Russian-Japanese youth cooperation is carried out in accordance with the Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of Japan on the establishment of the Russian-Japanese Commission on youth exchanges dated March 15, 1999.
The Russian-Japanese Commission on youth exchanges was established to carry out activities that promote the development of youth exchanges between the Russian Federation and Japan by supporting specific joint projects of such exchanges.
The Commission exchanges information and opinions to make decisions on youth exchange projects, evaluates the effectiveness of the implementation of youth exchange projects and approves the Plan of Russian-Japanese youth exchanges.
The Commission consists of 6 members (3 people from each side). Members of the Commission from the Russian side are the Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, who is the co-chairman of the Commission from the Russian side, the Deputy Head of the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs and the Director of the Third Department of Asia of the Russian Foreign Ministry. Members of the Commission from the Japanese side are the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to the Russian Federation, the Minister of the Embassy of Japan in the Russian Federation, the Head of the Japanese-Russian Exchange Section of the Department of European Countries of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan.
Meetings of the Commission are held once a year alternately in the Russian Federation and Japan.
The meeting of the Russian-Japanese Commission on youth exchanges in 2021 was scheduled for the first half of the year in Tokyo but due to the Covid-19 pandemic it was decided to hold it in a hybrid format in Moscow.
Participants were members of the Russian-Japanese Commission on youth exchanges, representatives of the Russian Foreign Ministry, the Russian Ministry of Education and Science, the Coordination Bureau of Russian-Japanese youth exchanges, the Japan-Russia Youth Exchange Center. In total 17 people participated there.
Outcomes: Following the meeting of the Russian-Japanese Commission on youth exchanges the Plan of Russian-Japanese youth exchanges for 2021 was approved.
The parties noted that despite the Covid-19 pandemic, it is necessary to support youth exchanges in order to maintain contacts between young people in Russia and Japan.
As a part of the Russian-Japanese Youth Exchange Plan for 2021 the following main events are planned:
- Seminar "Russian-Japanese Youth Exchanges" (November 2, online),
- Russian-Japanese Youth Forum on the topic "Partner Cities" (October 22–24, online),
- Japanese-Russian Youth Forum (December 3–5, online).
In addition, a financing scheme for Russian-Japanese youth exchanges was traditionally agreed upon (the sending party pays the transportation costs of exchange participants to the point of entry to the host state and back as well as medical insurance for the entire period of the trip, the host party pays expenses of exchange participants related to staying on territory of the state of the receiving party including accommodation, meals, transport and translation services).
The Russian side expressed its gratitude for inviting the delegation of the Russian Federation to participate in the Ship for World Youth program scheduled for January-February 2022.
The final protocol was signed by the Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation Elena Druzhinina and the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to the Russian Federation Toyohisa Kozuki.
The next meeting of the Commission, by agreement of the parties, is scheduled for the first half of 2022 in Tokyo.
