Dear friends,

Japan Foundation and EUNIC JAPAN are delighted to announce the following event titled ”Japan-Europe ‘Kizuna’ Project - Embracing Solidarity and Diversity in Community” to be held on Sunday July 3rd .

This symposium was originally planned to take place in March 2011 with themes on Identity and Diversity in Europe. However, the terrible disaster on March 11th forced it to be postponed. Some European participants expressed their uneasiness to travel to Japan and organizers at one point thought about cancelling the event. But after all organizers and panellists agreed that it is even more important to host this event now and celebrate the importance of Kizuna, or bonding, of community. So here we are. Proudly announcing the event.
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Japan-Europe "Kizuna" Project - Embracing Solidarity and Diversity in Community

↓Website （English）
http://www.jpf.go.jp/e/intel/new/1106/06-02.html

1. Date & Time: Sunday July 3rd, 2011, 10.30-17.30 followed by buffet reception 2. Venue: Italian Cultural Institute, Tokyo 3. Organizers: The Japan Foundation & EUNIC Japan (European Union National Institutes for
Culture)

4. Overview
A community is a group of people with something in common that binds them together. Often the “glue” in a community is simple geographical proximity, but it can also be something else 〓 for instance a common language, or a shared musical heritage. “Community spirit” is displayed when a shared sense of identity leads a community’s members to help each other.

In Japan, the concept of a community as “people who help each other” has come to the fore after the terrible earthquake and tsunami in the Tohoku region.

This symposium offers some different perspectives on these concepts. Is the EU really a single community, despite its 23 official languages, and its wide cultural diversity? Or is it a multi-layered construct of different overlapping communities?

Bringing together experts and musicians from both Europe and Japan, this symposium aims to shed new light on what “community” means and how community spirit can be strengthened and sustained?

5. Inquiry
Ai Goto
Senior Officer
Europe, Middle East and Africa Section.
Japanese Studies and Intellectual Exchange Dep.
THE JAPAN FOUNDATION

4-4-1 Yotsuya, Shinjuku-ku
Tokyo 160-0004 JAPAN
T　+81-3-5369-6071
F　+81-3-5369-6041

* Student volunteers wanted!!!
We are looking for enthusiastic student volunteers (college students, etc.), who can help us collect aid fund for Tohoku region in Japan.
Estimated time for voluntary work is from 9:30 to 18:00.
(Volunteers receive no honoraria or transportation fee or any fees.)

If you are interested in working as a volunteer, please send us an e-mail to Ms. Ai Goto at the Japan Foundation (Ai_Goto@jpf.go.jp).