RCA International Exchange Committee

Who are we?

International Exchange Committee is one of the seven committees constituting Ryokuen-Toshi Community Association (RCA), which is an organization for town building and consists of the residents in Ryokuen-Toshi. The members of the International Exchange Committee are volunteer residents who are interested in the activities of the committee. From among the members, Chairperson and Vice Chairpersons are elected, and with their leadership the members of the committee get united to carry out scheduled activities. The committee welcomes any resident who wishes to join the activities of the committee. The reason for establishing the committee was because it was found through the questionnaires given in 1987 to the then residents by RCA (right after its establishment) that 33% of all the households of Ryokuen-Toshi had experiences of living abroad and were wishing to have exchanges with foreign people. Furthermore, Yokohama, the municipality to which Ryokuen-Toshi belongs, is a city where the modernization of Japan was started, and yet it is an international port from which ships sail to major ports around the world. And it was deemed inevitable for the residents of Yokohama to foster such staff as can meet with changes in the global era, and to establish an organ where the residents discuss, understand, and grasp ever changing global situations.

What do we do?

1. Planning the Committee’s Activities
The committee members meet almost every month and discuss pending issues and examine proposals.

2. Holding “Talk Salon” meetings
The committee invites foreign speakers who are living in Ryokuen-Toshi or nearby regions or visiting Ryokuen-Toshi , and the speakers talk about their own home countries or other topics followed by a Q & A session.

3. Cooking World Cuisine
This series of meetings was started in the year 2000. The purposes include studying the country of a particular cuisine and promote international exchanges over the cuisine as well as cooking practice itself.

4. International Exchanges with Radburn
The committee serves as a liaison for promoting the exchanges between the residents of Ryokuen-Toshi and Radburn, Fair Lawn, New Jersey which are sister towns with each other.

5. Opening the English website of the International Exchange Committee
The committee has opened its English website and attends to the updating of the website.