JICA-DSP invites future leaders from partner countries to Japan, and offers the opportunity to learn about Japan’s modernization and development experiences, which differ from those of Europe and the U.S., and its wisdom as a country that provided cooperation toward the progress of developing countries since the end of World War II.
This program offers participants an opportunity to study in a variety of academic fields through master's or doctoral degree courses at Japanese graduate schools and to deepen their understanding of Japanese development experiences.
To expand opportunities for Japanese studies in partner countries, JICA also has established the JICA Chair (JICA Program for Japanese Studies). Its activities include short, intensive lectures detailing Japan’s development experiences by lecturers who have been dispatched from Japan.
JICA will also provide Japanese Studies reference materials plus research and educational opportunities to faculty members who wish to establish or strengthen Japanese Studies courses or programs at their respective universities.
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Through JICA-DSP and in collaboration with the Open University of Japan, JICA offers various types of educational content to participants, including the video teaching material, “Japanese Modernization Lecture Series.” It is broadcast on the BS 231 channel of the Open University of Japan (also known as "BS Campus ex"). This program covers Japan’s modernization from the final years of the Edo period (1603-1867) through the Meiji period (1868-1912) and thereafter, as well as the nation’s political history and post-World War II experience. JICA President Dr. Shinichi Kitaoka and other prominent experts who serve as lecturers of this video series introduce all of these Japanese experiences with ample historical material.
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The JICA Chair provides the programs that combine dispatching lecturers and providing Japanese language education as well as books and video materials in English for learning about Japan, based on the situation of each partner country and the resources in Japan. (As of March 2021, projects have been implemented in seven countries and are planned in 46 countries.)
In October 2020, Sofia University in Bulgaria and JICA launched an intensive course for learning about Japan’s development experience. Lecturers from Sofia University delivered seven of these course lectures through the video series, which JICA and the Open University of Japan jointly produced in 2019; Japanese professors also delivered two special online lectures. The course was successfully implemented, having generated a lively exchange of ideas and students saying it was significantly meaningful by affording them the opportunity to learn about Japan’s development experiences from various angles.
Comments from participants of JICA-DSP
Before coming to Japan to be part of JICA-DSP, I worked as a chemistry teacher at a Cambodian high school. I applied for JICA-DSP because I was always interested in Japanese culture. We got to know in detail different stages of the evolution of modern education in Japan from the lecture series. JICA has fulfilled all of my expectations; all of the programs and workshops have helped me immensely in understanding Japanese culture and education.
Ms. Li Sokunai
Before coming to Japan, I worked as a Senior Project Architect at the Architecture Department of the Idea Design Office. My home country, Syria, has been ridden with conflict over the past 10 years. It is crucial for me to understand the cause of such a crisis. And to understand this situation from different perspectives, it is important to draw parallels with other countries. Through the lectures, I learned in detail about the different stages of the evolution of modern education in Japan, including the three-phased Meiji Restoration period and the changes that occurred post-World War II.
Imah Jeddah