ASEAN-Japan Peace Exchange Program for High Schoolers (AJPAP 2025): Outcomes Report and Artwork Handover Ceremony to the ASEAN Secretariat, Jakarta
The Japan Foundation (JF), in cooperation with the ASEAN Secretariat, will hold an event on Monday, January 12, 2026, at the headquarters of the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta. The event will report on the outcomes of the ASEAN-Japan Peace Ambassador Project (AJPAP 2025) conducted in Japan in November 2025 and present artworks jointly created by participating high school students to the ASEAN Secretariat .
Launched by JF in 2025, AJPAP is a next-generation exchange program whose purpose is to envision “peace for the next generation” through dialogue and collaboration. It brings together high school students from Japan and ASEAN to talk about peace and think together based on their diverse values. The inaugural AJPAP 2025, marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, brought together 12 high school students from Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Hiroshima（Japan）. Through field programs in Hiroshima, workshops led by experts, and the creation of collaborative artworks, they explored peace from multiple perspectives. On the final day of the program, the students collectively created an artwork using origami cranes—widely sent to Hiroshima from around the world as symbols of peace—by sharing and discussing their individual visions of peace. This work will be presented to the ASEAN Secretariat at this event and subsequently displayed in the lobby of the Secretariat building.
This event will be held in a hybrid format combining in-person and online participation, with attendees to include the high school students from the four countries along with others involved with the program. It will function as a way to share with the ASEAN Secretariat what the participants learned through AJPAP 2025, the insights they gained from dialogue with peers from different backgrounds, and the experience of collaboration transcending cultural and linguistic differences, aiming to serve as a catalyst for new dialogue toward future peacebuilding and regional cooperation between Japan and ASEAN.
Details
Event title: ASEAN-Japan Peace Ambassador Project (AJPAP) 2025 Outcomes Report and Artwork Donation Ceremony
Date and time: Monday, January 12, 2026 14:00-15:00 (local time in Indonesia) (16:00-17:00 in Japan)
Venue: ASEAN Secretariat headquarters (Jakarta) ＋ online (hybrid event format)
Organizer: The Japan Foundation (JF)
Co-organizer: ASEAN Secretariat
Cooperation: NPO Peace Culture Village (PCV)
Language: English
Attendees (planned):
– High school students and accompanying teachers from the 4 countries participating in AJPAP 2025 (Indonesia: on-site attendance; Hiroshima（Japan）, Philippines, Vietnam: online attendance)
– Organizer: JF headquarters executives, Japan Foundation Jakarta Director General and others
– Co-organizer: ASEAN Secretariat Deputy Secretary General and others
– Cooperating organization: PCV Vice-Chair and others (online)
Main Contents:
Outcomes Report
– Reports from JF and students who participated in the program on what was learned and accomplished in AJPAP 2025
– Screening of a retrospective video that summarizes the highlights of the program
– Presentation Ceremony for the Collaborative Artwork
– Announcement of the title of the artwork and the concept behind it
– Presentation of the artwork to the the ASEAN Secretariat
Media coverage and interviews with the organizers and participating high school students are possible for this project in person or online.
For details, please contact the Japan Foundation’s Branding and Communication Department, Public Relation Division at press@jpf.go.jp .
About “Partnership to Co-create a Future with the Next Generation: WA Project 2.0”
The Japan Foundation (JF) is an independent administrative institution that promotes arts and cultural exchange, Japanese-language education, and Japanese studies and global dialogue, with the mission of “cultivating friendship and ties between Japan and the world.”
To promote the mutual recognition of each country’s values in Asia, JF is conducting a comprehensive people-to-people exchange project with ASEAN and other Asian countries called “Partnership to Co-create a Future with the Next Generation: WA Project 2.0.” Launched in 2024, the project will continue over a ten-year period and spans the fields of Japanese-language education, culture and the arts, Japanese studies, and global partnership programs.
Centered around the Japan Foundation’s NIHONGO Partners program and its initiatives for intellectual and cultural exchange, this project will endeavor to strengthen the multi-faceted networks of people in the region and build relationships based on mutual trust and respect between Japan and its Asian partners through sincere and open communication.
◆NIHONGO Partners
NIHONGO Partners are those who are dispatched to secondary educational institutions mainly in Asia in order to support local Japanese languages teachers and students.
◆Two-way Intellectual and Cultural Exchange
These programs will provide opportunities for people across the region to collaborate, thereby fostering mutual understanding and building strong bonds among those of the next generation who will serve as bridges between different countries in the world.
You can find articles and videos about past initiatives at the WA Project 2.0 official website (https://asiawa.jpf.go.jp/en/ ). Please take a look.
Press Inquiries:
Fukushima (Mr.), Kumakura (Ms.), Branding and Communication Dept. Public Relation Div.,
The Japan Foundation
Tel: +81-(0)3-5369-6075 / Fax: +81-(0)3-5369-6044 E-mail: press@jpf.go.jp
Photos (from the left)
1. At the collaborative art workshop for AJPAP 2025 participants
2. At the collaborative art workshop for AJPAP 2025 participants
