Greetings from Samantha Johnson, Chairperson of Nara JETNet
Welcome to the Nara JETNet Webpage! Thanks to your continued participation, the association is now entering its 14th year of planning internationally-themed events in Nara Prefecture.
Nara JETNet staff members, all of whom are participants in the Japanese Exchange and Teaching (JET) Programme, come from 10 different countries and speak a wide variety of languages. Our event planning committee is fully supported by the International Affairs Division of Nara Prefectural government.
At the JET Programme 20th Anniversary Reception held on November 22nd 2006, JETNet was awarded a prize for its remarkable achievements in promoting the JET Programme by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.
It was recognition of the work JETNet has done for grass roots internationalization at the local level. We truly wish to thank all the people who have helped and supported us.
Nara, like the rest of Japan, is facing a wide variety of challenges as it undergoes internationalization. In a society where the number of long-term immigrants is increasing at an ever faster rate, the interaction and exchange between Japanese and non-Japanese people is a fact of daily life. Young students have foreign teachers of English, and men and women in the workforce may have foreign coworkers or are required to speak English in their organizations. We of Nara JETNet believe that learning about different kinds of people and cultures in the world is crucial to understanding how to live cooperatively in an increasingly diverse society. Perhaps by doing so, both the local Japanese community and foreign residents will be able to respect each other’s cultures and values, eventually leading to the realization of a truly culturally diverse society founded on trust. JETNet events - hiking, sports competitions, scavenger hunts, arts festivals, discussion forums and more - are great for meeting and interacting with people from various countries of different cultural backgrounds. Since its inception, some events have changed and other completely new ones have been created, but our aim of bringing intercultural exchange to the citizens of Nara remains the same.
If you want to learn more about Nara JETNet, please have a look at our website for further information. In addition to more detailed descriptions of our activities, there are also summaries of past events, comments from participants, and more. Our events continually receive high marks not only from participants, but also from the media and the Prefectural government. If you have any questions, please contact us at the address below - or even better, come and participate.
We look forward to seeing you at the next event!
Samantha Johnson
Chairperson, Nara JETNet