Program Summary
Since 2013 Globalize DC has partnered with American Councils in International Education to implement the TOMODACHI U.S. Japan Youth Exchange Program, an annual two-way exchange involving high school students from DC public schools and from Japan. The program, offered at no cost to students, promotes mutual respect and understanding through cultural awareness, people-to-people exchange, leadership training, and social entrepreneurship. Half of the cultural exchange takes place in DC, where the Japanese and DC students gain first-hand exposure to the social and cultural life of DC’s neighborhoods as well as the more well-known institutions of the nation’s capital. The reciprocal half of the exchange is in Japan, where the students visit Tokyo and then Tohoku, the northern region devastated by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, and the primary focus of the program. Upon their return, the DC students share what they’ve learned within their schools and local community.
The TOMODACHI Initiative
TOMODACHI means “friend” in Japanese. The U.S. Japan Council’s TOMODACHI Initiative seeks to foster a “TOMODACHI generation” of young American and Japanese leaders who are committed to and engaged in strengthening US-Japan relations, appreciate each others’ countries and cultures, and possess the global skills and mindsets needed to contribute to and thrive in a more cooperative, prosperous, and secure world. We are extremely grateful to the U.S. Japan Council’s TOMODACHI Fund for Exchanges, supported by Toyota Motor Corporation, Mitsubishi Corporation, and Hitachi Ltd., for funding this program.
To learn more and to get involved:
Learn all about the program at our special TOMODACHI USJYEP website at: www.usjapanfuture.org.
Hear directly from the students by following their blog at: www.usjapanfuture.org/student-blog/.
You can help support the DC-based school-year part of the program by making a much-needed financial contribution here.
If you wish to be involved in another way, please email sally@globalizedc.org.