JDS FOLLOW-UP NEWS JDS Fellows 2018 Depart for

Japan in August/September, 2019

VIET NAM FOCUSED On July 24th, Send-off Ceremony was
organized to congratulate on final 63
successful JDS Fellows of JDS 2018
before their departure for Japan. 60
Fellows of Master Program depart for
Japan this August and join the post arrival
orientation before enrollment in their
universities. 03 PhD Fellows will depart for
Japan in September.
Mr. Mai Van Chinh, Deputy Head of Central
Committee for Organization and Personnel;
Mr. Le Hai An, Vice Minister of Education
and Training; Mr. UMEDA Kunio,
Ambassador of Embassy of Japan in
Vietnam; and distinguished guests from
different ministries and Japanese
counterparts attended the Ceremony to
Send-off Ceremony July 24th, 2019
send their congratulations and
encouragement to JDS Fellows.
Application for Master and Doctor Programs of JDS 2019 is now open
Application for JDS Scholarship 2019 is now open to select 60 JDS Fellows 2016 (17th
final talented candidates for 2-year Master Program and 03 excellent
alumni for 3-year PhD Program in Japan. Batch) are coming back to Viet
During application period, JICE JDS Office will open information sessions DEADLINE for Nam
to introduce JDS in different provinces: Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Khanh APPLICATION All JDS fellows will finish their master
Hoa, Ninh Thuan, Da Nang, Quang Tri, Quang Binh, Quang Ninh, Thai courses in Japan and come back to Viet
Nguyen, Nam Dinh, Hai Phong in August and September, 2019. We also MASTER PROGRAM: Nam by this September 2019. They are
visit ministries and organizations in Ha Noi to disseminate information to 17:00, Oct 29th, 2019 eager to utilize their knowledge and
many potential candidates as possible. experience to contribute to their
For more information, please contact JDS Office or visit the website: DOCTOR PROGRAM: organizations. Reporting Session for 17th
https://jds-scholarship.org/country/vietnam/. 17:00, Dec 2nd, 2019 batch will be held during Technical
Instruction of application for JDS PhD which only targets JDS Alumni is Interview (tentatively in February 2020).
informed to all alumni via email.
Good luck to all candidates of this year!

JDS Monitoring Mission to Japan

From June 16 -22, 2019 Viet Nam Delegation including representatives from MOET, Program 165 and JICA Viet
Nam Office visited Japan for JDS Monitoring Mission. The Delegation visited related stakeholders including
MOFA, Embassy of Viet Nam in Japan, JICA HQ, JICE HQ and 3 accepting universities (Tsukuba, Hiroshima,
and Kyushu). The Delegation could discuss with MOFA and JICA about HRD in Viet Nam as well as ODA policy to
Viet Nam, particularly JDS Project. Through working with professors and fellows at universities, the Mission
members could understand the real situation of JDS implementation in Japan. Those monitoring experiences Fellows of Hitotsubashi University on Graduation Day
would benefit improvement of JDS operation and management in the next years.
Message from Japan JDS
Message
Specialist from
Network (JSN)
JICE
JSN JDS Vietexpanding
is continuously Nam Office
the
Photos network and seeking for support and
new ideas for events of JDS Alumni.
Please CONTACT us at
jsnvietnam@outlook.com for more
information:
To become a member of JSN, please
With JDS Fellows of University of Tsukuba
register at the link: JSN member
Delegation visited JICE HQ Courtesy call to Embassy of Viet Nam in Japan

registration

Message from JICE JDS Office

Hello everyone! I am Terashita Chie,
new Country Officer of JICE JDS
Project Office from June 2019. I am
looking forward to getting to know
JDS Alumni in Viet Nam.
With Hiroshima University Fellows Delegation worked with professors of Kyushu Delegation shared monitoring result with JICA For support, please contact us at:
University HQ
JICE JDS Office in Viet Nam, 3rd Flr,
VJCC Building, 91 Chua Lang, Ha Noi.
“Japan Alumni of Viet Nam” (JAV) Tel: 84 24 29247711
JAV, an alumni association including all Vietnamese who studied in Japan, has a huge network and strong Email: jds.vietnam@jice.org
connection with Japan related organizations including Embassy of Japan, Japan Foundation, enterprises, and
has many interesting activities for gathering, scholarship or exchange programs, etc.
JAV is continuously inviting JDS Alumni to to be a member of JAV.
For more information, please check it out at http://jav.vn/
JDS Follow Up Team (JFT): jds.follow-up@jice.org July, 2019 ISSUE 4

