*** LGOTP E-News vol.9 ***

******LGOTP E-News Vol. 9******

Contents |-The 2006 LGOTP Trainees have arrived in Japan! |-Message from a 2005 LGOTP Trainee |-Your submissions Wanted!

******The 2006 LGOTP Trainees have arrived in Japan!!******

For the 2006 fiscal year, 53 trainees from 9 countries are being hosted in 38 Japanese local authorities.? The trainees arrived on Sunday, May 21 and attended a two-day training program in Tokyo from the following day.? After which, they went on to the Japan Intercultural Academy of Municipalities (JIAM) in Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture for a one-month intensive Japanese course.? The trainees left for their respective host institutions after completion of the course and are now undertaking their specialized training.

People’s Republic of China: 31; Republic of Korea: 10; Socialist Republic of Vietnam: 3; Republic of Indonesia: 2; Malaysia: 2; Russian Federation: 2; Republic of the Philippines: 1; United Mexican States: 1; and Kingdom of Thailand: 1. During the training, we were able to see trainees earnestly taking part in their Japanese language studies, off-campus training through interviewing students on Kyoto University campus, group discussions on a governmental issue themed “Easy Living City Development”, and at the “Japan’s Local Government Administrative and Financial Reforms System” presentation made by a specialist agreement official from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication. In addition, the trainees experienced pottery making in Shigaraki and went on a study tour to the ancient capital of Kyoto in order to become more familiar with Japan’s culture.

Japanese classes were daily from 09:25 to17:00, including homework and tests. It was very tough for the trainees!!

<“Easy Living City Development” Group Discussion>Protect Earth! Protect our Hometowns! A heated lecture on China’s environmental issues!!!

How much do you want to earn in the future? What job do you want to do? Japanese is difficult!!

Photos from the Tokyo and JIAM training are now available on the CLAIR website.

*****Message from a 2005 LGOTP Trainee******

? Ms Li Bing Yan ?(Training Location: Asahikawa City; From: China)

My name is Li Bing Yan.? I am a staff at the Foreign and Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of Harbin Municipality in China.? I was dispatched by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in May 2005 and came to Japan where I became a 2005 LGOTP trainee.? I conducted my training in the field of international exchange at the International Affairs Division of Asahikawa City Hall in Hokkaido.? I majored in Japanese for 4 years at Heilong Jiang University but felt that my language ability was insufficient at work.? Therefore, I took around 20 Japanese classes between 12 September and 28 October 2005.? I was studying Japanese whilst undertaking training in international exchange. My main work duty is screening visa applications for Japan; however, I am also involved in other areas such as exchanges with foreign countries, local internationalization promotion, exchanges with friendship cities and cooperation work. Everyday I screen the visa documents submitted by people wanting to go to Japan and answering questions from Japan in connection with Harbin and visas. I have learnt more about Japanese culture whilst being in Japan. After returning to China, I wrote a report on Japan’s current situations in various fields and introduced the friendliness of the Japanese citizens. I can now easily tell people wanting to go to Japan about Japanese law, culture and customs. I also act as an interpreter for friends from Japan when they come to visit Harbin. For me, training in Japan has been very meaningful. At the same time as improving my Japanese, my awareness towards Japan’s economy, politics, culture and history have further deepened. Through the training, I have understood more about the

friendship with Japanese citizens and I want to cooperate with Japan and LGOTP through my work.? I am also putting efforts into promoting the training program.
　 The period of training in Japan has become a very precious experience and fond memories for me.? From time to time, I see my Japanese friends in my dreams.? I consider the friends that I came to meet in Japan to be the treasures of my life.? Finally, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude once again to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Council of Local Authorities for International Relations, International Affairs Division at Asahikawa City Hall, and all the members and friends concerned, for providing me with this precious training opportunity.

Ms Li (2nd left) with colleagues on the Mudan River

******Your Submissions Wanted******

We hope to receive a variety of submissions from you, such as any notices that you would like to share widely amongst with trainees and other personnel involved in the LGOTP or updates about the current activities of former trainees. ?In general, we would like to ask that you keep your submissions to less than 10 lines or within 400 words. ?If you would like to make a submission to the LGOTP E-News, please send us an e-mail to the address listed below. ?We are looking forward to hearing from you!

If you have any comments or questions about the LGOTP News, please contact us at the address listed below. ****************************************************************** Council of Local Authorities for International Relations(CLAIR) http://www.clair.or.jp Tel:03-3591-5485 outside Japan:+81-3-3591-5485 Fax:03-3591-5346 outside Japan:+81-3-3591-5346 E-mail :lgotp@clair.or.jp ******************************************************************

• If you want to read the LGOTP News vol.1,2,3,4,5,6 and 7 those are available in >> http://www.clair.or.jp/e/sien/kouryu/index.html

• If you want to get any technical help regarding sign-up, sign-out or notice of a new e-mail address, please visit the URL listed below. <Former Trainees> http://www.clair.or.jp/e/sien/kouryu/register.html <Supervisor> http://www.clair.or.jp/j/sien/kouryu/j-register.html

* LGOTP stands for the Local Government Officials Training Program in Japan.