Nagai City Publishes Official Positions on JICA Africa Hometown Initiative
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Nagai City in Yamagata Prefecture has set up a page on its official website compiling the official positions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, JICA, and other relevant bodies on the 'JICA Africa Hometown' initiative (related coverage). The page aims to clearly refute misinformation such as claims that 'Nagai City would become part of Tanzania' or that 'a large influx of immigrants would occur.'
Although JICA withdrew the initiative itself in September 2025, Nagai City has continued to organize and publish links to the positions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and JICA in order to respond to ongoing inquiries from residents. This serves as a useful real-world example of how a local government can confront misinformation.
This article introduces the existence and outline of the city's official page; because the content is updated on an ongoing basis, readers should verify the actual content at the time they consult it.
Continuing to communicate information even after the initiative itself was withdrawn appears to reflect the reality that misinformation, once it has spread, cannot be completely dispelled. The fact that a local government takes on the role of organizing and providing national government agencies' (the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and JICA's) positions to residents is a useful example of how public information efforts can be structured.
The full background on the withdrawal of the 'JICA Africa Hometown' initiative itself is explained in detail in related coverage.