JPC Activities & Events

Captain (Navy) Hideki Hayashi, Chief, Training and Research Office, the Japan Peacekeeping Training and Research Center (JPC), was sent to the International Peace Support Training Centre (IPSTC), Kenya, to give lectures 5-10 October 2013.

Major General Obed Boamah Akwa, Commandant of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC), Ghana, visited the Japan Peacekeeping Training and Research Center (JPC) on 27 September 2013. Major General Akwa paid a courtesy visit to Vice Admiral Toshiyuki Ito, Commandant of the Joint Staff College. After the courtesy visit, a research officer of JPC briefed about the JPC’s training and research activities and a KAIPTC staff member briefed about the structure of KAIPTC, particularly about the curriculum of conflict prevention. Following the briefing, Major General Akwa engaged in lively discussion with Colonel Fumiyuki Kobashi, Director of JPC, and other research officers about the current issues at both Centers. The discussion was very meaningful and interesting, and facilitated a closer relationship between Ghana and Japan.

The fourth monthly workshop between the Japan Peacekeeping Training and Research Center (JPC) and the Cabinet Office’s International Peace Cooperation Headquarters (IPCH) was held at IPCH on 10 September 2013. Major Osamu Saito, a JPC Research Officer, gave a presentation based on the GPOI CAPSTONE Exercise 2013, and Ms. Seiko Toyama, a Program Advisor of IPCH, gave a presentation on educational support in the peacekeeping/peace-building phases. After each presentation, participants from both sides engaged in lively discussion.

Colonel Fumiyuki Kobashi, Director of the Japan Peacekeeping Training and Research Center (JPC), and three other JPC research officers participated in the United Nations Induction Program for Military and Police Advisers at the U.N. Headquarters, New York, 25-31 August 2013. During the program, Col. Kobashi and the JPC research officers also visited the U.N. Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), the Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), and the U.S. Army Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute (PKSOI) in Pennsylvania and discussed the courses, symposiums, and workshops conducted by JPC.

Colonel Fumiyuki Kobashi, Director of Japan Peacekeeping Training and Research Center (JPC), was awarded the First-Class Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany by Dr. Volker Stanzel, the German Ambassador to Japan, at the residence of the Ambassador on 13 August 2013. Colonel Kobashi served as a defense attaché at the Japanese Embassy in Berlin, Germany in 2009-2012.

The third monthly workshop between the Japan Peacekeeping Training and Research Center (JPC) and the International Peace Cooperation Headquarters (IPCH), Cabinet Office was held at JPC on 5 August 2013. Ms. Tomoko Matsuzawa, a Program Advisor of IPCH, and Commander Masanori Amemiya, a Research Officer of JPC, gave presentations based on their respective research trips to the Republic of Uganda. Their presentations described the theme of “Protection of Civilians” at the strategic, operational and tactical levels, which is an immediate issue in the United Nations peacekeeping operations. After each presentation, participants from both sides engaged in lively discussion.

Mr. João A. C.　Vargas, the second secretary of the Brazilian Embassy in Japan, and Captain (Navy) Costa Moura, a Brazilian military attaché in Japan, visited Japan Peacekeeping Training and Research Center (JPC) on 29 July 2013. In the courtesy visit to Colonel Fumiyuki Kobashi, Director of JPC, Mr. Vargas described the lessons learned in the peacekeeping operations (PKO) at the United Nations, the United Nations policy of Brazil, and the structure of the PKO center of Brazil. Mr. Vargas and Captain Moura also engaged in lively discussion with JPC researchers following the courtesy visit.

Colonel Fumiyuki Kobashi, Director, Japan Peacekeeping Training and Research Center (JPC) attended the annual meeting of the Association of Asia-Pacific Peace Operations Training Centers (AAPTC) in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia between 1 July 2013 and 5 July 2013. AAPTC consists of the training and research institutions for peacekeeping and peace-building operations in the Asia-Pacific region. In the annual meeting, participants discussed how to cooperate mutually and train the human resources in the region.

The second workshop between the Japan Peacekeeping Training and Research Center (JPC) and the International Peace Cooperation Headquarters (IPCH), Cabinet Office was held at IPCH, Tokyo on 20 June 2013. From the JPC-side, Captain Hideki Hayashi, Chief, Training and Research Office, gave a presentation based on his research trip to South Africa, and from the IPCH-side, Ms. Izumi Wakugawa, a Program Advisor, gave a presentation based on her research trip to Norway. After each presentation, participants from both sides engaged in lively discussion.

Dr. Heng Yee Kuang, Associate Professor from National University of Singapore, visited Japan Peacekeeping Training and Research Center (JPC) on 19 June 2013. At first, Dr. Heng paid a courtesy visit to Colonel Fumiyuki Kobashi, Director of JPC and they discussed the roles of Japan and Singapore in the Asia-Pacific area, the future relationship between the two countries, and developing country capacity-building support by Japan. After that, a JPC research officer briefed “Training and Research conducted by JPC and JPC’s Future Plans,” and Dr. Heng briefed “PKO and Policies on the Capacity-Building Support by Singapore and Japan.” These briefings were very meaningful and interesting for both Dr. Heng and JPC personnel, who engaged in lively discussion.

* Dr. Heng’s specialty is PKO and the soft power of Singapore and Japan.

Mr. William Baang, Disarmament Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) Officer, United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS), visited Japan Peacekeeping Training and Research Center (JPC) on 6 June 2013. After receiving a briefing about the JPC mission, Mr. Baang described the latest activity of UNMISS. Mr. Baang, who has ever 10 years of experience in the DDR field in such places as Afghanistan, Iraq and the Republic of Sudan, also engaged in lively discussion with JPC researchers following his briefing.

Japan Peacekeeping Training and Research Center (JPC) held a workshop with the International Peace Cooperation Headquarters (IPCH), Cabinet Office at the Joint Staff College, Tokyo, on 20 May 2013. From IPCH, Mr. Kenichi Takahashi, Deputy Director General of Secretariat of IPCH and eleven Program Advisors participated in the workshop. Colonel Fumiyuki Kobashi, Director of JPC, said “JPC would also like to hold workshops with other domestic/overseas institutes in the near future and actively release research documents.”

Commander Masanori Amemiya, Research Officer of JPC, was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal by U.S. Navy.