(Yukari speaks at the 2018 Beijing International Forum on People-to-People Friendship. [Photo provided by Yukari Tsuru])

At the 2018 Beijing International Forum on People-to-People Friendship held in at the end of May, more than 300 people from nearly 30 countries including China, the United States, Argentina, Singapore, Japan and South Korea were present. The attendees included representatives from NGOs, Beijing’s sister cities, foreign experts and international students. Yukari was also invited to the forum, where she shared the stories of the China-Japan-Korea Children’s Painting Exhibition with the audience.

Recipient of Magnolia Award

Bellpo Organization was founded in 1973 by Kenichi Tsuru, Yukari Tsuru’s father. His intention was to form an equal educational group regardless of academic background, social experience, gender and age, and to cultivate more peace-lovers. In 2012, after Kenichi died of illness, his daughter, who had previously been his assistant, took over the presidency. Like her father, she devoted her enthusiasm to the youth exchanges between China and Japan.

(Yukari Tsuru)