The JICA Japan Studies Programme, or JICA Chair, is an initiative of Dr Kitaoka Schinichi, Special Advisor to the Office of the President of JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency), former President of JICA (2015-2022). This programme aims to share Japan’s experience in modernization with future leaders of partner countries. In Madagascar, the programme is implemented in collaboration with the University of Antananarivo.

After the first two editions, on August 17, 2022 at the Hotel Colbert Antaninarenina, Dr.Takahashi Motoki shared his thoughts to the participants. Professor of the Graduate School of Asian and African Studies of the University of Tokyo and Professor Emeritus of the University of Kobe, during his career, he was able to focus at length on the political and socio-economic issues of development in Sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, the University of Kyoto has a partnership with the University of Antananarivo, so it has a good knowledge of the Malagasy environment.

In this context, he held a conference on "the Japanese experience in development and the importance of indigenous knowledge". The main objectives of this conference are to share Japan’s trials and failures in its development process so that Madagascar can learn from them as it looks to the future. In fact, although in the early days of Japanese modernization, Western technological and scientific advances fascinated the leaders, they held in high esteem the knowledge held by the indigenous peoples of Japan.. Dr Takahashi Motoki then drew attention to what we can and should not learn from the Japanese developmental experience.

This session concludes the three events scheduled for this year, following the opening ceremony on March 3, 2022. Another special session will be held on the sidelines of TICAD-8 on August 26, 2022, and will take the form of a workshop, moderated by Dr. Kaysahima Nobuko, JICA Senior Adviser on Peace and Development, on educational development during Japan’s modernization.