Our university students participated in the "Japan-Africa Youth Program," a project promoted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Tomoki Omura, a fourth-year law student, participated in the "Japan-Africa Youth Program," an international exchange program implemented and operated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in cooperation with JICE (Japan International Cooperation Center), and was dispatched to the Republic of Zambia from September 19th (Saturday) to September 30th (Wednesday).
This program is an international exchange project promoted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in conjunction with the 9th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD9) held in August 2025, and implemented and operated by JICE in cooperation with the African Union Commission (AUC). The program, which started this year, sent 72 university and graduate students selected from across Japan to four countries—Egypt, Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Zambia—for approximately 10 days.
During Ms. Omura's trip to Zambia, fieldwork was conducted that allowed her to experience the local society, economy, and history from multiple perspectives. This included courtesy visits to the Japanese Embassy and the JICA Zambia Office, site visits to Japanese companies, a visit to Kyoto University's SATREPS SPLASH project, and on-site inspections of agricultural, educational, and sports facilities (Zambian Judo Association). It provided students with an opportunity to actually experience the local living environment.
The following comments were received from Ms. Omura, who participated:
"Experiencing the local history, people's lives, and current social and economic conditions firsthand provided a valuable opportunity to confront fundamental questions about what true freedom and prosperity really mean. I learned that it's important not to unilaterally impose our own values of 'how things should be,' but rather to understand the local historical and cultural background and consider what we can do together with the local people on an equal footing as individuals. Furthermore, visiting Japanese companies operating locally gave me an opportunity to think about the practical reliability and sustainable mobility required in an environment different from Japan."
During my time abroad, I had the opportunity to talk with fellow students from other universities across the country, not only about my experiences in Zambia but also about our future lives. This experience has become an invaluable asset to me.
With the experience I gained during this assignment in Zambia, I want to support people's everyday lives from the ground up. And I want to become a bridge between Africa and Japan, and build a society where everyone can live happily.
