A Japan-Based Model for AI Capacity-Building and Intergenerational Learning Enters the Global Conversation

The Research Institute for Japan’s Globalization (RIJAG) and the Institute for International Strategy and Information Analysis, Inc. (IISIA) are pleased to announce that the Kusunoki Project, a joint initiative developed and implemented by the two organizations, has been featured on the AI Dialogue Partnerships Hub of the Global Dialogue on Artificial Intelligence Governance.

The Partnerships Hub serves as an international platform for showcasing initiatives and partnerships that contribute to the evolving global conversation on artificial intelligence governance. It brings visibility to practical efforts undertaken by a diverse range of stakeholders, including public institutions, universities, research organizations, civil society actors, and the private sector.

The inclusion of the Kusunoki Project marks an important milestone in the international development of an initiative that began as a practical response to one of Japan’s most pressing structural challenges: the growing shortage of digitally skilled talent capable of navigating the profound transformations brought about by artificial intelligence.

What Is the Kusunoki Project?

The Kusunoki Project is a practical, capacity-building initiative designed to equip participants with the knowledge, skills, and confidence required to engage actively with the technologies shaping the AI era.

Its activities encompass:

• Python programming;
• Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG);
• the practical use of Large Language Models (LLMs);
• AI-assisted development methodologies; and
• the cultivation of practical digital capabilities for the AI era.

A defining feature of the initiative is its intergenerational and participatory model.

University and graduate student interns affiliated with IISIA play an active role in the project, contributing not merely as learners, but also as facilitators, educators, and partners in dialogue with working professionals and participants from different generations.

The project has been developed through workshops in Tokyo, Osaka, and Hiroshima, with further expansion across Japan envisaged in the years ahead.

Many participants attend together with their spouses, children, and other family members. As a result, the Kusunoki Project has evolved beyond the conventional framework of technical training into a broader community of learning — one in which knowledge, experience, and perspectives are exchanged across generations.

From a Domestic Initiative to a Global Conversation

The appearance of the Kusunoki Project on the AI Dialogue Partnerships Hub represents a significant step forward.

An initiative developed in Japan by students, professionals, families, and institutional partners is now being presented within a broader international context concerned with AI governance, capacity-building, digital inclusion, and the foundations required for societies to adapt responsibly to the AI era.

This development demonstrates that the challenges addressed by the Kusunoki Project are not unique to Japan.

How can societies equip people with the practical capabilities required to use AI responsibly and independently?

How can knowledge be transferred across generations at a time of rapid technological transformation?

How can students become not only recipients of education, but also active contributors to the development of society?

And how can communities ensure that technological transformation does not leave individuals or generations behind?

These are questions of growing global importance.

The Kusunoki Project seeks to address them through practical action.

Toward Pax Japonica

For RIJAG and IISIA, the Kusunoki Project is more than an educational programme or a series of technology workshops.

It is a form of social practice grounded in the conviction that the realization of Pax Japonica cannot be achieved without the transmission of knowledge, the cultivation of future generations, and the creation of communities capable of responding constructively to profound technological and societal change.

The inclusion of the Kusunoki Project on the AI Dialogue Partnerships Hub represents an important moment in the evolution of this initiative: a locally rooted effort in Japan is now becoming connected to the wider international conversation on the future of AI and governance.

RIJAG and IISIA will continue to advance:

• next-generation human capacity-building;
• practical AI and digital education;
• intergenerational knowledge exchange;
• international dialogue; and
• the development and dissemination of intellectual and societal models originating in Japan.

Under the vision of Pax Japonica, we remain committed to contributing to the formation of a peaceful, inclusive, and sustainable society in the AI era.

AI Dialogue Partnerships Hub
The Kusunoki Project can be found by searching for “Kusunoki” on the Partnerships Hub page.