Date: Friday, December 6, 2024, 13:30-16:00Place: Matsudo City Cultural Hall, Conference Room
Participating organizations: Abiko City (AIRA), Kashiwa City (KIRA), Shiroi City, Noda City (NIA), Nagareyama City (NIFA) and Matsudo City (MIEA)
A total of 19 persons from 6 associations (№21-18)
The agenda is
(1) Status report on each association's activities, and
(2) Exchanging information.
(1) A status of activities of each association
All associations have begun to resume their activities after the COVID-19. The moving-in of foreign residents has increased, with Matsudo City showing a 15% increase over the previous year, totaling 23,000 residents, and Noda City accounting for 3.6% of the population.
Activities reported included organizing and participating in festivals, cultural exchange and music festivals, and homestays for neighbouring university students.
In addition, as a measure to assist foreigners in the event of a disaster, an association held a disaster prevention experience tour for all Japanese language students, and another association held "Easy Japanese Language” Classes in the community. Some associations also discussed problems such as garbage and noise with foreign residents in attendance to prevent problems in the community.
(2) Exchanging information
Each topic is
① Association management and government involvement,
The process of establishment of each association and the organisational form of the association differ, with the majority of associations operating on administrative consignment or subsidies.
② Facilitation of accounting, other administrative work
Accounting is done using accounting software or Excel, depending on the size and type of the association. One of the issues is that different departments handle administrative work without sharing information.
② Recruitment of senior members and digitalization
Recruitment of senior members is an issue that all associations are struggling with, and in addition to the traditional website and paper media, there were helpful comments such as participating in meetings held in the city and recruiting through word of mouth and using 2D codes to apply for membership.
AIRA will be the next coordinator in 2025, and the first meeting will be held in May 2025.
Translated by Masakazu Yamauchi