Former Overseas Volunteers Celebrate 60 Years of JICA Program in Tohoku

The Yomiuri Shimbun

12:16 JST, January 4, 2026

MORIOKA — To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers program of the Japan International Cooperation Agency, the program’s former participants residing in the Tohoku region held an event at a hotel in Morioka on Dec. 7.

Since its 1965 launch, about 58,000 volunteers have been dispatched under the program to 99 countries in fields such as education and welfare. Of those, about 4,000 were sent from the Tohoku region, including more than 500 from Iwate Prefecture.

Iwate Gov. Takuya Tasso said in his address that the importance of multicultural coexistence is rising now that the number of foreigners living in the prefecture is increasing. “I want you to make use of your experiences overseas,” he said.

Booths were set up at the venue to introduce the culture and livelihoods of 18 countries the former participants were dispatched to. A talk was also held following the ceremony.