LUCKNOW, Aug. 22 -- The Yogi government took a big step toward a "skills-first" partnership with Japan on Friday, signing three memorandums of understanding (MoUs) that promise jobs abroad, more Japanese tourists in UP and Japanese-speaking talent from the state. The agreements were exchanged at the UP-Japan Investment Meet in Lucknow and focused squarely on people not just projects. The first deal was between the Invest UP and the Japan Technical Training Centre, TTRC. IIDC Deepak Kumar signed for UP, while TTRC Director Suchki Kamada represented Japan. Under it, UP youth will be trained for Japanese work culture, language and technical standards and will be given jobs in Japan. Over 100 youth from the state have landed jobs in Japan through TTRC so far. Two of them, Pushpendra Singh Chauhan and Adarsh Kumar Kushwaha, were called on stage and felicitated. Their stories were held up as the model for what's next. "The goal now is to scale this up and make Japan a mainstream career option for UP's young workforce," the CM said. The second MoU was between UP Tourism and Yamanashi Prefecture. Additional chief secretary, tourism and culture, Amrit Abhijat signed for UP, with Yoshi Yuki Koizumi, DG, Culture Tourism and Sports, Yamanashi, signing for Japan. It aims to promote two-way tourist movement. The third MoU, between the UP labour and employment department was signed by principal secretary, labour, Shanmuga Sundaram MK and Katsuya Hada, DG, Innovation Promotion Bureau, Yamanashi. The plan is to build a continuous supply of Japanese-language proficient workers from UP....