JICUF Publishes 2024 Impact Report
JICUF is pleased to share our 2024 Impact Report. The feature story focuses on the opening of JICUF’s Japan Office on the ICU campus. Click here or the image below to read the Impact Report.
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Farm Project Report – Spring 2025
The Farm Project, a collaboration between JICUF and ICU, was launched in spring 2024. (Click here to read about the project’s background and meet Farm Manager Chigusa Horiuchi.) JICUF will be sharing seasonal updates on the project’s progress and activities. Rooted in the themes of food, agriculture, and environmental engagement, the Farm Project began its activities last fall under the name FARM DAYS. Students and faculty volunteers gathered about three days a week to cultivate the land, plant fruit trees, and tend to the fields. By February 2025, nearly 100 individuals—including many repeat volunteers—had taken part. Currently, the project focuses on three key areas: the forest garden, the orchard, and […]
JICUF to Co-host Events at ICU with Canada’s Wilfrid Laurier University
On April 25 (Friday) and 26 (Saturday), JICUF and Wilfrid Laurier University will co-host two events at ICU focused on providing higher education opportunities for students with refugee backgrounds. We invite ICU students, faculty and staff to learn about the groundbreaking student-led initiative of the Canadian University to bring students from conflict zones around the world to study in Canada.
David Janes Honored with Ruth Miller Global Citizenship Award
Outgoing JICUF Board Chair Dr. David Janes has been bestowed with the inaugural Ruth Miller Global Citizenship Award. The announcement came at a special dinner held to mark JICUF’s 75th anniversary in Los Angeles on March 8, 2025. The Ruth Miller Award honors individuals who embody the values of global citizenship while making significant contributions to JICUF. This prestigious award celebrates Ruth Miller’s legacy of dedication to international understanding, peace, and reconciliation through education. About Ruth Miller Ruth Louise Miller dedicated her entire professional life to the Japan ICU Foundation (JICUF), serving from 1947 until her retirement in 1982. As the Executive Director of JICUF, she played a pivotal role […]
Syrian Student Sara Jari Graduates from ICU
Sara Jari, the recipient of the Syrian Scholars Initiative scholarship, is graduating from ICU this month. We asked Sara to reflect on her time at ICU and how it has impacted her life. Congratulations Sara!
JICUF hosts the third ICU Student Weekend in New York
JICUF held its third annual ICU Student Weekend in New York from Friday, January 10th to Sunday, January 12th. This event invites ICU students studying at universities in the US and Canada through exchange programs to New York. This year, among the 59 students studying in North America, 34 students participated from near and far, including such locations as Vermont, New Jersey, California, Ohio and Vancouver! JICUF covered the cost of accommodation, two meals, and museum admission fees; each student paid for their travel expenses. Most students arrived in New York on Thursday the 9th, and 26 attended a social gathering held at the JICUF office the following Friday afternoon. […]
ICU Farm Project
The ICU farm project was launched in the spring of 2024 as a collaboration between JICUF and ICU. The project seeks to revive the campus farm established when ICU was founded. It aims to utilize ICU’s rich natural environment as a learning space centered on food and agriculture, and also fits well into ICU’s mid-term plan (2021-2025), which emphasizes the “social implementation of the liberal arts.” The idea for the farm project first emerged in 2018, before the COVID-19 pandemic. JICUF President Paul Hastings and Vice President Aki Takada led a meeting at ICU to explore the concept. ICU professors, representatives from Mitaka City Hall, dedicated students, alumni involved in […]
Jannelly Guardado, the first recipient of the Nelson Ranch Scholarship
Janelly Guardado, the first recipient of the Nelson Ranch Scholarship enrolled at ICU this September. We interviewed Janelly about her new life at the ICU. Photo: Naoki Beppu JICUF: When and what made you interested in Japan? Jannelly: I became interested in Japan because Japanese was the only Asian language taught at my high school. At the time, I was really into Asian culture, and I thought it would be interesting to take Japanese as a foreign language. Once I began to study the language, I became intrigued by all the things my high school Japanese teacher would tell our class about Japan. JICUF: What were you most worried about […]
JICUF Co-Hosts a Workshop on Skills-Based Pathways for Refugees at the Embassy of Canada to Japan
On November 20 and 21, JICUF co-hosted a workshop titled “Skills-Based Pathways for Refugees: Challenges and Solutions for Long-Term Integration” at the Embassy of Canada to Japan. Approximately 70 participants gathered from around the world to discuss how to admit more refugees through educational and professional opportunities.
Japan ICU Foundation Launches Global Citizen Fellowship – Announcement from JICUF President & CEO Paul Hastings
I believe deeply in the importance of global learning. Growing up biculturally between Japan and the United States, studying abroad in Sri Lanka during college and living and working in India have deeply impacted me. These experiences helped me crystalize my values and inspired me to work in international education. At the Japan ICU Foundation, we believe in the power and importance of global learning experiences, and we are so excited to share the launch of the Global Citizen Fellowship (GCF). GCF is a yearlong cohort-based program for undergraduate students at ICU. Based on the three pillars of global citizenship: awareness, responsibility and participation, GCF is designed to allow participants […]