NPO Kashiwa International Relations Association（KIRA）

About KIRA

KIRA began as a private international exchange organization on June 20th, 1992. Since then, the Kashiwa-Torrance Sister City Committee, the Kashiwa-Chengde Friendship City Committee, and the Kashiwa-Guam Friendship City Committee have combined to form the present KIRA organization. The core committees promote exchange programs that encourage international friendship and goodwill.

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Greetings from KIRA officers

Happy new year! I w ish you all good health and happiness.

It was a year of turmoil around the w orld last year. From Coronavirus and climate change to w ars and human rights issues, w e have entered the new year w ith great challenges common to all humankind. In our activities for coexistence, I believe that w e have entered an era in w hich w e should not only talk about exchanges betw een countries in human communities, but also about coexistence w ith nature and other living creatures on a global scale. Let’ s get creative in our activities w hile coexisting w ith Coronavirus, stand w ith the displaced people of Ukraine, seek new forms of international interaction for peace, and move forw ard one step at a time.

Our activities are supported by Kashiw a International Relations Association (KIRA), and at its 30th anniversary lecture, the w orld champion w heelchair tennis player, Shingo Kunieda gave a talk. His lecture and smile motivated us to w ork hard in our mission. Furthermore, in the N ew Year, w e w ill hold the 30th anniversary ceremony w ith Mayor Ota of Kashiw a city. I am grateful to our predecessors and supporters w ho have contributed to Kashiw a's international exchanges, and I reaffirm my commitment to the civic activities. Also, in coming spring, an anniversary commemorative publication ( in both English and Japanese) w ill be available. It w ill contain the history of Kashiw a's international exchanges, w hich began w ith a youth exchange program w ith its sister city. W e can publicize Kashiwa's international interaction to the w orld!

I end this message with my thanks for your support, hoping for your continued help in the years to come.

Greeting archive

Membership

KIRA Membership

KIRA prepared 4 categories of membership (based on Membership Fee). In addition to these 4 categories, 3 types of membership are available: “Regular Member”, “Supporting Member”, and “General Member”. Anyone can be a member as long as they have interests in International Exchange Activities. KIRA membership type is defined by: Activity participation and voting rights in the general meeting of members, and membership fee.

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Membership type and category

You can select and register any type and category of membership freely. You can also change the type and category by notifying to the KIRA office later.

* When you become a member for the first time, it is better to select General Member if you are not a Group Member, and the Supporting Member if you are a Group Member. And then you can change the type after you understand your role in the group.

■Regular Member■
Attend KIRA operation and business with voting rights in the general meeting. * In case of Group Member, register the name of representative to use the voting rights in addition to the Group name. * In case of family member, register one of the family members as Regular Member and other family members as General Member.

■Supporting Member■
Assist and cooperate KIRA operation and business without voting rights in the general meeting. Member other than Regular Member in Group Member becomes this membership type.

■General Member■
Participate in KIRA business without voting rights in the general meeting. Individual Member, Student Member, and Family Member in which Regular Member is not selected.

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Membership Fee

Categories based on the Membership fee are: Individual Member, Student Member, Family Member, and Group Member.

■Individual Member■
Individual registry on Japanese and foreign people. KIRA foreign people members are from China, Korea, Taiwan, Nepal, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippine, Iran, Turkey, Colombia, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, Mexico, USA, Canada, Russia, Switzerland, Estonia, Ukraine, Albania, etc.

■Student Member■
Under 25 years old student in middle school, high school, college/university, vocational school, preparatory school, etc.

■Family Member■
All family members, such as husband and wife, parents and children, can register under this membership type.

■Group Member■
Organizations and associations who assist KIRA activities. (List of Group Member)

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Join the KIRA

We are recruiting members! Do you want to be a member for International Exchange Activities?

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How to apply

After completing the Membership Application Form with the required information, please bring your application to the KIRA office with Annual Membership Fee (April to next March). At this time, please select and register the member category and type.

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Annual Fee

Member Category	Annual Fee
Group Member	\10,000
Family Member	\5,000
Individual Member	\2,000
Student Member	\1,000

＊Student Member is under 25 years old student in middle school, high school, college/university, vocational school, preparatory school, etc. Other than this condition, you will be an Individual Member.

＊If you apply for the new membership in the latter half of the year (after October), your annual fee will be half-priced excluding members from the previous year.

　[Contact us for application]
Palette Kashiwa 3F, 1-7-1-301 Kashiwa, Kashiwa-city, Chiba 277-0005
TEL: 04-7157-0281 FAX: 04-7165-7321

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Membership Application Form

When you want to be a member, complete the appropriate Membership Application Form, and bring the form to KIRA office at the above address or fax it to the FAX number. (Click the PDF icon underneath to display the form and print it.)

Membership Application Form	Download
入会申込書（日本語 - Japanese）
入会申請表（中文 - Chinese)
Membership Application Form(英語・English）
Formulario de Inscripcion(スペイン語・Spanish）
Membership Application Form(韓国語・Korean)

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Membership Type Registration

When you process Membership Application at the KIRA office, please select the type of Membership.
※Membership Types are “Regular Member”, “General Member”, and “Supporting Member”.
※Member can select any one of the types, and also change the type later by request to the KIRA office.
※Please refer to the table below for the selectable combination of the Membership category and type.
For more details, please refer to the Articles of KIRA Organization Chapter 3 Article 6.

[Simplified table of membership categories and types]

※In case of Group Member, names of the Group and the representative are registered as Regular Member.
※Group Member is up to 5 people per group and one person is the representative.
※Regular Member of family member is the representative of the family and other family member is registered as General Member.
※When you become a member for the first time, we recommend to selecting General Member if you are not a Group Member, and Supporting Member if you are a Group Member, and change the type of Membership after you understand what you want or can do in KIRA.

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Introduction about Committee of KIRA

Members can join the following specialist committees and participate in the management and planning of each committee. Members can also belong to multiple committees. Even if they do not belong to a committee, they can receive information about KIRA activities and participate in events. Members receive the monthly "KCC Newsletter," which has event information and news related to international exchange. If you would like to be active in a specialist committee, please see the events column in the newsletter and inquire.

Committee Name	Main Activities
General Affairs Committee	・Interactions with other organizations (participation in festivals, etc.) ・First steps in international exchange, member training, matters elated to members and the organization, ・Public relations activities ・Issuance of the International Exchange Center newsletter
Foreign Language Committee	・Foreign language classes: held at Kashiwa classroom and Kashiwanoha classroom ・Language salons ・Holding an "English speech contest" for people living and working in Kashiwa ・Informal meetings with foreign language instructors
Japanese Language Committee	・Operating Japanese language classes ・Extracurricular learning, Japanese speech presentations, and learning presentations ・Staff training sessions
Torrance Committee	・Implementing the Torrance Youth Exchange Program ・Implementing anniversary events
Chengde Committee	・Implementing the Chengde Youth Exchange Program ・Implementing anniversary events
Guam Committee	・Implementing the Guam Youth Exchange Program ・Implementing anniversary events
Camden Committee	・Implementing the Camden Youth Exchange Program ・Implementing anniversary events
Multicultural Coexistence Committee	Implementing daily life support activities for foreigners living in Kashiwa City (and surrounding areas) ・Interpretation and translation ・Legal and administrative procedure consultation services ・General life consultation services ・Disaster prevention information transmission system (network) construction project ・Child education support projects, etc.
Exchange Committee	・Introduction, experience, and cooking of traditional Japanese and foreign cultures ・Implementing exchange projects such as lectures ・Student exchange projects ・Implementing events in the Kashiwa-no-ha area