Autumn is now in full swing and while looking back at the year of 2024 so far, are you thinking of taking on a final new challenge?
If so, we have great news for those of you who are thinking of trying something new during 2025!
It’s been three years and nine months since we launched OFP as “Otonari-san Family Friend Program”. We have met countless people – the Otonari-sans as Japanese volunteers who were looking for the opportunities to communicate with foreign residents in Japan but weren’t able to find a way, and the foreign residents who were living in Japan but didn’t have chances to communicate with locals on a deeper level and weren’t able to resolve their long-standing issues in their daily lives.
Through OFP, the partners have successfully helped solve the daily life issues that foreign residents alerted us to, found partners who foreigners could practice their Japanese with, and also built countless true friendships between Otonari-sans and their foreign partners.
These successes have hit much closer to home and made much more of a positive impact than the efforts of governments or corporations.
We would like to share these wonderful OFP experiences with more people and make it easier to let potential volunteers participate.
To that end, we are pleased to announce the launch of our offer “Expanding the Circle of Support ~ OFP Registration is Free to Join!”. The target participants are those who join the OFP briefing sessions held between 1st November, 2024 and 31st January, 2025.
■ OFP is recommended to foreign residents in Japan who…
・have children and looking for reliable information that fits their individual needs related to raising said children
・are looking for Japanese friends who are parents who they can candidly speak with
・are facing issues in daily life and seeking support to deal with complicated procedures and/or processes in Japanese
・want to practice Japanese and/or are looking for local people who they can casually talk to
・want to make Japanese friends outside of school and/or the workplace
・want to learn more about Japanese society and culture
Would you like to apply for an OFP briefing session? Don’t miss this wonderful opportunity! (Session participation is free)
■ The details and duration of the offer
For those who join the OFP briefing session held between November 1st, 2024 and January 31st, 2025, the registration for the program (regularly a fee of 1,000 yen) will be FREE.
■ How to Apply
Application Form：https://j-ii.org/otonari-san/ofp-participate/
Please choose the date of the online briefing session that you can participate in on the application form. Join the meeting and then consider if you would like to formally register for OFP.
★ Stories of OFP experiences：by Otonari-sans／by Foreign Participants
＊ Unfortunately, experiences written by Otonari-sans are available only in Japanese.
If you are already a member of OFP, please consider introducing the program to your friends and colleagues.
Let’s expand the circle of support and move toward our goal of achieving cross-cultural coexistence in Japan together.
We’re all looking forward to meeting YOU!
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※ Please note that you CANNNOT apply for a briefing session from the button in pink below.
If you want to apply for a session, please apply from the URL below.
Application Form：https://j-ii.org/otonari-san/ofp-participate/
*Please choose the date of the online briefing session that you can participate in on the application form.