Ｊａｐａｎｅｓｅ Ｈｉｇｈ Ｓｃｈｏｏｌ Ｓｔｕｄｅｎｔｓ Ｅｘｐｅｒｉｅｎｃｅ Ｆｒｉｅｎｄｌｉｎｅｓｓ ｉｎ Ｃｈｅｎｇｄｕ

At the invitation of the China-Japan Friendship Association (CJFA)， a 75-member Japanese delegation composed of students from four senior middle schools in Chiba and Ibaragi Prefectures paid a visit to Sichuan from November 24 to 26， 2006.

It was the first Japanese senior middle school students’ delegation invited by China since the new 21st Century Committee for Sino-Japanese Friendship put forward the suggestion of increasing exchanges between the youth of the two countries in 2004 and the governments of the two countries respectively set up the foundation for friendly exchanges. During their stay in Beijing， Lu Yongxiang， vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress， Song Jian， president of the CJFA， and Dai Bingguo， executive vice foreign minister， separately met with the delegation. During their stay in Sichuan， the Japanese students had friendly exchanges with the Chinese students from Chengdu Shishi Middle School， Chengdu No. 7 Middle School and Zongbei Middle School with the aim of increasing mutual understanding and friendship， and enhancing the younger generation’s sense of responsibility and mission of maintaining and developing ever-lasting friendship between China and Japan.

After arriving in Chengdu， the Japanese students divided into groups went to the three middle schools and led by their Chinese counterparts participated in extracurricular activities including pottery making， handicraft art， model-building designing and making， fine arts and calligraphy， drama， singing and dancing， chess playing， Chinese Gongfu， ball games， traditional musical instruments playing， English language， campus sports meeting， etc. Rich and colourful activities and Chengdu students’ warmth and friendliness soon ended unfamiliarity and closed up distance between the two sides. Mr. Chisato Akiyama， head of the Japanese delegation and counsellor of the Education Board of Chiba Prefecture， said with emotion， “The moment we arrived in Chengdu， we experienced Chinese students’ friendliness.”

At the Chinese and Japanese High School Students’ Get-together held by Shishi Middle School， Qin Lin， president of the Sichuan Provincial People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (SIFA)， gave a warm speech. She said， we need to enhance friendship between the Chinese and Japanese people and expand exchanges between them particularly the youth in an effort to nurture intimacy between them and consolidate the basis of China-Japan friendship so that the goal of peaceful coexistence， lasting friendship， mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries and common development can be achieved.

In his speech， Akiyama said， Japan and China began friendly exchanges more than two thousand years ago， and have many things in common in culture. The TV series and computer games adapted from The Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Pilgrimage to the West are very much liked by the Japanese young people. The Chinese dietary culture such as wulong tea and the mapo bean curd is also popular in Japan. No matter what difficulties Japan and China meet in their relations， the two countries should carry on their friendship. He said， the friendship between the students of the same age group of the two countries forged through mutual exchanges and learning from each other is bound to play a positive role in maintaining stable and friendly relations between the two countries. The students will bring the warmth and friendliness they experienced in China back to Japan and tell their family members， teachers， schoolmates and more Japanese people what they had experienced.

In the following day the Chinese students and their parents came to the hotel to take their paired Japanese students to visit Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding， the old Jinli Street， the Sansheng Flower Village， Chengdu Huanhuaxi Park， the Chunxi Road and market of farm produce， and put up the Japanese students for the night at their homes. The fresh experience of staying at ordinary people’s homes and close contacts helped them forget the language barrier. On departure， the Chinese and Japanese students were reluctant to part with each other， and many students and their parents shed tears. Koji Chiba， teacher in charge of the students from Chiba Prefecture said， “The Japanese and the Chinese students are about the same age， and spent a night together. This kind of activity is very good for nurturing affection between the youngsters of the two countries.”

Because of changes in temperature and being unaccustomed to the climate of a new place， a number of Japanese students fell ill. The SIFA took measures immediately and with the help of the Chinese students and their parents， sent the sick Japanese students to hospital without delay for emergency treatment and looked after them in the hospital until midnight， which ensured that they soon recovered and safely and happily left Chengdu.