Japan-Korea Exchange Program "2023 Japan-Korea Future Factory Awards" Held

Tsukuba, Japan, from October 21 to December 23, 2023, the Office for Japan-Korea Exchange Program of the University of Tsukuba held the "2023 Japan-Korea Future Factory Awards," an interactive exchange program for Japanese and Korean students. This project is one of the projects to commemorate the 151st anniversary of the founding of our university and the 50th anniversary of its opening.

The final presentation of this program was held on December 23 at the Japan National Olympics Memorial Youth Center in Tokyo. The opening ceremony was opened by Vice President HOMMA Miwako (Student Affairs), followed by congratulatory speeches from the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Japan, Samyang Japan Inc, Metropolitan Intercity Railway Company, the Ibaraki Regional Headquarters of the Korean Residents Union in Japan, and other related parties.

The purpose of this project was to "contribute to the development of exchange between Japan and Korea by fostering global citizens who will lead the future of the two countries" and was supported by the 2023 Person Exchange Subsidy Program of The Japan-Korea Cultural Foundation and the 2023 Student Activity Support Subsidy Program of the MEIKEIKAI, an alumni association of the University of Tsukuba. A total of 141 students and students in 24 teams from 111 schools (67 in Japan, 42 in Korea, 1 in China, and 1 in Mexico) participated in this event.

This program is characterized by the fact that it is an international exchange program that introduces exploratory education (comprehensive learning) that does not finish at exchange or discussion. Japanese and Korean students teamed up to grasp the current challenges under the theme of the "Japan-Korean New Exciting Future: Future-oriented and Sustainable Japan-Korea Exchange and Relations," find issues, discuss a way to realize, and propose ideas to approach them. Participating students joined the final presentation as the peak of their activities after taking four team activities and two special lectures online.

In addition, this program offered two special lectures to participating students. First, Asst. Prof. SHIN Jeongeun (Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences) spoke on the theme of "In the age of AI, is it really necessary to learn foreign languages? ". Second, President and Representative Director (CEO) NAGAI Yu (TACTOPIA & Co.) spoke on the theme of Entrepreneurship to carve out the future of the VUCA era, and this time he provided us with exploration education, which can be said to be the core of the program.

Prof. KAGA Nobuhiro (Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences), Asst. Prof. LEE Geonsil (Division of Student Welfare T-ACT Forum), Asst. Prof. AKIYAMA Hajime (Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences), Asst. Prof. SHIN Jeongeun (Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences), and guest members of government agencies and business communities, for a total of eight judges. The Grand Prize was awarded to "Fusion Snack Proposal for the Future of Japan and Korea". Specifically, a proposal of this idea was made to sell sweets combining "Mitarashi Dango (Japanese)" and "Hotteok (Korean)" which are traditional sweets of both countries, at convenience stores common to Japan and Korea. The judges were very impressed by the specific reasons for the announcement, including pricing and character design. The award winners were provided with Japan-Korea airfare subsidies and products from sponsors and partner companies.

This project was planned and led mainly by students using the framework of T-ACT (Tsukuba Action Project), the university's human resource development support program. Office Manager HOZUMI Norihito (College of Social Sciences, School of Social and International Studies) will continue to actively promote high school connectivity and industry-government-academia collaboration and will do his best to make this project and program "a new platform of the Japan-Korea Exchange that everyone can join and create together across boundaries" said.

^※Those in the group photo at the top of the page
?? Front row (from left) * Respectful abbreviation:
?Kim Yujeong / General Manager of Center for Youth Exchange, Japan-Korea Economic Association ?Kim Hyeja / Director of Japan Headquarters, Gangwon State Government, Korea/ ?Kim Younghee / Representative, Korea Cultural Exchange Association ?SON Sujin / General Manager of Marketing, Samyang Japan Inc. ?IMAI Shifumi / Manager of Marketing Division, Samyang Japan Inc. ?SHIN Jeongeun / Asst. Prof., Institute of Humanities and Social Studies, University of Tsukuba ?AKIYAMA Hajime / Asst. Prof., Institute of Humanities and Social Studies, University of Tsukuba
?? Back row (from left) *Emphasis abbreviated:
?HOZUMI Norihto/ Manager of this project office, College of Social Sciences, School of Social and International Studies, University of Tsukuba ?MORITAKA Ryuhei / General Manager of Management and Planning, Metropolitan Intercity Railway Company ?OSA Hisamitsu / Director of Secretary General, Japan-Korea Cultural Foundation ?KAGA Nobuhiro / Prof. , General Manager of T-ACT Forum, Insutitute of Humanities and Social Studies, University of Tsukuba ?NAGAI Yu / President and Representative Director (CEO), TACTOPIA & Co. ?LEE Geonsil / Asst. Prof., Division of Student Welfare T-ACT Forum, University of Tsukuba ?BAE Eunyoung / Director, The Korea Education Institute in Kanagawa ?HA Gwangmin / Director, The Korea Education Institute in Tokyo, Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Tokyo