Cooperation with Japan
Japan – the land of sushi and manga, a symbol of technological progress, and a place whose Far Eastern traditions both mystify and fascinate us. As distant as this country may sometimes seem, Japan faces the same challenges as many (post-)industrial societies: demographic change, the safe and competent use of new media, issues of social cohesion, and child poverty play just as much a role as migration and the promotion of equal participation for all young people.
These topics are also central to German child and youth welfare services. Japan, in turn, has its own unique perspective on social developments. Accordingly, its approaches to solving these challenges differ. Within these differences lies great potential for mutual learning among professionals from both countries. An exchange with Japan can offer unique, beneficial impulses that can be used to further develop conceptual and practical work here at home. A practical look at such impulses is provided by the reports from past programs (see "Training and Events") and the Japan Special, which was published in 2023 to mark the 50th anniversary of German-Japanese cooperation in the youth sector.
After focusing on the topic of "Youth and Media" in recent years, the study program will shift its focus starting in 2025 to "Equal Participation in Society and Empowerment of All Young People." Further information can be found under "Training and Events."
Please note: Most links to external websites and publications refer to our German-language content.
2026
- The study program in Japan on the topic of "Equal Participation in Society and Empowerment of All Young People" will take place from May 24 to June 7, 2026. Read the call for applications for this program here.
2025
- From May 24 to June 7, 2025, the study program in Japan focused on "Equal Participation in Society and Empowerment of All Young People." You can find the documentation here.
2019–2024: Youth and Media
In recent years, the focus was on the core theme "The Media Environment of Young People." Due to the pandemic, work on this topic spanned a total of six years, three of which were conducted via online exchanges. Below is a selection of insightful contributions from participating media educators and youth media protection experts:
To ensure sustainable and intensive German-Japanese youth exchanges, IJAB supports child and youth welfare organizations in the (further) development of their own exchange activities by providing information and advisory services. In addition to our country-specific information on Japan (in German), our designated contact persons are available to assist you via telephone or email.
The free information portal rausvonzuhaus provides information, addresses, and links regarding all aspects of going abroad. On the Japan country page, you will find specific information about all the opportunities available in a country that has so much more to offer than just cherry blossoms, origami, and sushi. If you need further guidance, contact persons are available at around 50 local advice centers.
Youth Policy Cooperation with Japan
In the context of youth policy cooperation with Japan, IJAB regularly conducts professional programs on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMBFSFJ).
These German-Japanese professional exchange programs serve to share expertise on relevant topics within child and youth welfare. The exchange is intended to contribute to the further development of youth services in the agreed thematic areas, while enabling participants to identify new perspectives and approaches to shared challenges. At the same time, the programs promote the deepening of bilateral relations through personal encounters between professionals and the expansion of mutual cultural understanding.
The respective ministries responsible for expert changes are Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) and Germany’s Federal Ministry for Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMBFSFJ). The expert exchange, known as the “German-Japanese Study Programme”, is implemented on the Japanese side by the National Institution for Youth Education (NIYE). On the German side, the Study Programme is managed by two dedicated groups attached to IJAB on the one hand and the Japanese-German Center Berlin (JDZB) on the other. In addition, the Federal Association of Cultural Youth Education (www.bkj.de), the German Youth Hostel Association (DJH) and German Sports Youth (dsj) implement expert programmes with their own Japanese partners as part of German-Japanese youth policy cooperation.
The priority themes of the cooperation are identified during bilateral meetings between BMBFSFJ and MEXT. The minutes of the second German-Japanese intergovernmental discussions on the continuation of the German-Japanese programmes, which took place in November 2023 in Berlin, are available here: (German/Japanese).
Youth policy cooperation with Japan has a long and successful tradition. It is based on a 1957 cultural agreement between the Federal Republic of Germany and Japan. The first formal German-Japanese youth exchanges took shape as early as between 1953 and 1964. A trip by young Germans to the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 1964 was the starting point for the setup of an official youth exchange programme which received funding from both governments. In 1971 this bilateral exchange programme was extended to include an exchange programme for experts, which has since gone from strength to strength.
Besides the German-Japanese Study Programme and the expert activities in cooperation with MEXT, in 2002 the Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister of Japan launched a multilateral training programme entitled “Young Core Leaders of Civil Society Groups Development Program” in Japan and various partner countries. Since 2008 BMBFSFJ has been regularly invited to send German experts to Japan and to offer corresponding activities for Japanese experts in Germany. IJAB implements these programmes on behalf of BMBFSFJ.
International Youth Policy Cooperation
