FY1991 SPINF Projects


A

Support for Asia-Pacific Children's Convention in Fukuoka
Executive Committee of Asia-Pacific Children's Convention in Fukuoka (Japan)

24,972,000 (yen)

Some 410 children from 41 Asian and Pacific nations attended this year's Asia-Pacific Children's Convention in Fukuoka. Rooming together in dormitories or with local families, the Convention provided children from different countries a good chance to get to know each other. It also presented an ideal opportunity to promote international understanding within Japan. Travel expenses were paid for 120 children from 12 Pacific Island Nations.

Translation and Publication of Hisakatsu Hijikata's Works
The Sasakawa Peace Foundation

3,270,200 (yen)

As the societies of the Pacific Islands rapidly succumb to the wave of Westernization, the studies of Hisakatsu Hijikata, an ethnographer who made intensive field observations in Micronesia before and during World War , are regarded as a vital contribution in the recording and preserving of Micronesia's traditional cultures. Funding was provided to translate one volume of his works into English and donate 1,000 copies of it to institutions, libraries and universities in the Pacific Islands and around the world.

Kiribati Aikido Program
The Sasakawa Peace Foundation

3,430,730 (yen)

Mutsuko Minegishi, a Japanese language instructor by profession, teaches the art of aikido to about 300 people in Kiribati. A grant was made to bring ranking aikido practitioners to Kiribati demonstrate aikido techniques to her students.

10,277,697 (yen)

Six editors of leading newspapers in the Pacific Island Nations were invited to Japan to visit corporations, government agencies, schools, and other facilities in an effort to stimulate deeper understanding and keener interest in Japan in their respective countries. After returning in home, they wrote a number of articles about the program and their observations of Japan.

15,734,400 (yen)

The Summit brought together educators from Pacific Island Nations to exchange views on common educational issues and to create inter-personal networks. Discussions on the establishment of scholarship funds and an education agenda in the Island Nations were held with education ministers, educators, and other invited participants from Japan, Australia, New Zealand, the U.S., and other industrialized countries in the Pacific region.

B

Scholarships for Japanese Language Training
Asia University (Japan)

4,716,230 (yen)

To cultivate young people from the South Pacific who will provide a bridge between Japan and the Island Nations, one person from each Micronesia and Papua New Guinea was awarded a one-year scholarship to study Japanese at Asia University. Assistance was given to those wishing to enter a Japanese university after completing the Japanese course.

Research Fellowship to the University of Electro-Communications
Megurokai (Japan)

2,315,548 (yen)

A research fellowship in the field of data processing at the University of Electro-Communications was awarded to a promising young person from the Republic of Kiribati. Having overcome the handicaps of studying in a foreign environment, the fellow successfully completed the course.

Education Support for Melanesia
Canadian Organization for Development Through Education
(CODE) (Canada)

12,761,286 (yen)

Financial support was given for a program conducted by the nonprofit organization CODE to improve literacy rates in Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu by establishing local advisory committees (LACs), Results-oriented projects in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands included training librarians and literacy workshops , CODE motivates people to read by fostering local printing of literature, rather than relying on Western textbooks

The Pacific Island Nations Scholarship Fund
The Sasakawa Peace Foundation

2,877,032 (yen)

Four promising students from Micronesia, Papua New Guinea, Kiribati and Western Samoa were granted scholarships to study in Japanese universities. They are expected to make good use of the knowledge and skills that they will acquire through their students in Japan in the development of their respective countries.

C

Support for the PEACESAT Conference
University of Hawaii (U.S.A)

25,048,817 (yen)

The PEACESAT Conference gave an opportunity for those connected with PEACESAT (Satellite Network for Pan-Pacific Education and Communication Experiments) to meet and establish a policy for the network's effective utilization after five years of inactivity. Attended by telecommunications scholars and researchers from Japan and PEACESAT users from throughout the Pacific region, the conference issued the ªgSendai Declarationªh pledging effective development of the network.