The Japanese Association for the Promotion of Latin America and the Caribbean (JAPOLAC) organized an online meeting to exchange views on the online academic offer from the University of Technology, Jamaica, (Utech, Ja.), which was propose to Chiba University. The meeting also served to explore a potential academic exchange agreement between both universities in the future.

Participants from the University of Technology, Jamaica included Dr. Claire Sutherland, Senior Director, International and Institutional Linkages, Office of the President, Dr. Haldane Johnson, Deputy President (Acting), Miss Marion Brown, Vice President and University Registrar, Dr. Kamilah Hylton, Dean, Faculty of Science and Sport and Dr. Jeanette Bartley-Bryan, Associate Vice President, Office of Distance Learning (ODL) & UTech Academy.

Chiba University counted on the participation of Dr. Makoto Watanabe, Vice President for Education, Student and International Affairs, as well as personnel from the International Affairs Office.

Utech, Ja. carried out a general presentation of the university and academic programs, with a view to exploring the academic and research areas of potential interest for Chiba University.

Dr. Watanabe informed that the online offering from Utech, Ja. is under internal consultations and expressed a positive view on the possibility of establishing an academic agreement in the near future.

In addition, H.E. Shorna-Key Richards, Jamaica’s Ambassador to Japan, and her diplomatic team, participated in the meeting, playing an essential coordinating role to make it possible. Ambassador Richards is actively working in the promotion of academic cooperation between Japan and Jamaica.

JAPOLAC counted on the participation of Dr. Ritter Díaz, Representative Director of the Association and Ms. Martha Zelayandía, Honorary Member of JAPOLAC.

One of the objectives of JAPOLAC is the promotion of academic exchanges between Japanese and Latin American and Caribbean universities, as well as the creation of an academic and research network between Japan and LAC.

The Japan Association for Promotion of Latin America and the Caribbean (JAPOLAC) held a meeting with Ryuya-San from “Chanchitos” to explore ways of cooperation to increase the interest of Japanese people in the region of Latin America and the Caribbean through the use of YouTube and social media.

Ryuya-San and other members of “Chanchitos” have visited over 18 countries in LAC and share their tourist spots, food, festivals, language and people through the YouTube channel “Chanchitos.jp” with more than 45,000 subscribers as well as in the Instagram, Twitter and Facebook platforms.

Chanchitos’ main content includes LAC cultures, news, LAC people living in Japan, online Spanish language classes, live-streaming, among others.

On Friday, March 18, 2022, Dr. Ritter Diaz, Representative Director of JAPOLAC hosted a farewell dinner for H.E. Jaime Barberis, Ambassador of Ecuador, and wife on the occasion of the end of his mission in Japan.

Dr. Diaz expressed his gratitude to Ambassador Barberis for the strong support for the objectives and activities of JAPOLAC since its foundation. The Embassy of Ecuador was one of the first embassies of Latin America and the Caribbean to join JAPOLAC as honorary member.

The dinner also counted on the participation of H.E. Raul Florentin, Ambassador of Paraguay, and wife as well as other distinguished Japanese guests.

On March 5, 2022, Dr. Ritter Diaz, Representative Director of JAPOLAC participated at the painting exhibition “Colors, Ink & Friends”, which took place at Shinmei Iki Iki Plaza in Minato-Ku.

The exhibition included paintings from Mrs. Maria Liz Aquino, wife of the Ambassador of Paraguay, Mrs. Maria Amparo Aviles, wife of the Ambassador of Ecuador, Ms. Carolina Barberis, daughter of the Ambassador of Ecuador, Mrs. Maria Fernanda Lochschmidt, Art Historian from Brazil and Mrs. Clara Nakazato, a national from Venezuela and a long-term resident in Japan.

Under the tutoring of Maria Liz Aquino, these group of ladies met regularly during the pandemic and endeavored to showcase the creativity in art as a way to cope with the special times we are living in.

Their works mingled different techniques and materials freely such as acrylic, pastel, pencil, Japanese sumi, applied over surfaces as canvas, papers, cardboard, washi paper, or as combined materials in collage formats.

The results were very diverse, going from lively colorful works to peaceful monochrome ones. They reflected the different backgrounds, learnings and influences received from each other.

The exhibition was held to commemorate International Woman’s Day and was supported by the Embassy of Ecuador in collaboration with Minato-Ku’s Shinmei Iki Iki Plaza.

 

The closing ceremony of the second short online program between Chiba University and the Panama Technological University was held on March 4, 2022.

The short online program is part of JAPOLAC’s Program for University Internationalization, which seeks to introduce practical and distinctive knowledge of Latin American and Caribbean countries (LAC) to Japanese university students, encouraging them to visit and study in the LAC region.

The three-week short-summer online program included courses such as a brief history of Panama and its Canal, Panama as Logistic Hub, and Forest Engineer in the Central American Tropics.

Japanese students did not only learn practical knowledge about Panama, but also were able to put in practice their international communication skills as all courses were taught in English language.

The closing ceremony included the participation H.E. Hideo Fukushima, Ambassador of Japan to Panama, the President of Panama Technological University, Mr. Hector Montemayor, and the Vice-President for Education and International Affairs of the University of Chiba, Mr. Makoto Watanabe. It also counted on the honorable presence of Ms. Margelia Palacios, Director of International Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Relations of Panama.

The Director Representative of JAPOLAC, Dr. Ritter Diaz, expressed his gratitude to Chiba University and Panama Technological University for their continuous academic cooperation to further increase knowledge and connection between students of Japan and Panama.

JAPOLAC aims at promoting practical educational exchanges between Japan and LAC as well as connecting universities with productive forces of society to better prepare students for a changing labor market.