PROMOTION NEWS
JDS Cambodia Alumnus has made a remarkable success in his
career to be Secretary of State, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
and International Cooperation (MOFAIC)

PROFILE:

Mr. LAY Samkol

 Batch 6th (2006-2008), Ritsumeikan

Univ.

 2012- Under Secretary of State,

Minister Cabinet Ministry of Post and
Telecommunication
 2008- Deputy Director, Council of
Ministers

The oopinion-exchange program was held on February 1, 2019, in

collaboration with International Policy Division, Policy Bureau of MLIT
(Ministry of Land, Infrastructure,Transport and Tourism) for the second time.
We need IDEAS for JDS GOODS!
JICE partnered with MLIT to provide an opportunity for the 20 JDS Fellows in
the construction and transportation sector to deepen an understanding of We are planning to create JDS goods (eg.
Japanese quality infrastructure and to build the cooperative relationship pin budges, stationery…) to award to
between Japan and JDS participating countries. those who gave an outstanding
contribution to the JDS project.
In the morning session, the
If you have a suggestion about type pf
participating Fellows were briefed
goods or logo image on them, please
about the policies promoted by the
contact us: jds.follow-up@jice.org
respective bureaus and departments
of the Ministry in such areas as
*Deadline: October 31st, 2019
international policy, environment,
*Any file format will be fine.
public works, water resources, land
*JICE will hold the copyrights.
conservation and transport. In the
ensuing Q&A session, the
participants raised many questions
Kenya
relevant to their specialization.
In the afternoon session, the Fellows
visited the Tokyo Monorail Showajima JDS Reaches
Center, where they received an More Countries
explanation about the outline the
Tokyo Monorail followed by the
guided tour of its the repair and JDS Project is further
maintenance facilities. expanding to 3 new
countries.
It was a great opportunity for all the
participating JDS Fellows to increase The 1st batch Fellows are
an understanding of Japanese Quality scheduled to arrive in Japan
Infrastructure through this program. in Autumn 2020.

It is expected that they will be able to
utilize the new knowledge and human
networks gained through this program
to address the development issues
that their respective countries are
confronted with!
Comment by Fellow from Bangladesh El Salvador Maldives
“I would like to share the knowledge and discuss with my colleagues the
potential utility of monorail to improve transportation service in Dhaka, given
the limited space for land use there”
INSIDE JDS Alumni
.
KYRGYZSTAN AND JAPAN They gave us the opportunity to see the Kyrgyz people from a
completely different side, that even in the most difficult days we
FRIENDSHIP BEGAN IN 1946-1948 must honor the name of a human been. Thanks to the act of
the Kyrgyz people of the village of Tamga of that time, all the
AIGUL KUBATOVA (on the left side of the picture) Japanese citizens returned to their homeland, alive and
President of JICA Alumni in Kyrgyzstan healthy, created families and living a long happy life.
(JDS Alumni in 2013 – 2015) WASEDA University MA in IR

