EU diplomats give presentations at high schools across Japan. Thirty-four diplomats, including 14 ambassadors, from the Delegation of the European Union and EU Member State diplomatic missions in Japan travelled to 37 schools across the country on 30-31 October to give presentations on the EU and their respective countries in this year's version of the 'EU Comes to Your School' project.
This year, to show solidarity with prefectures impacted by the New Year’s Day Noto Peninsula Earthquake as ‘Team Europe’, eight diplomats including EU Ambassador Jean-Eric Paquet travelled to schools in these regions to directly convey the EU’s continued support for their reconstruction.
This project, first launched in 2007, is a unique opportunity for young people in Japan to interact directly with diplomats and deepen their understanding of Europe. This highly successful initiative also helps promote people-to-people exchanges, with the diplomats collectively reaching out to more than 11,000 students this year.
Through these visits, young people have the chance to broaden their knowledge of the wider world, the history of the EU and the role it plays today, as well as of the rich, diverse cultures of the EU’s Member States. Since its inception, EU diplomats have visited over 1,100 schools in all 47 prefectures, giving lectures to some 490,000 students.