April, 2025

The Immigration Services Agency announced that the number of foreign residents reached 3,768,977 by the end of 2024, setting a new record high. In our city of Inzai too, many people from various countries and regions have moved in recent years, and scenes of them exchanging smiles and greetings with Japanese residents in the same neighborhood are no longer uncommon.

We are acutely aware that we have entered an era where citizens, regardless of nationality, understand and respect each other's cultures and live in mutual support. We aim to develop activities with a vision for the next 10 to 20 years to further contribute to realizing a multicultural society in Inzai City.

Naturally, with the increase in foreign-born citizens, the number of children with foreign roots is also steadily rising. We are working to establish and strengthen Japanese language support systems for these children, who are the future. Specifically, we launched Kids IIFA for elementary school students the year before last, and this year we will start a Junior High School Classroom for junior high school students to provide Japanese language and learning support.

Furthermore, last year we started the Green Cafe, which forms networks of parents of children with foreign roots at each elementary school they attend. We will promote these “future” projects in close cooperation with the City of Inzai and the Inzai City Board of Education.

Going forward, we will further enhance our activities that contribute to multicultural coexistence, such as holding various exchange events, Japanese language classes, and various foreign language courses. At the same time, we will also promote activities for international goodwill, such as continuing to hold the “Inzai Eco Slow Marathon” and realizing exchanges with a city in a foreign country.

Finally, we remain a small organization, and the operation of our activities requires the support and cooperation of citizens. We sincerely look forward to the participation of all those with an interest and concern for international exchange.

Shoji Bando, Chairperson