Return to site

YCAPS Celebrates PLAT ABC's First Anniversary

Fostering Language and Cultural Exchange in Iwakuni

YCAPS is please to wish our friends at PLAT ABC in Iwakuni a happy first anniversary since their founding in March 2022!

PLAT ABC is an English Cultural Exchange Center founded by the City of Iwakuni to provide a space in the "English speaking town" of Iwakuni for language and culture exchange between the Japanese and international residents of Iwakuni. Host to a joint Self-Defense Force and U.S. military air base, Iwakuni's substantial American population has also attracted other foreigners for the ease of living in English.

Fostering intercultural communication over coffee and tea, PLAT ABC hosts informal gatherings for games, language tutoring, and cultural crafts, in addition to regular language learning and culture events. It is a wonderful place to hang out and to learn.

A woman wearing a Plat ABC apron speaks in front the a suwave looking seminar room audience with the projector screen displaying, "Welcome to PLAT ABC."

When YCAPS first visited Iwakuni in Yamaguchi Prefecture with the hope of hosting Community Conversations seminars to foster dialogue and exchange in the community, we were thrilled to find that PLAT ABC was already doing great work in that space. Since then, YCAPS has been grateful to call PLAT ABC an informal partner and co-host for our first two Community Conversations seminars there.

A Japanese man in a suit stands at the front of a suave seminar space speaking to a mixed audience of Japanese and Americans

Thank you PLAT ABC and Iwakuni City Hall for doing such great work in your community! Congratulations on your fisrt year! We hope that YCAPS can continue to support your work in years to come!

People interested in visiting PLAT ABC or participating in their events should check out their website for more information.