We Are Tomodachi Summer 2018

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28Han’s workplace is located on theKochi Castle grounds.GRASSROOTS AMBASSADOR The JET ProgrammeKorean history buff and Japanophile, Han Jeonggyu,brings two countries together through KochiReinforcingRelationships:Korea and JapanA graduate of Korean History,from the University of Seoul.This is his third year workingas a Coordinator for InternationalRelations on the JET Programmeat the International Affairs Divisionof Kochi Prefecture. He joinedthe division in April of 2016.Han JeonggyuREPUBLIC OFKOREAJAPANt was 2016 when Han Jeonggyufirst stepped into the KochiPrefectural offi ce as a Coordinatorfor International Relations throughthe Japan Exchange and Teaching(JET) Programme. His responsibilitiesincluded translating tourist brochures,interpreting, as well as teachingweekly Korean classes and organizinga program to introduce Koreanculture to local students.“During university, my interest inJapan grew signifi cantly. As a KoreanHistory major, we studied Japan andits history, which intrigued me—especially when it came to the growthand prosperity of the Edo Period. Ifound the restricted foreign trademade through Dejima Island inNagasaki really interesting. Theseaspects of Japan inspired me to visitin 2009 when I studied Japanese atTokyo Gakugei University for amonth.”At the University of Soul, Hanparticipated in an exchange programwith Japanese students. He realizedthe diffi culties that arise from limitedlanguage ability, so the next year,in 2014, he helped with a Ministryof Foreign Affairs of Japan programcalled JENESYS 2.0 (Japan-EastAsia Network of Exchange forStudents and Youths) in Hokkaido.He still ran into the same languagebarrier.I