By Shoko Ono
Are you a young adult with a connection to Japan?
-perhaps your parents are from Japan, but Japan is an unfamiliar world to you?
-or maybe you moved to Australia when you were a high school student and feel shy speaking English?
-do you feel disconnected, perhaps you don’t have many people to share your unique experiences as a young person with a Japanese cultural background?
If this resonates with you, then why not join JAFCO – Japan Australia Future Connections, a new community group and a safe space for young people to get together and make new connections with people with similar interests, concerns, or experiences.
A number of young people have already joined JAFCO, and are keen to connect with you. To find out more, contact JAFCO via social media:
JAFCO or「つな豪未来」is a new community group for young adults with childhood connections to Japan. The group’s focus is to link people with related experiences, without any focus on language abilities. It was launched on 2 September 2023 at a special event called Connecting Futures with the support of The Japan Foundation Sydney and JSAA-INCTJ2023, an international conference on Japanese studies, including a feature on Japanese as heritage and community language.
Connecting Futures was a lively event hosted by Iori Forsyth of the viral YouTube channel Big Forsyth Family and her partner Joe Flynn.
JAFCO came about as a result of an interview based study conducted by Australian Network for Japanese as Community Language (ANJCL) and a subsequent seminar titled Where are the former Keishogo kids now?, where young people with a Japanese background shared personal stories about their lives, and suggested the need for a community in which young people with similar connections to Japan can get together.
JAFCO is currently planning future social events. Hope you can join us.
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