. Significance of international cooperation in education

  Japan has provided developing countries, burdened with every kind of problem from poverty, environment, population explosion, and food shortage to AIDS and war, with ODA in fields ranging from infrastructural provision to health care and medical treatment. Japan has made this effort not only from a humanitarian point of view but also in the belief that Japan, by developing closer ties with developing countries, particularly in Asia, will improve its own prospects for survival and future prosperity. However, for the reasons set out below, Japan remains acutely aware of the need to provide further support in the form of international cooperation in education.

  Wherever it is acquired, be it in the home, in school, through social contact, or in any other form, education is something that must continue throughout life and, as such, it molds character while at the same time providing a foundation for everything from human rights and the environment to the economy and industry. Education has the potential to play a major role in combating poverty, the biggest problem faced by developing countries, by encouraging the development of human potential and, in so doing, creating a foundation for developing countries to escape from poverty and achieve sustained development by their own efforts. Education can also give people the power to think for themselves, foster their ability to understand other people and cultures through dialogue, and help them develop a respect for the spirit of international cooperation.
  After the war, Japan based the rebuilding of its country on education and achieved full recovery through the "spirit of the one hundred sacks of rice *1". Japan's experience in devoting both human and physical resources to education, which forms a foundation for every aspect of a nation's life and economic activity, could be of great use to developing countries and to war-torn countries throughout the world that are in the process of reconstruction in the wake of conflict.
  Japan currently has a variety of educational exchanges under way at school and grassroots level. These exchanges could potentially form a basis for the development of more specific forms of ODA cooperation. It should also be possible to develop a broader spectrum of cooperation by linking international cooperation in education, as implemented through the medium of government ODA, with exchanges in which members of the Japanese public themselves are involved.
  International cooperation in education could thus encourage the development of closer ties between Japanese people at all levels and those of developing nations, and, on a national level, between Japan and the developing countries, particularly in the Asian region.

  Furthermore, if teachers involved in international cooperation in education in developing countries can extend ability to communicate, to understand other cultures, and to conceptualize that knowledge, they will provide children and students with a foundation for internationalization, thereby also promoting "domestic internationalization" and helping the Japanese themselves to interact with an international community that calls for an ever-increasing capacity for mutual understanding and coexistence.

  Since there are major differences in historical, social, and cultural experience between the developing countries and Japan, teachers sent out from Japan to work in those countries will have a perfect opportunity to compare their education systems with that of Japan, thereby learning once again to appreciate the better points of the Japanese system while at the same time identifying things that could usefully be introduced into the domestic system. On their return to Japan, teachers who have been involved in international cooperation in education will also be in a position to recycle their experiences through Japanese classrooms and, in so doing, to improve the quality of Japanese education.
  Thus, by utilizing Japan's educational experience in international cooperation in education it can also provide a means for the Japanese people not only to conduct Japan’s "visible" assistance in other countries but also to demonstrate their sincere "fellow-feeling" for the people of those countries. Many Japanese will also have the opportunity to experience the efficacy of cooperation at first hand. International cooperation in education is additionally important in that it increases the familiarity of the Japanese people with ODA.