The Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership (CGP), a nonprofit organization that supports US-related grass-roots exchange and regional ties, commissioned the Japan Center for International Exchange (JCIE) to conduct surveys of locally based US-Japan exchange activities in the early 1990s, in both the United States and Japan. The first two volumes in the series looked at activities in the United States; this volume contains the survey findings from twenty-three of the forty-seven Japanese prefectures, as reported by appointed survey researchers—primarily local university professors—in each of the prefectures.

Each chapter in the volume summarizes the status as of late 1992 of sister city exchanges and youth exchanges in a specific prefecture, and analyzes the roles played by local international exchange associations, community exchange associations, educational institutions, and local governments. An appendix to each chapter lists all local organizations involved in international activities.

An initial chapter summarizes these results and notes current trends in such exchanges. The chapter notes that the traditional dominance of government in international relations is now waning, promising increased opportunities for grass-roots exchanges. But it warns that traditional sister city activities can become repetitive over time, leading to a loss of enthusiasm, so local authorities and citizens’ groups must seek out new approaches to international exchange.