The U.S. CULCON Secretariat hosted a fifth summit on August 8, 2015, attended by more than fifty participants from thirty organizations involved with U.S.-Japan exchanges. The focus of the meeting was the next 70 years of public diplomacy between the two countries. Mr. Joseph Young, Director of Japanese Affairs, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, U.S. Department of State, discussed recent developments in U.S.-Japan relations and the significance of people-to-people exchanges. Deputy Assistant Secretary Robin Lerner, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, U.S. Department of State, also joined the meeting and updated the gathering on an ECA initiative to establish an internship opportunity for Japanese youth in the U.S.
Of special note, among the participants at the summit were members of the newly formed board of directors of USJETAA, who were in Washington, D.C. to hold their first board meeting. Their contributions to the discussion and the information-gathering and interactions with other participants were all beneficial milestones in the quest to engage a younger constituency of U.S.-Japan specialists.