Kon-nichiwa, UNAFEI family members! I hope you are staying safe and well with your loved ones. This e-magazine is brought to you by UNAFEI Professor TAKAI Ayaka.
The cold winter is gone, the loveliest season of the year has arrived and we have started a new fiscal year.
Despite the beauty of the cherry blossoms, the whole world has been in a very precarious situation. I sincerely pray for the safety of all alumni around the world and hope that, just as winter passes and spring comes, our world will soon see calm and peaceful days as before.
I also deliver this issue with my warmest welcome to our new members and my sincere gratitude to our beloved colleagues who have left UNAFEI this spring.
In this issue:
- Greetings from new UNAFEI members
- Farewell messages from departing professors and staff
- The 9th Comparative Study on the Criminal Justice Systems of Japan and Nepal
- The 1st International Training Course on Building Inclusive Societies
- Information on forthcoming programmes
Greetings from new UNAFEI members
This April, UNAFEI welcomed new staff members. Here are warm greetings from new faces to you and the rest of the UNAFEI family.
Professor: Mr. KUBO Hiroshi
“Konichiwa to all. I’m KUBO Hiroshi. It is indeed a great honour to be a part of distinguished UNAFEI family. I have worked as a public prosecutor for nearly 20 years up until now. I hope my experience and expertise will contribute to the sound development of criminal justice systems, which is the prime objective of UNAFEI. We are still struggling to live through the challenges posed by Covid-19, but I do believe strongly that we will overcome them in the near future. I can’t wait to see you in person in Akishima! Best wishes to all.”
Professor: Mr. NAKAYAMA Noboru
“Hello, everyone. I’m NAKAYAMA Noboru, a new UNAFEI professor. It’s my great pleasure to be a member of the UNAFEI family. Before joining UNAFEI, I had worked as a judge for about 11 years. I was mainly in charge of criminal cases in district courts. In addition, I was in charge of civil cases, family cases and juvenile cases for two years. I’m looking forward to meeting you very soon.”
Professor: Ms. KIDA Makiko
“Hello to all UNAFEI family members! It is a great honour to work for UNAFEI as a professor from this April. Originally, I was an instructor at a Juvenile Training School. My specialty is correctional education, or treatment of juvenile delinquents. Personally, I gave birth to my daughter in April last year, finished a one-year childcare leave, and returned to my job just this April. Actually, I worked for UNAFEI as an officer of the Training and Hostel Management Section 11 years ago. It was a wonderful memory, and I love the UNAFEI family so much. So, I’m very glad to be back here and to join UNAFEI staff again. Now,
I hope all of you stay safe, and I truly look forward to meeting you here very soon!!”
Senior Officer: Ms. INOUE Kaori
“Hello, I am INOUE Kaori, a senior officer of the Training and Hostel Management Section. I had been working as a prosecutor’s assistant for about 8 years. In addition, I used to work as an officer in the Secretarial Division in the Ministry of Justice. During my free time, I love to play tennis. This is my first time working at UNAFEI. I’m looking forward to meeting you soon.”
Officer: Ms. YOSHIDA Natsumi
“Hello! Kon-nichiwa! I’m YOSHIDA Natsumi, officer of the Training and Hostel Management Section. I was transferred from the Toyama
District Public Prosecutors’ Office, and I had from left: Mr. Mizumoto, Ms. Yoshida and Ms. Inoue worked there for seven years. In my free time, I enjoy listening to music and singing! I go to live concerts and Karaoke sometimes. I look forward to meeting you!”
Officer: Mr. MIZUMOTO Kaito
“Hello everyone! I am MIZUMOTO Kaito, officer of the Training and Hostel Management Section. I was transferred from the Tokyo Regional Immigration Services Bureau. In my spare time, I like to run. I have completed a full marathon seven times in total. I am very pleased to be a member of the UNAFEI family. Hope to see you soon!”
Farewell messages from departing professors and staff
In March and April, five UNAFEI professors and staff members were transferred to new positions. Please find their farewell messages below.
from left: Ms. Sasaki, Mr. Hosokawa and Ms. Watanabe
Professor: Ms. WATANABE Machiko
(Transferred to the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office)
“Dear alumni, I will leave UNAFEI this April and be back to the Tokyo Public Prosecutor’s Office. I truly appreciate the opportunity to get to know you all at UNAFEI. I will make the best to utilize what I learned from you. Arigatou!”
Professor: Mr. HOSOKAWA Hidehito
(Transferred to the Fukuoka District Court)
“I appreciate all of your kindness. I do hope you all are well and look forward to meeting you in person again after overcoming the pandemic.”
Professor: Ms. SASAKI Ayako
(Transferred to the Saitama Juvenile Classification Home)
“Thank you very much for your kind support while I was at UNAFEI. I’m wishing you, your family and your colleagues a bright future filled with all the happiness and success.
Looking forward to seeing you again someday, somewhere. Please stay safe and healthy.”
