Our overseas project, which was put on hold for three years due to the effects of COVID-19, is back on track!

The joy of drawing connects children’s hearts across language barriers and borders.

The first project to resume is in Lithuania, one of the three Baltic states♪

During World War II, Chiune Sugihara was posted as the acting consul of the Japanese Consulate in Kaunas, Lithuania, where he issued visas to many Jewish refugees persecuted by Nazi Germany, saving thousands of lives.

“Children’s Friendship and Future Project” will be held in May 2024 at the former Japanese Consulate in Kaunas, Lithuania, where many lives were saved by Chiune Sugihara’s “Visas for Life,” and where many people’s “Joy of Living” is surely still overflowing.

In the 1940s, the people of Tsuruga City, Fukui Prefecture, welcomed Jewish refugees carrying the “Visas for Life” issued by Chiune Sugihara in Kaunas, Lithuania, and warmly extended a helping hand.

This project is co-hosted with the Tsuruga Museum, a museum that will convey the story to future generations.
A clear, blue Sunday, November 5th♪

Nearly 300 parents and children from Tsuruga City participated in the Bridge Project, which connects friendship with Lithuania♡

In order to proceed with the project, we visited the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania in Japan at the end of November to say hello♪

“A project to connect the friendship and hearts of Japanese and Lithuanian children through art that does not require language barriers or borders♪

Children are the future of the earth✨ Aiming for a peaceful and shining world♡”

When we explained the purpose of our project, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Japan, Zikas, also understood it.

Organizer: NPO GOFAR BANK

Co-organizer: Tsuruga Museum, Port of Humanity/Yaotsu Town Board of Education

Cooperation: Sugihara House, Kaunas, Lithuania

Sponsor: Embassy of Japan in Lithuania/Kansai Japan-Finland Society

Neyagawa City/Neyagawa City Board of Education