The TOMODACHI Tanaka Sangyo Agricultural Exchange Initiative is an 8-month leadership development program that brings together 20 undergraduate level students from partner institutions in Niigata, Japan and Texas, the United States. The program focuses on agriculture as a central subject…
April 18, 2012 – Five leading Japanese companies today become the newest partners in the TOMODACHI Initiative, the bilateral public- private partnership launched in 2011 by the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo and the U.S.-Japan Council.
On Saturday Sept 20th, twelve New England alumni, USJC members and friends gathered on MIT campus for a fun introduction to 着付け (kitsuke), the tradition of Kimono Dressing, led by local expert, Ara Mahar of “Kimono Seikatsu” who has studied…
The TOMODACHI Generation Global Leadership Academy (GLA) 2.0 launched its in-person program in Onagawa, Miyagi, following an online orientation in September that introduced participants to TOMODACHI’s history, fostered team-building, and established a shared sense of purpose. Over two days in…
For this month’s alumni highlight, we are highlighting China Kotake, a speaker at the 2025 Next Generation Summit Reception. China is a TOMODACHI Regional Representative for the Kansai Region after serving as a Core Committee Member for the Okinawa Region.…
Miki Kadota is an alumnus of the 2015 Building the TOMODACHI Generation Program. Through her stay in Washington DC and learning about the vibrancy of the civil society in the United States, she developed a great interest in protecting and…
On August 21st, Five DC TOMODACHI Alumni gathered for DC Restaurant Week at Daikaya Izakaya. Restaurant Week is a promotional event found in cities all over the country where restaurants offer special fixed-prices menus for a limited time. Diners are…
On August 23, 2025, Okinawa TOMODACHI Regional Framework hosted a Ryukyu Indigo Dyeing workshop and a networking event. It was wonderful to reconnect with alumni across programs, hearing about their new challenges, and making new friends. Our participants shared their…
Kei Imai is an alumnus of the TOMODACHI Disaster Resilience Leadership Training Program and is currently a researcher in a laboratory at the Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Economics, Graduate School of Medicine, at The University of Tokyo. He is…
In this interview, we interviewed Hiromu Nagatomo, a current town council member for Inawashiro, Fukushima. He is also the founder of Inabishi Corporation, whose mission is to create new local industries by harmonizing environmental conservation and economic development by utilizing…
This month’s alumni highlight features Ayano Hirose, one of six speakers at the TOMO Voice Speech Contest during the Next Generation Summit 2025. Ayano is an alumna of the The Toshizo Watanabe Endowed Scholarship. Speaking on this year’s theme, the…
