The EU and Japan agreed at the 11th EU-Japan Summit in 2002 to designate 2005 the EU-Japan Year of People to People Exchanges. The overall aim of the 2005 Year was to develop exchanges, contact and understanding between people in Japan and the European Union.
The 2005 Year of People to People Exchanges aimed to encourage and promote face to face exchanges and contacts between people, as well as events and initiatives to promote better mutual understanding of European and Japanese society and culture. We hoped that the Year would not be seen as a one-off event, but act as a boost to long-term promotion of people to people exchanges, in keeping with the aims of the Action Plan for EU-Japan Cooperation signed in December 2001.
The Year was being organised by the European Commission, the Member States of the EU and the Japanese Government.
We aimed to encourage the participation of a wide range of actors, including academic and cultural bodies; civil society organisations; regional and local authorities; business, sports organisations and individual citizens. Nearly 2,000 events were organized in EU Member States and Japan including sporting events, exhibitions, concerts and other cultural events, freindship meetings for all generations and academic events such as symposia or public discussions on EU-Jpana related matters. Special emphasis was placed on encouraging young people to participate. Events and activities were being organised and conducted not only at the EU-Japan level but also at the bilateral level, between Japan and Member States of the enlarged EU.
