Japan and the United States will launch a new teacher exchange program to boost educational and cultural exchanges between the two countries, sources said Saturday.

About 50 primary, middle and high schools teachers from each country are expected to take part in the program each year, according to the sources.

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and U.S. President George W. Bush are expected to agree on the plan at their meeting scheduled for Sunday, before the Group of Eight summit meeting opens Monday in Toyakocho, Hokkaido, the sources said.

During the three-week program, the teachers will learn more about their host country by observing school classes and staying with ordinary families in rural areas.

The teachers also will exchange opinions on the environment, resources and other international issues.

The program comes as concern grows in Japan about the dwindling number of Japanese experts in the United States and citizens who are knowledgeable about Japan.

At a meeting of the U.S.-Japan Cultural and Education Interchange in Tokyo on June 12-13, experts from both countries called for more educational and cultural exchanges.

The organization was set up in 1961, based on an agreement between then Prime Minister Hayato Ikeda and U.S. President John F. Kennedy.

In recent years, however, some observers have suggested the organization has lost some of its relevance. In a meeting in April 2007, then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Bush agreed to rejuvenate the organization.

The new program will be funded by both governments. In similar programs in the past, the Japanese side usually invited U.S. educational experts at its own expense.

Source: yomiuri.co.jp