The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has opened applications for a new summer seminar project that will prepare a cohort of young volunteers to act as guides for the growing number of foreign travelers expected to visit the city ahead of the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics.
"Targeting specifically junior high and senior high school students, we would like to offer opportunities for those who wish to guide foreign tourists and play an active role as tourism volunteers before the Summer Games," Teppei Fukuda, section chief of the tourism division at the Bureau of Industrial and Labor Affairs, said.
The young volunteers — dubbed "Goodwill Hospitality Ambassadors" — will participate in free, two-day workshops held in July and August during the school summer vacation. A hundred hopeful students will be invited, according to Fukuda.