Interview with Norihiko Yoshioka, Director General of The Japan Foundation, Bangkok

Posted in: JT - Thailand 2019 Started by Benj

Interview with Norihiko Yoshioka, Director General of The Japan Foundation, Bangkok

“Now in its 45th year, The Japan Foundation, Bangkok continues to dedicate its non-profit organization to fostering the cultural friendship between Japan and Thailand. We work to provide a diverse range of cultural activities including art, culture and society, in addition to holding events which support Japanese culture alongside Thai fellow counterparts. The Japan Foundation, Bangkok provides exchange programs and other global opportunities which cultivate culture, language and dialogue through three divisions.”

(1) Arts & Cultural exchange involving different forms of projects which promote cultural exchange between Thai and Japanese individuals. We provide an opportunity for people to co-create projects relating to culture through art, music, drama, dance and film.

Norihiko Yoshioka, Director General of the Japan Foundation, Bangkok | © Synergy Media Specialists

(2) Japanese Studies and Intellectual Exchange – We allow individual Thai scholars to deepen their dialogue and networks with experts from Japan with the aim of solving current and rising global issues such as our ageing society and natural disasters through symposiums and collaborative projects.

(3) Japanese Language Education – We deliver a range of opportunities and support yearly including the dispatch of 85 Japanese teaching assistants (NIHONGO Partners) to public junior/high schools in Thailand as well as offering training to Thai Japanese-language teachers.

“This year we will continue to strengthen learning, support and understanding between Japan and Thailand through the Asian cultural exchange; the ‘WA Project’: Toward Interactive Asia through ‘Fusion and Harmony.’ Japan and Thailand have a healthy relationship with strong and developing economic ties. This brings great potential to learn, enhance and develop the cultural understanding which many Thai and Japanese people have yet to fully discover.”

www.jfbkk.or.th