MEXT and the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo jointly held "Let's Study Abroad! Your Future in the World, at Meiji University, to encourage more Japanese students to study abroad. U.S. Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Mr. Kurt Tong, who was a student at ICU, gave opening remarks. Ms. Riyo Mori, who was crowned Miss Universe in 2007, followed. Her Excellency Ambassador Caroline Kennedy spoke about her own study abroad experience and that of her family. She described her present position as a "study abroad" in Japan while she talked about the significance of these programs.

Other talks followed, including one by MEXT Minister Hirofumi Shimomura. Our exchange student from Ohio State University talked about the overwhelming weight of the experience at ICU, surprising the audience by asking in fluent Japanese how the government planned to boost awareness of the importance of these programs amidst the declining number of students studying abroad.

ICU students helped shoot a movie shown to encourage more to study abroad, which wrapped up the event: a dance performance to the popular "Fortune Cookie" song.