Japan is often criticized for simply doling out large sums of money to international relief and development activities and rarely contributing human resources. There are, however, more than a few Japanese who become actively involved in international cooperation as overseas volunteers.
One measure of the interest is the fact that every year 8,000-10,000 people apply for the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers program, an official technical-assistance program that annually dispatches 1,100-1,200 volunteers with special skills to developing countries.
All volunteers have special knowledge or skills in fields the recipient countries need help in, such as agriculture, forestry and fisheries, manufacturing, civil engineering, health and welfare, education and sports.