The Japan America Grassroots Summit is an annual large-scale exchange of Japanese and American people, held alternately in Japan and America. Ohio will play host to the summit in 2023. Sidney will host a local session September 21 through September 23. The Summit aims to strengthen the peaceful relationship between our two countries by fostering friendship at the grassroots level.
What is a local session? Our Japanese guests will arrive in Sidney on Thursday and will be treated to a welcome reception. During the local session, local leaders and host families will work together to showcase the best the Sidney community has to offer. It’s this person-to-person exchange and shared enthusiasm for local and cultural experience that is the essence of the Japan America Grassroots Summit. Pre-planning of the local itinerary is currently underway.
City officials will be recruiting residents interested in serving as host families after the new year. A meeting to provide additional details will be scheduled during the first quarter of 2023. Potential host families will be matched with Summit participants in August 2023. The city expects between 5 to 15 Japanese guests as a part of the planned local session.
The Summit is being coordinated by the Japan-American Society of Central Ohio (JASCO). Founded in 1997 at The Ohio State University, the JASCO has had an ongoing commitment to serve the wide and varied needs of the Japanese living in Ohio and Ohioans engaged and interested in Japan.