei noted how his participation in the JET-precursor program Monbusho English Fellows (MEF) in Tokushima led to his career at the State Department and current role in Osaka.

Shanti Shoji led the panel on Bringing Japan Home: Community Connections to Japan. Discussants included JET alumni Seattle International Affairs Director Stacey Jehlik, and Mountain View, CA city council member Ellen Kamei; plus former Commander US Naval Forces Japan Admiral James D. Kelly, and Japan America Society of the State of Washington Dale Watanabe. Mr. Watanabe shared moving anecdotes of the Japanese Americans who were sent from Bainbridge Island to internment camps, including his own family. The panel recommended alumni volunteer anywhere, get involved, and bring the Japan experience to international activities.

Special breakout events included a JET 20+ lunch offsite with attendees who participated on the JET Program before 2002. The alumni represented JETAA chapters including Seattle; Northern California; Southern California; Washington, DC; and Heartland (Kansas City, MO).

One of the exhibit tables displayed a selection of books written by JET alumni. The Creators Panel included JET alumni Zack Davisson, a manga translator and author of Yurei: The Japanese Ghost, and Kaibyo: The Supernatural Cats of Japan.

The Breakout Session on Sister Cities, KenJETKai, and other Innovative Exchanges: Sustaining Ties with Communities in Japan, highlighted the existence of 457 US-Japan sister cities according to the Council of Local Authorities for International Relations (CLAIR). Many of the US Sister Cities are NPOs, run by volunteers who do not know protocol, Japanese language, social media or technology. Sister Cities need new energy and new people to join. Independence, Missouri became a sister city with Higashimurayama in 1978. The relationship was started after some Japanese tourists became lost in former President Truman’s hometown of Independence, MO. The townspeople were kind and helped the tourists. In 1979 students from Higashimurayama visited Independence for a two-week home stay, and a student group has visited every year since. In 1981 six students went to Higashimurayama, and student exchanges have been conducted every year since. JET alumni who return to their communities can help play a role energizing US-Japan sister city relationships, continuing the investment in grassroots, people-to-people exchanges first experienced on the JET Program.

April 2020

Hokkaido University, Nitobe College Fellow,

Yukio Tada

Toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2045

– Conceptual Thinking of the Peace Game –

Dossier of the Tada Fellow Seminar 2019

https://nitobe-college.academic.hokudai.ac.jp/u/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/nitobe_fellow_zemi1.pdf

This booklet summarizes the results of group study activities of “Tada” seminar, which was conducted as a part of the Nitobe Fellow Seminar, a mandatory course at Nitobe College of Hokkaido University. Hokkaido University is one of the National Universities in Japan, established in 1876, with 12 departments covering natural science to social science, with 19,000 students including 2,200 foreign students. Nitobe College is a cross-over special education program created in2013, open for all students among the 12 departments in order to develop a global human resource. The enrollment capacity is 200 students each year, including the first year and the second year students.

In the 2019 academic year, the overall main subject was SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals). “Tada” Fellow Seminar, which I was in charge of, pursued the theme of “Toward the SDGs in 2045 – Thinking about the Peace Game-”.

This booklet is intended to be used by many leaders in primary and secondary education settings as new teaching materials and study guidebooks created by university students.

Why setting the target year as 2045?  It is said to be the year of the Singularity. Additionally, we assume by 2045 that these students, who are freshmen and sophomores, will be active at the forefront of our society.

Why Peace Game? This is not war game which aims at defeating opponents. We selected the goal of realizing a sustainable world. It also shouldn’t be a pick-up game to steal your opponent’s assets. In addition, the game should be interesting not only in classrooms but also outside of class hours of college, elementary, junior high and high school. We hope that you can freely use the records the students have made.

CEPEX launched a new seminar series on U.S. workforce development in October 2018 called “Japanese Innovation and Experiences Implementing New Technology in the U.S./From ‘Product Out’ to ‘Market In’”. This initiative has been supported by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) under their U.S.-Japan grassroots program which promotes collaboration with private sector, government authorities and educational institutions, on how to address workforce development issues and the 21^st century workplace. Since October 2018 CEPEX has organized six seminars in locations throughout the U.S. including Fort Wayne, Indiana; Chicago, Illinois; Dublin, Ohio; and Fayetteville, Arkansas. On December 3, 2019, CEPEX hosted the 5^th seminar at Memphis University, in Memphis, Tennessee. The 6^th seminar was held the next day at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee.

CEPEX speakers with Mayor Jim Strickland and Acting Counsel General of Japan in Nashville Jiro Nishimura

At both seminars in Tennessee, Acting Consul-General Jiro Nishimura from the Consulate-General of Japan in Nashville, delivered welcome remarks, followed by two presentations and a panel discussion. A highlight of the seminars was a presentation by Mr. Yoshihiro Sasaki, CEO and President of R-Cubes (Reuse, Reduce, Recycle), as well as the Q&A session with the panel. Mr. Sasaki’s innovative presentation on New Reverse Logistics portrayed how he has encouraged his employees at his reverse service logistics company to create in-house IT systems to increase productivity. While his reverse logistics company only has two IT employees, workers on the line have the knowledge about how to improve systems and work flow. His employees used open source software to create an in-house IT system to monitor employees’ touch time on each item on the line.

Mr. Sasaki’s presentation at Memphis University

A key reason CEPEX selected universities in Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Arkansas and Tennessee as locations for the six events is to connect with university students studying Japanese, as well as educators, and local business people. About 70 people attended the University of Memphis seminar on December 3, 2019. Many of the participants were studying Japanese and quite interested in learning about future job prospects where they could potentially use their Japanese language skills. Around 70 people attended the seminar at Austin Peay State University on December 4, 2019. State Senator Bill Powers and Dean of Business Administration Mickey Hepnew joined the seminar and spoke about diplomacy, security and macroeconomic trends. Student participants asked about what innovations will come in the future. Speakers stressed that in the future is a lot of room and potential for innovation in areas that link natural science and social science, and that collaboration between industry, government and academia will be important to unleash this innovation.

With Senator Bill Powers and Dean Mickey Hepner

A notable shift for American workforce to consider is the need to understand different cultures and finding a way to communicate with people rather than solely focusing on language fluency. No matter the type of business, size of company, or workplace culture, it is more important to strive to constantly learn new things and think outside of the box in order to survive in the future age of innovation with AI and machine learning speeding up the pace of change in the workplace. Mr. Sasaki has emphasized that even the most inexperienced employee has the potential to learn about IT and do programming if they have the right motivation and environment. With a little effort, he or she can see how automation and improving the flow of systems can reduce inefficiencies and correctly align limited human resources in the workplace.

Austin Peay State University seminar