On Monday, March 18, as one of the organizers of the Japan Education Pathways Network (JEPN), JICUF co-hosted a reunion for Ukrainian and Syrian students who are studying in universities and language schools in Japan at Sophia University. Approximately 80 students from across Japan, including 10 Japanese students from host institutions, attended the event. Her Imperial Highness Crown Princess Akishino observed part of the event and conversed with some of the students.

JICUF recruited seven Syrian students at ICU through the Syrian Scholars Initiative between 2018 and 2022, and five Ukrainian students through the Japan-Ukraine University Pathways program in 2022. In addition, JICUF helped recruit more than 60 students from Ukraine to 15 other universities in Japan. Many of these students were present at the reunion.

The event started with a 90-minute “career talk” session in which students were divided into 15 small groups to speak with representatives from eight corporations (Airbnb, Bloomberg, Dentsu, Kekst CNC, Salesforce, SAP, Shiseido and Suntory) and Sophia University’s Career Center. The representatives introduced their companies and shared their personal experiences, and the students had a chance to ask questions. 

After a short break, a two-hour workshop on “Making Friends Across Cultural Borders” was led by ICU alumna and professional coach Yuri Morikawa. The students shared their honest thoughts and experiences about making friends in Japan, and discussed how active they would like to be and what they would like to try to make friends. 

In the evening, a reception was held in the Sophia University cafeteria, and 70 more guests from corporations, government agencies, NPOs and educational institutions which support the students attended. The event was an important occasion for the students to network with each other, gather information about job-hunting, and reflect on their relationships with friends.