Japan's International Cooperation in Education

Nobuko Kayashima is Senior Vice President of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). She joined JICA after graduating from Kyoto University in 1982, and she has been playing a leading role in the planning and operation of JICA's education cooperation programs for four decades. Before her current assignment, she served as Director/Deputy Director of JICA Research Institute (2016-2018), Senior Advisor for Education (2014-2016), Director General of the Human Development Department (2009-2014), Chief Representative of JICA Bangladesh Office (2007-2009), and Group Director for Basic Education (2004-2007). She received her Ph.D. (in international development) from Nagoya University. Her current research interests include education cooperation, internationalization of higher education, and university participation in ODA.Kazuo Kuroda is Professor at Graduate School of Asia Pacific Studies, Waseda University. He also serves as Visiting Research Fellow at JICA Research Institute, as well as Councilor of Asia-Pacific Cultural Centre for UNESCO, members of several advisory committees of the Japanese government ministries and agencies. He is also an editorial board member of several academic journals and publications, including the International Journal of Educational Development and Global Comparative Education (WCCES). He graduated from Waseda University (B.A.), Stanford University (M.A.) and Cornell University (Ph.D.). He has formerly held positions as Member of Japanese National Commission for UNESCO, Visiting Fellow at IIEP-UNESCO, Visiting Professor at the University of Tokyo and Dean of International Affairs at Waseda University. In 2019, He received Universitas 21 (U21) Award.Yuto Kitamura is Associate Professor at Graduate School of Education, The University of Tokyo. He received his Ph.D. in Education from UCLA. He had worked at UNESCO in Paris and taught at Nagoya University and Sophia University. He was the Fulbright Scholar at the George Washington University. He is currently Associate Member of the Science Council of Japan, Member of the Board of Education at Tokyo Metropolitan Government, and Special Advisor to the Rector at Royal University of Phnom Penh in Cambodia. He is specialized in comparative education and has been conducting his researches extensively on education policy of developing countries, particularly in Southeast Asia. He was awarded the JSPS Prize in 2018, one of the highest honors for young scholars in Japan.