The government has settled on a plan to establish a public-private council tasked with promoting educational trips for young people to Japan, including school excursions and language training visits, aiming to nurture human resources with a global mindset.
Members of the council, which could be launched as soon as January, will share their expertise to expand and boost international exchanges.
Initially, the council likely will focus on efforts to better prepare for and accommodate the rapidly growing number of Chinese students coming to Japan on school trips.
Council members will include officials from relevant government bodies such as the Japan Tourism Agency, the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry and the Foreign Ministry, as well as officials from the business, tourism and other sectors.
The council plans to hold seminars and symposiums on education-related excursions to boost momentum for more exchanges, and to discuss preparations needed for accepting children and students who visit Japan from schools overseas.
The council will consider compiling a manual detailing what sort of preparations should be made and how to smoothly promote trips abroad by young Japanese.
In recent years, summit meetings and other occasions involving the leaders of Japan and other nations have resulted in a growing number of requests for greater exchanges of young people. Establishment of the council has been prompted partly by these developments.
According to the Japan Tourism Agency, Japan is becoming an increasingly popular destination for educational trips, especially for students from other Asian nations, because it is a safe place to visit and offers a rich selection of learning opportunities.
In particular, the number of young Chinese visiting Japan has surged amid the recent improvement in bilateral ties. According to the agency, about 7,600 Chinese students came to Japan on school excursions in the 2017 academic year, and this figure more than doubled to about 17,800 students in the 2018 school year.
At their summit meeting in Osaka in June, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to promote bilateral people-to-people exchanges, including school trips. Xi is scheduled to make a state visit to Japan next spring, and a further increase in education-related trips from China is expected.
About 40,000 foreign students visited Japan on school trips during the 2013 academic year. The government has set a target of increasing this figure to 60,000 in 2020.
The number of Japanese visiting overseas on school trips also is trending upward and reached about 220,000 in 2017. The government plans to work closely with business circles and the tourism industry through the new council and encourage more exchanges among young people.
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