The GENJI programme: Gamma-ray emitting notable AGN monitoring by Japanese VLBI

We introduce the gamma-ray emitting notable active galactic nucleus (AGN) monitoring by Japanese VLBI programme, which is the monitoring of gamma-ray bright AGNs with the VLBI Exploration of Radio Astrometry (VERA) array. This programme aims to conduct dense monitoring at 22 GHz toward the γ-ray emitting AGNs to investigate the time variation of the radio core and possible ejection of a new radio component, the motion of jets, and their relations with the emission at other wavelengths, especially at γ-rays. We are currently monitoring 8 notable γ-ray-emitting AGNs (DA55, 3C 84, M87, PKS 1510089, DA406, NRAO530, BL Lac, and 3C 454.3) about once every two weeks. This programme is promising for tracing the trend of radio time variation on shorter time scale than conventional VLBI monitoring programmes and is complementary to data of other programmes (e.g., MOJAVE; Boston University Blazar Project). In particular, we successfully carried out quick follow-up observations after the GeV γ-ray flare in NRAO530 and 3C 454.3 reported by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. Here, we present the initial results of morphology and light curves for the first 7-month operation.