On December 3, 2021 the Japanese-Russian Youth Forum started online. The forum is one of the main events of the Russian-Japanese Youth Exchange Plan for 2021. It is held under the motto “Russian-Japanese cooperation – together into the future.”
The forum is attended by students, young professionals and representatives of youth public associations from Russia and Japan. In total more than 40 people are participants. The Russian delegation is represented by young people from the Republic of Tatarstan, Altai Territory, Stavropol Territory, Belgorod, Voronezh, Irkutsk, Kemerovo, Nizhny Novgorod, Orel, Penza, Saratov, Samara Regions, Moscow and St. Petersburg.
The purpose of the forum is to discuss new opportunities for bilateral youth cooperation as well as exchange experiences on four topics: “Energy problems”, “Environmental problems”, “Young scientists” and “Young family”.
Opening the forum, the Director of the Department of State Youth Policy and Educational Activities of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Russia Denis Ashirov noted: “We need bilateral forums like today’s in order to give young people the opportunity to determine for themselves in what key joint events between our countries will take place and to choose right formats of interaction. I am convinced that the ideas and specific proposals developed at the forum will facilitate the implementation of youth contacts, will contribute to the strengthening of Russian-Japanese relations, to maintaining an atmosphere of trust and mutual understanding between our countries.”
The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Russia Toyohisa Kozuki emphasized: “Youth exchange is an important area of humanitarian exchanges between Japan and Russia, as it helps to educate next generation which will be responsible for contacts between two countries. This year, as in the past, the forum is held online. From the point of view of deepening friendly ties between our countries, it is very important to continue exchanges without interrupting the exchange of views.”
The forum is held by MIREA – Russian Technological University acting as the Russian-Japanese Coordination Bureau for Youth Exchanges together with the Japanese-Russian Center for Youth Exchanges (Japan) with the support of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation and the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Grigory Petushkov, the Director of the Institute of Youth Policy and International Relations of RTU MIREA, noted: “Unfortunately, for the second year now, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, meetings are not possible in person, and the Japanese-Russian Youth Online Forum is of particular importance. In this difficult time we consider it very important to maintain friendly relations between youth of Russia and Japan. The topics of the forum this year as always reflect topical issues on the agenda of Russian-Japanese relations. I wish you interesting and useful communication, and I hope the experience gained will allow you to implement your own projects online in order to keep contacts, and next year we will meet in person.”
“The Japanese-Russian Youth Forum started in 2015 and took place in 11 cities of Japan and Russia in total and gathered about 850 participants during this time. At the forum young people from Japan and Russia exchange views on various topics and get to know each other’s ideas and ways of thinking in order to better mutual understanding including intercultural ones. We strive to deepen mutual understanding and trust between Japan and Russia through such youth exchanges. I would like you to try to understand each other by participating in discussions and not compete for the correctness of the arguments. I hope you will discover new knowledge and spend time with benefit,” Yoshihisa Tachi, the Director General of the Japan-Russia Youth Exchange Center said in his speech.
The program of the first day of the forum included the presentation “Russian-Japanese Youth Cooperation” presented by the Russian-Japanese Coordination Bureau for Youth Exchanges and the Japanese-Russian Center for Youth Exchanges. Introductory reports were made by forum participants. They are a student of the Irkutsk State University Ekaterina Kizhvatova and a student of the Waseda University Elena Bashutskaya. In addition, introductory reports on the main topics of the forum were made by such expert moderators as Yoshihiko Okabe, the Professor of the Faculty of Economics at the University of Kobe Gakuin, Ph.D., the Deputy Head of the Department for Work with Young Scientists of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Russia Ali Asadov and the Director of the Japan Information Center, the Head of the Department for the Development of International Cooperation and Education of the Orenburg State University Lyudmila Dokashenko.
During the second day participants will exchange experience within the framework of the working sections “Energy Problems”, “Environmental Problems”, “Young Scientists” and “Young Family”, and on the third day they will present the results of their work.
Russian-Japanese youth cooperation is carried out in accordance with the Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of Japan on the establishment of the Russian-Japanese Youth Exchange Commission of March 15, 1999.
