FY2023 U.S. Embassy Tokyo: The U.S.-Japan Diplomacy Academy for University Students in Northern Japan

The U.S. Consulate General in Sapporo’s Public Affairs Section announces an open competition for organizations to submit applications to carry out The U.S.- Japan Diplomacy Academy for University Students in Northern Japan. Youth in predominantly rural, agricultural communities throughout northern Japan are less likely to graduate from university and study in foreign countries than their peers elsewhere in the country. However, with rising geopolitical tensions involving the Northern Territories, DPRK missile launches, and PRC and Russian naval activity in the waters around Hokkaido and Tohoku, as well as increasing economic reliance on international trade, it has never been more important for the future leaders of northern Japan to be equipped with the knowledge and skills to help navigate these and other critical issues in the decades ahead. This project will arrange fictional but realistic, diplomatic scenario-based “Diplomacy Academy” seminars for students at major universities in Hokkaido and the four northernmost prefectures of Tohoku. Participants will assume the role of U.S. and Japanese diplomats to study, negotiate and solve fictional but realistic issues in the realms of at least one of the following; 1. security/defense, 2. trade/economic security, 3. energy security/climate solutions, and 4. human rights. Preferably the applicant attaches a sample scenario of one of the 4 categories above. The amount $40,000 should cover the travel costs for facilitators/teachers. The applicant must identify and arrange the participants and the venue(s). The program can be conducted in Japanese and/or English. Expected participants will be university students who are interested in international politics, diplomacy, negotiation, or SDGs in northern Japan (defined as Hokkaido, Aomori, Akita, Iwate, and Miyagi Prefectures).