CURRENT ACTIVITIES OF THE JAPANESE VISITOR ASSOCIATIONS (JAVA)

JAVA Co-Chair
(English Translation: done by JSS volunteers)
JAVA is a nonprofit volunteer group based in the Toronto area. It consists mainly of young Japanese Canadians, Japanese immigrants, Canadians with experience living in Japan, and Japanese people living in Canada just temporarily and those who are interested in Japan/Canada relations.
The reasons for starting this group are:

1. To provide a “place” where young people with their different backgrounds can mingle.
2. To be a source of information and an organization that can help them to adapt to the social mainstream.
3. To plan and organize events and projects to facilitate desirable communication between Japan and Canada for the present and the future.

We are committed to the above stated policies and have been working toward implementing these four aims:

1. To organize useful seminars for those who are new to Toronto and to make their stay more comfortable.
2. To provide a base that can help them use their time more valuably and make it easier for people with specific aims, to achieve them whilst here.
3. To facilitate communication between Japan and Canada by providing volunteer information and holding seminars and events from time to time.
4. Provide a cultural exchange with those who are interested in Japan, Japanese language, and Japanese culture.

This year, Java reaches its 14th anniversary. It started in 2000 with a lot of support from volunteers and other organizations. We have been organizing various activities throughout the year. Our major activities are holding seminars and other events. I should mention that we organized the Share House seminar in November last year.
JAVA and JSCA (a student’s community in U of T) held a useful and resourceful seminar with the help of experts including the cooperation of JSS. Unfortunately, there are a lot of “house rent” problems as a result of ignorance regarding tenant rights. Many people wouldn’t say anything because they want to stay on good terms with their landlords even though they have their suspicions. Therefore, this seminar gave the participants an opportunity to learn about their rights and duties in order to avoid problems when renting. We had about 20 participants including volunteers.
The seminar was held in the OISE auditorium. The three participating lecturers are listed here:
☆Ms. Chie, Social worker
☆Mr. Kuge, Counselor of Japanese Social Services
☆Mr. Andrew, Canadian lawyer
The idea of holding these seminars regularly is to help young newcomers to become acquainted with tenancy rights and house sharing so that problems can be avoided.
For more information on our activities and volunteering for JAVA see our web site at:javatoronto.com. We can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, search using JAVAToronto.