Japan and Russia prepare to restart youth exchange programme
About 15 Japanese university and postgraduate students will spend around 10 days in St Petersburg studying Russian and meeting local peers.
- The Japan-Russia youth exchange programme is set to resume in August after being suspended since 2019.
- The programme was initially halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic and remained suspended following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
- The first exchange will involve about 15 Japanese university students traveling to St Petersburg for approximately 10 days to take Russian-language lessons.
- Japan's Foreign Ministry is reviving the programme to provide students with a firsthand understanding of Russia amid strained political relations.
A Japan-Russia youth exchange programme is expected to return in August after a seven-year interruption, with about 15 Japanese university and postgraduate students due to travel to St Petersburg, a Japanese Foreign Ministry official said on Thursday (July 23).
The group will remain in the northwestern Russian city for roughly 10 days, taking Russian-language lessons and meeting students based there.
The ministry has been coordinating the programme’s revival with Russia as interest among Japanese students in visiting and studying in the country grew during the suspension, according to the official.
“Providing opportunities to understand Russia firsthand and learn its language is all the more important because Japan-Russia relations are strained today,” the official said.
Launched in 1999 following an agreement reached at a Japan-Russia summit the previous year, the programme last took place in 2019.
It was subsequently halted during the COVID-19 pandemic and remained suspended after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Japanese researchers are also scheduled to travel to Russia in September, the official added.
After Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Japan raised its travel alert for most of Russia, including St Petersburg, to the second-highest level of its four-tier system and advised Japanese nationals against visiting.
The ministry eased the alert last September following requests from Japanese companies.
The change allowed Japanese nationals to travel to or remain in most parts of Russia only in unavoidable circumstances, but did not cover areas near the country’s border with Ukraine.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
