The World Bank Public Information Center (PIC Tokyo) holds a variety of events and seminars on weeknights to explore issues of importance in developing countries and other global problems, and also receives students for office tours and field trips to the Tokyo office where they learn about the role of the World Bank. PIC Tokyo was established in April, 2004 on the 1st Floor Lobby of the Fukoku Seimei Building in Uchisaiwai-cho, Tokyo. In 2007, the activities and role of the center have shifted.
PIC Tokyo held 65 learning events related to global development issues in developing countries. These included “Coffee Hours” with African ambassadors, co-sponsored by TICAD Civil Society Forum, the Disabilities and Development Series, co-sponsored by Japan NGO Network on Disabilities (JANNET) and the Nippon Foundation, the Climate Change Series co-sponsored with the Overseas Environmental Cooperation Center and the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, the Nature Conservation and Environment Series co-sponsored with Keidanren Nature Conservation Fund(KNCF) , the Talk Salon Series co-sponsored with JICA Global Plaza, on public and private sector interaction, and a live musical performance by the Tanzanian band “African Express” on Africa Night (December 20), sponsored by Asante Plan.
Panel Exhibitions on display
World Bank PIC Tokyo also was host to 15 photographic and panel exhibitions by NGOs and others, who utilized PIC to introduce audiences to some of the international cooperation activities they are engaged in. KNCF held a coffee hour and photo panel exhibition to introduce its conservation activities. A photo exhibition and opening reception on “Migratory Birds” was cosponsored by the Israeli Embassy and Birdlife Asia (July 5), and was attended by Her Imperial Highness Princess Takamodo, who gave a few remarks. A photo exhibition, as well as a live musical performance for HIV/AIDS awareness by Teruo Nakamura and the Rising Sun Band—sponsored by the Red Shoes Foundation—was held on November 26 at World Bank PIC Tokyo.
In February, World Bank PIC Tokyo started offering Japanese sign language at the weeknight coffee hour talk salons, in hopes that others may follow the example.
Live jazz performances at World Bank PIC Tokyo
Group visits from junior high schools, high schools, and university students to World Bank PIC Tokyo continued through 2007. In all, students from 50 schools all over Japan visited the World Bank Tokyo Office, where they learned about global development issues and the role of the World Bank, and also had a chance to take a tour of the World Bank office and the Tokyo Development Learning Center (TDLC) with its videoconference facilities on the 10th Floor of the Fukoku Seimei Building in central Tokyo.
World Bank PIC Tokyo has also maintained a presence at international cooperation events and career fairs, with staff attending 8 events over the past year, where they tended to the World Bank booth at the events. These included the Hibiya Park “Global Festa” 2007 (October 6-7), the Osaka One World Festival (February 3-4), and the Mainichi Communications MyNavi Global Career Fair, where a World Bank booth was provided for students and young professionals interested in pursuing international careers. World Bank staff explained scholarship programs and career opportunities at the Bank.
The World Bank participates at international events
In June, World Bank PIC Tokyo donated World Bank official reports and publications to the Tokyo University Komaba Campus’s “Intelligent Library,” affiliated with the Human Security Program. The same collection of publications continue to be utilized at the World Bank Public Information “Corners,” or PIC Kiosks, at Hiroshima University’s Graduate School for International Development and Cooperation, the Kobe University Graduate School of International Cooperation Studies, Nagoya University Graduate School of International Development, and Hokkaido University’s Graduate School of International Media and Communications. Â In September 2007, a new assistant joined World Bank PIC Tokyo, Ms. Izumi Yasuda, joining Mr. Koichi Omori, Communications Officer. She will act as the public relations assistant at the public information center, and as coordinator for various new PIC events in the coming months such as “Africa Night.”
Junior and senior high school students visit PIC Tokyo
We plan to continue an expanded schedule of events, coffee hours, art and panel exhibitions, and related activities through World Bank PIC Tokyo in 2008. If you have a comment or idea about future events, feel free to contact us at World Bank PIC Tokyo by email (ptokyo@worldbank.org) or by phone: (03) 3597-6650.
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