Funded by an Australia-Japan Foundation grant and administered by the Australia-Japan Society – ACT Inc, the Tohoku Youth Program is designed to help as many young Japanese 14 to 17 years olds as possible who suffered the loss of a parent or parents in the disastrous 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami.
The participants are selected by Ashinaga Ikuei Kai in Japan to take part in a 14 to 16 day respite/educational trip to Canberra with a brief visit to Sydney.
The students then become members of a growing club (the Canberra Kangaroo Club in Sendai) where they can meet to help one another and which enables organiser, Australia Japan Society (ACT) to keep in touch with them.
This is an ongoing program that has accepted 38 young people to date. Another eight to ten young Japanese will be accepted during 2017/18.
