Launch of the Ghana Students' Union Japan

In 2015, JASSO welcomed that year's Japanese Government (MEXT) scholars at a reception in Tokyo. Among the new arrivals were a handful of Ghanaian students, each a long way from home. There, they found one another.

The meeting turned into a plan. Ghanaian students would keep coming to Japan, year after year, and none of them should have to find their way alone. So the scholars decided to build a union of their own. They planned it themselves, took the idea to the Embassy of Ghana, and won its recognition. JASSO agreed to support them.

On the afternoon of Friday 5 August 2016, forty-four people gathered in the International Conference Hall of Plaza Heisei, at the Tokyo International Exchange Center in Aomi. Representatives of the Embassy of Ghana, JASSO and JICA sat with leaders of the Ghanaian community and students from Ghana.

After the welcome and the first addresses came the moment the whole afternoon had been built around. The Ghana Students' Union Japan was launched, the Embassy recognised it, and its first executives were elected and took office. What had been a plan between a few scholars now had a name, and people to lead it.

The rest of the day looked forward. Ms. Michiko Suzuki of JASSO presented the support JASSO offers students who come to study in Japan. JICA, the Embassy and a Ghanaian lecturer from Tokyo International University joined her on a panel, and the students kept the questions coming until four o'clock.

JASSO later called the launch a good opportunity to build a network of Ghanaian students in Japan. That network never stopped growing. Ten years on it is GSU-Japan, with members at universities across the country, and every symposium, party and welcome since then traces back to that afternoon in Aomi.

This is where our story begins.

Read JASSO's record of the launch.

1. 13:15Opening, welcome address and purpose of the meeting, and introduction of dignitaries
2. 13:25Addresses from the Embassy of Ghana, JASSO, JICA and the leadership of the Ghanaian community
3. 13:45Launch of the union, recognition by the Embassy of Ghana, and election and installation of its first executives
4. 14:10Presentations, panel discussion and questions, with JASSO, JICA, the Embassy of Ghana and a Ghanaian lecturer at Tokyo International University