This fall, ICU International Relations Professor Stephen R. Nagy was awarded a ¥1,100,000 grant from the Japan ICU Foundation to run a short-term academic exchange and research program called the Japan-China Young Leaders Development Project (YLDP).

YLDP is an ambitious project that will take a group of ICU students to China to foster deeper understanding of Sino-Japanese relations through research and student exchange. From November 18th to December 1st, Professor Nagy will lead six undergraduate students to Beijing, Shanghai and Nanjing, where he has organized academic and cultural activities in collaboration with colleagues at Chinese universities. Concerned that Sino-Japanese relations have recently deteriorated in the political, economic and security spheres, and that mutual mistrust and misconceptions are intensifying, Professor Nagy hopes that this project will foster mutual understanding between Japanese and Chinese students and help ICU students hone their communication and research skills.

Six students were chosen out of seventeen applicants based on merit and interest in Sino-Japanese relations. The JICUF grant will enable them to participate in this 14-day trip at a subsidized cost of ¥50,000.

The inaugural cohort of student participants are:

Mina Kotani 小谷 美奈 (junior) public policy major / business minor
Yuzuka Nakajima 中島 柚香 (freshman) major undecided
Nozomi Sasao 笹尾 望美 (senior) international relations major
Maria Sangroulla サンローラ 茉莉亜 (sophomore) major undecided
Seita Uchimura 内村 清太 (freshman) major undecided
Participant 6 – wishes to remain anonymous

The itinerary includes lectures at partner institutions such as Beijing University of Foreign Studies, Renmin University, Fudan University, and Nanjing University, as well as cultural activities such as trips to the Forbidden City and National Museum in Beijing, the Great Wall, and the Jade Buddha Temple and Yuyuan Gardens in Shanghai. Below is a detailed itinerary.