Japan and Russia Resume Youth Exchange Program
Japan and Russia are restarting a student exchange program that will send approximately 15 Japanese university students to St. Petersburg for Russian language study in August 2026, marking a resumption of bilateral cultural ties despite ongoing geopolitical tensions. The program, originally launched in 1999, had been suspended since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, though experts debate whether the timing is appropriate given current Japan-Russia relations.