Consul-General Fukushima attended a presentation by local high school students who visited Japan with the Kakehashi Project (November 23, 2019)

On November 23^rd, Consul-General Fukushima attended a presentation at the National Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg Texas, where local high schools students recounted their experiences visiting Japan over the summer as part of the Kakehashi Project. The program, which is sponsored by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, brings American high school students to visit Japan for a week or more during summer vacation, so that they can develop a deeper understanding of Japan by experiencing its culture and society and interacting with its people.
 
As part of the event, Consul-General Fukushima offered remarks as did representatives from the museum who helped organize and lead the delegation. One of the museum’s central missions is to develop greater mutual cultural understanding, as emphasized through its teaching of history, and the museum’s representatives said that the trip was successful in advancing this goal. Consul-General Fukushima also stressed the importance of this mission in his comments and praised the students for being open-minded in experiencing Japan and interacting with its people through homestays and school visits. After these remarks, several of the high school students enthusiastically recounted what they had experienced and learned while in Japan. Many of them greatly appreciated their homestays and enjoyed getting to know Japanese students in the same age group.