3 Filipino high school students to participate in Japan’s Kizuna project

MANILA, Philippines – Three Filipino high school students are set to leave for Japan Thursday to participate in Japan’s Kizuna Project Long Term Program, the Japanese Embassy in Manila announced.

The three students – Sheila Mae de Sagun and Joshua David Villanueva, both from Makati Science High School; and Karina Parreno from the University of St. La Salle Bacolod – would attend high school classes in Japan’s Shouin Senior High School, Yokohama Futuba Senior High School, and Hokuryo Senior High School, respectively, for a six-month period.

It said the program is aimed to deepen the students’ understanding of Japanese culture, education, and politics by allowing them to visit historical and cultural sites in the country, and also by letting them observe the reconstruction efforts in the Tohoku region, a region heavily affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake.

It noted that the Kizuna project, the word Kizuna meaning “bonds,” aims to invite more than 10,000 youths from the Asian and Oceanian regions to Japan in the wake of the Great East Japan Earthquake that occurred on March 11, 2011.

“The program will allow the participants to experience first-hand the efforts underway at disaster sites that are dynamically engaged in recovery initiatives, and to promote better understanding on the reconstruction in Japan,” it said.

It said that a total of 285 Filipinos would be invited under the programs.

“The project was approved by the Japanese Diet as a part of the third supplementary budget in November 2011, and will be implemented by the end of March 2013,” it added.

It said the particular program for the Filipino students was coordinated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of Japan through the cooperation of the American Field Service (AFS) Intercultural Programs in the Philippines.

The three students would be hosted by local families during their stay in Japan and all expenses incurred during the program would be covered by the Japanese government, it said.