Senior Officer: Mr. TATSUKAWA Masashi
(Transferred to the International Affairs Division, Minister’s Secretariat, Ministry of Justice)
“It has been a pleasure to be here. We are the UNAFEI family!”
Senior Officer: Mr. FUJISAKI Takuma
(Transferred to the Utsunomiya Probation Office)
“Thank you very much for everything, UNAFEI family! I hope you and your families are well and look forward to seeing you in person someday, somewhere with smiles!! NINJA!! DORON!!”
Officer: Mr. KONDO Tomohiro
(Transferred to the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office)
“The
UNAFEI family will always be special to me. I wish each and every one of you
the very best!”
from left: Mr. Tatsukawa, Mr. Fujisaki and Mr. Kondo
The 9th Comparative Study on the Criminal Justice Systems of Japan and Nepal (28 February to 4 March)
In February and March, UNAFEI held the 9th Comparative Study on the Criminal Justice Systems of Japan and Nepal with the International Cooperation Department (ICD) of the Research and Training Institute of the Ministry of Justice, Japan. Due to the Covid-19 situation, this year’s study was held entirely online. The main theme was “Challenges to the implementation of the new Criminal Procedure Code in Nepal”. In this study, we had six prosecutors, two judges, two faculty members from the National Judicial Academy of Nepal and two police officers from Nepal. Through the study, we exchanged tremendous practical knowledge, experience and ideas from both legal systems, and discussed future efforts and plans to overcome challenges under the new Criminal Procedure Code and the Sentencing and Execution Act in Nepal.
Lecture by UNAFEI professor Waving goodbye after successful completion of the study
The 1st International Training Course on Building Inclusive Societies
UNAFEI conducted the 1st International Training Course on Building Inclusive Societies on the theme of “Protection of the Rights of Crime Victims including Children” from 2 to 17 March. The course was held exclusively online, and 13 overseas participants from 8 jurisdictions got together virtually to discuss the theme.
Dr. John P. J. Dussich from the United States lectured on “International Victimology: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow”. After watching his videorecorded lecture, the participants had a Q&A session with Dr. Dussich. The participants submitted dozens of
questions, and Dr. Dussich answered
Lecture by Dr. Dussich
all the questions.
Also, Dr. NAKA Makiko from
Ritsumeikan University delivered a lecture on “Interviewing vulnerable witnesses: Introduction to Forensic/ Investigative Interviews”. After watching Dr. NAKA’s lecture, the participants took part in live role-playing on forensic
Lecture by Dr. NAKA interviewing techniques and a Q&A session with Dr. NAKA.
In addition, UNAFEI faculty members delivered lectures on protective measures for crime victims in Japanese criminal procedure and answered questions submitted by the participants.
At the end of the programme, participants were required to present Role-playing on forensic interviewing techniques action plans based on what they had learned throughout the programme. By
hearing the Action Plans presented by the participants, it was obvious that everyone had remarkably enhanced their understanding on protection of the rights of crime victims including children. We are quite confident all the participants will contribute to the future development of protection of the rights of crime victims including children in their respective jurisdictions.
Information on forthcoming programmes
- The 178th International Training Course
From 14 June to 7 July 2022, UNAFEI will host the 178th International Training Course online. The main theme of the Seminar is “Cybercrime and Digital Evidence”.
Approximately 25 overseas participants will attend.
- The Second Youth International Training Course
From 1 to 5 August 2022, UNAFEI will host the 2nd Youth International Training Course.
Approximately 20 youth are expected to participate.
That’s all for our current news from UNAFEI. I hope you enjoyed it and that it reminded you that you are, and will always be, a part of the UNAFEI family. I strongly hope that we will be able to resume in-person trainings this fiscal year and see you here at UNAFEI.
Warmest wishes,
TAKAI Ayaka (Ms.)
Professor, UNAFEI
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UNAFEI sends out this e-magazine to keep our alumni and friends updated on the recent activities of the Institute. As you can imagine, however, there are participants and visiting experts whose e-mail contacts have been lost.
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HAVE YOU BEEN PROMOTED OR TRANSFERRED TO ANOTHER DEPARTMENT?
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HOW ARE YOU USING YOUR KNOWLEDGE GAINED AT UNAFEI?
Every month, we receive many e-mails from our alumni members and friends in response to our monthly e-mail magazine. We would be very honoured and pleased to hear from you about your latest news. In this regard, we would appreciate it very much if you would include information on how you are utilizing and taking advantage of the knowledge and experience you acquired from our courses or seminars (for example, enacting new legislation, organizing a domestic seminar, establishing or improving a training programme). Such information will help us in selecting appropriate topics for future training courses and seminars, as well as improving their contents and formats. We thank you in advance for your cooperation.
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UNAFEI WEBSITE
We are currently trying to improve our website by providing more useful information and updating it more frequently. We welcome your comments and suggestions, if any, about the substance and usability of the UNAFEI website. Your opinions on how to improve our website will be very valuable to us.
English version: https://www.unafei.or.jp/english/index.html
Japanese version: https://www.unafei.or.jp/index.html
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