In 2016, a conference for Japan Year Abroad Programme (J-YAP) Coordinators was organised by the Japan Foundation. Following this conference, the J-YAP network was created for UK university Year Abroad Coordinators to continue to share information and support each other to promote Japan Year Abroad programmes. 

 

In March 2020, four J-YAP members got together to set up an Inter-University Support Programme (IUSP) to provide continued learning opportunities to Year Abroad students who had been forced to leave Japan or been unable to embark on their planned Year Abroad due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Answering calls for support, teachers from seven universities across the UK volunteered to offer lectures/classes, lead group discussions and share teaching materials to help these students. 

 

Since these early days, the J-YAP IUSP initiative has developed into an undertaking commissioned by the Embassy of Japan in the UK (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan) via the British Association for Teaching Japanese as a Foreign Language (BATJ). Furthermore, the programme was also awarded the Japan Foundation's Sakura Network BATJ Project grant in July 2020. 

 

Thanks to the above support, J-YAP IUSP has been expanded to provide learning opportunities to any student on a BA Japanese (single or joint) programme at a UK university whose Study Abroad has been cancelled or curtailed due to Covid-19. To meet this new level of provision, teaching positions have been opened up to involve BATJ members wishing to contribute.

 

Due to the ongoing nature of the global pandemic, J-YAP IUSP will continue to provide teaching and other Japanese or Japan-related learning opportunities as long as there is continued disruption to relevant university Year Abroad programmes. This includes in times of other events disrupting study abroad, e.g. natural disasters.

 

We very much hope that this programme will offer students the opportunity to interact with students and teachers from other UK universities, as well as with students from or in Japan, many of whom are also unable to undertake study abroad at this time.