 Japan changed my life.  I wish our friendship between Kyrgyzstan and

Japan is a country that radically changed my life. While studying in Japan, I Japan will strengthen.
have met my future husband, Arstanbek Sargaldayev. He and his creative team After I returned to Kyrgyzstan, I got married to the producer of
from production studio came to Tokyo to make a documentary film about the film with two children.
Japanese war prisoners in Kyrgyzstan. Also this year, I was elected as a President of the JICA Alumni
The story of 125 Japanese war prisoners who were exiled in the post-war years Association in Kyrgyzstan. I am confident that I can contribute to
in the Kyrgyz SSR. This story aroused great interest of me, and after graduation the development of the already established friendly relations
in Japan, I returned to Kyrgyzstan and we began working on this project between our great nations.
together. I rewrote the script for this documentary “600 DAYS OF FAITH”. In the near future, I would like to
establish sister relationship
between the village of Tamga,
 I’d like to express the belief and the hope through this film. Issyk-Kul region and the city of
The actions of the film are based on the real story that took place back in the Shibata, Niigata Prefecture. They
post-world war II, 1946-1948. The fascinating story tells how a group of have common pages of non-written
Japanese war prisoners arrived to Kyrgyz land, where they were engaged in history that unite them.
the construction of a famous military sanatorium in the village of Tamga, Issyk- Japanese culture, food, their
Kul region, Kyrgyz SSR. attitude to life, it all deeply subsided
in my heart. I really wish that our
After 600 days, they all returned to their homeland, Japan,
friendship between Kyrgyzstan and
alive and healthy, while noting that all this was due to the
Japan will only strengthen over the
hospitality, kindness and generosity of the Kyrgyz people.
years.
In the center of the plot is the story of two Japanese citizens
– Mr. Miyano and Mr. Matsuda. As the heroes themselves
said, these were 600 days of faith. Through this film, we The “600 days of faith”, which was presented in the Yamagata
tried to convey to the viewer how strong the belief in international documentary film festival, will be shown in 12
friendship, the belief in destiny, the hope of life and the domestic offices of JICA.
return to their homeland.

JDS 20th Anniversary Share Your Story

JDS Alumni amounts to be 4302. Some make a prominent
success in workplace while others give an outstanding
contribution to the society. This time, we introduced a
Kyrgyz Alumnus with her episode of film creation. We are
going to introduce hereby more JDS Fellows with their
unique stories. We hope that you enjoy getting to know an
interesting member of JDS family and you will be the one
who shares your own story with us. JDS Follow-up Team

Japanese culture Quiz

Japanese meal consists of rice, soup, one main dish,
and two small side dishes and a traditional manner
requires each dish to be placed in a specific place.
Can you put the following 5 dishes (A~E) on the right
place (①~⑤)? Those who give the correct answer will be
JDS Uzubekistan celebrated 20th anniversary on June 21 2019. Led by remarkable announced in the next JAN.
speech by Ambassador, JICA Chief Representative and JDS Alumni representatives, A) Rice B) Soup C) Main dish
Action Plan for JDS Alumni Association has been presented. Expectedly, there will be
many more Alumni activities to be held Uzbekistan. ① ②
③ D) Small side
How Can We Organize Alumni Event ? ④ ⑤ dish
E) Side dish
This event was funded by “Follow-up Fund”, which JICE allocates to each JDS local
office. JICE is ready to support JDS Alumni to boost the value of JDS in an innovative way.
Your initiative in activities such as planning networking party, organizing a project to tackle
social issue etc. will be always welcomed. Please contact us: jds.follow-up@jice.org. Congratulations! You have given the right answer to the previous quiz!
Mr. Nay Lin Oo (Myanmar, Ritsumeikan Univ.)
Mr. RICO Jensen Dargantes (Philippines, IUJ)

”Reiwa” , the New Era Tips for understanding Japanese culture

May 1st 2019 is a memorial day for Japan. The new Imperial Era “Reiwa
Era” has begun, followed by the enthronement of the new Emperor. The
name of Imperial Era changed from “Heisei” to “Reiwa”. Then word
“Reiwa” was introduced by “Manyoshu”, an anciet collection of
Japanese poetries. Mr.Suga, Chief Cabinet Secretary, explained the
meaning of “Reiwa” as: (cnn.com)
Heisei Era had seen, for 3 years, several sad incidents such as Great
East Japan earthquake and Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011 while
some people say that Heisei turned out to be a peaceful era without a
war in Japan. We truly hope that Reiwa Era will bring an entire peace
and happiness to every single person and country and JDS will make
a significant contribution to it.

“Like the flowers of the plum tree blooming proudly in spring

after the cold winter, we wish the Japanese people to
bloom like individual flowers with the (promise of the) future.
With such a wish for Japan, we decided upon ‘Reiwa.'”
≪☞ Key Word≫”Gengo, the Imperial Era”
In Japan, we give names to eras based on emperor’s reign. It was the first
time in about 200 years that the emperor gave up the throne while he is alive.