Setagaya Intercultural Center: Crossing Setagaya ~ A place where Japanese and foreign residents can meet and interact ~

The Setagaya Intercultural Center, which opened in June 2020, is the newest international exchange association in Tokyo. Despite the current COVID-19 situation, the center has been steadily expanding its activities. For example, it holds events such as the Walking Tour in Plain Japanese, and the Multicultural Understanding Workshop. Both are so popular that they are always fully booked.

Creating a city where people from other countries can play an active role in the local community.

The Setagaya Intercultural Center has a nickname: Crossing Setagaya. "It was named in the hope that it would be a place where people from all walks of life in Setagaya could interact with each other, and that it would be like a crossroads where the circle of exchange could expand," says Mr. Okada. The impetus for this facility came from the creation of the Setagaya City Intercultural Cohesion Plan, in 2019, following the Ordinance to Promote Gender Equality and Intercultural Cohesion for a Diverse Setagaya, enacted in 2018. "The Intercultural Cohesion Plan aims to create a town where foreigners can play an active role in the local community, a place where everyone can live with a peace of mind. The plan also aims to raise awareness of multiculturalism and to eliminate prejudice as well as discrimination against foreigners. The Setagaya Intercultural Center was established to promote various initiatives based on this plan," says Mr. Okada.
In preparation for the Tokyo 2020 Games, arrangements were made to create a place where Setagaya residents could meet and get to know people from other counties.

Many foreigners live around Sangenjaya

The Crossing Setagaya is located on the second floor of Carrot Tower, a landmark in Sangen-jaya, making it easily accessible to everyone. "The number of foreign residents in Setagaya Ward has been growing since the Great East Japan Earthquake. Especially in the Sangen-jaya area, there seems to be a lot of young people," says Mr. Okada. There are more than 22,000 foreign residents (as of January 2021) living in Setagaya Ward. In terms of nationality, the largest number is from China, followed by Korea and the U.S. The top ten countries also include the U.K. and France. One of the characteristics of Setagaya Ward is that it has many residents of Western descent. There are also many universities in this district and a lot of international students.

Helping to deepen international exchange and multicultural understanding

Crossing Setagaya provides the following three services to foreigners living in Setagaya Ward.

Information about everyday life in Setagaya: visitors can learn about various services offered in the Ward and other useful information to make their lives here easier and more fulfilling.

For people who are not fluent in Japanese, there are publications in multiple languages available, including Plain Japanese.

Participation in international exchanges: Crossing Setagaya introduces organizations and groups that actively promote intercultural exchange in the community.

The facility also has an exhibition corner that introduces organizations and schools that are involved in multicultural and international exchange activities.

The chance to ask for advice: If there are any problems, Crossing Setagaya introduces the users to a place where they may seek help.

The center also provides information on special cash payments regarding COVID-19, vaccination, and support for various other problems.

Crossing Setagaya also provides a variety of services for local organizations and people interested in international exchanges and multiculturalism. "In addition, we hold events as well as lectures to deepen international exchanges and multicultural understanding," Mr. Kamei says. The wide variety of events and courses were very popular, and we sensed a high level of multicultural awareness among Setagaya Ward residents.

Multicultural awareness workshops fill up immediately

The Nihongo Koryukai, an intercultural gathering, and the Setagaya Machiaruki Walking Tour, both conducted in Plain Japanese, are particularly popular. For both events, Crossing Setagaya devised ways to keep the ratio of foreign and Japanese participants about the same, which resulted in a high level of satisfaction from the participants. Some of the comments from the participants were, "I lost the chance to talk with Japanese people due to COVID-19. I'm glad I could talk to new people by participating in the Nihongo Koryukai." "I live in Setagaya, but I've only been going back and forth between home and school, so it was nice to see various sightseeing spots on the Machiaruki Tour." In addition, there are both foreign and Japanese instructors for the series of Multicultural Awareness workshops, held once a month, with a wide variety of themes such as "Let's communicate in Plain Japanese" and "Intercultural exchange through food. "These workshops sometimes reach capacity as soon as they are offered. We have a waiting list for many of these workshops and lectures," Mr. Kamei told us.

Website, SNS, mail magazine, newsletter, and the dissemination of a lot of information

Crossing Setagaya is proactive about sending information. Currently, there are about 200 subscribers to its monthly email newsletter. The Center has a dedicated homepage and uses social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook. There are two types of newsletters that are published once a month, one in Japanese and English, and the other in Japanese and Chinese. Translation is done by volunteers living in Setagaya Ward. Volunteers are recruited by the center through e-mail newsletters and other channels. Recently, Crossing Setagaya has been planning to expand the scope of their activities by adding new foreign staff members to their volunteers. As a hub for international exchange, everyone is welcome to visit Crossing Setagaya and contribute to creation of more inclusive community.

*This article is based on information available at the time of the interview. For the latest information, please contact the organization directly.