Annual General Meeting on December 14

The Society's Annual General Meeting of members will be held on Thuresday, December 14 at 12:00 noon in the Society's offices at 1819 L Street NW. There will be an election of trustees, and the Society's audited financial records will be available for inspection.

A notice to current members, including a proxy ballot, was emailed or mailed on November 30.

The Origins of the Japan-America Society

The Japan-America Society of Washington will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2007.

As the capital of the United States of America, Washington DC has been at the center of the relationship between Japan and the United States for over 150 years.

But it was only in 1957 that a group of US State Department officers came together with friends at the Japanese Embassy to establish the Japan-America Society of Washington.

Its first official act was to host the new Prime Minister of Japan, Nobusuke Kishi, on June 22, 1957. (See photo above right.)

Stressing the importance of people-to-people ties, Prime Minister Kishi said, “You will agree with me that government-to-government relations are only one side of the picture. Equally, if not more important in tying our countries closely together, are the relations at private levels in the economic, cultural, and other fields.”

Standing with Prime Minister Kishi in the photo is the Society's first President, Ambassador Francis Sayre. He was the son-in-law and former private secretary to President Woodrow Wilson.

Prime Minister Kishi's grandson is the new Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe.

Society to Host Bonenkai on December 14

The Japan-America Society will host its traditional Bonenkai (End of Year) party on Thursday, December 14 from 5:30 pm.

Highlighting the evening will be a gift exchange, games, door prizes and lots of festive food and drinks! And it wouldn't be a bonenkai without Japanese beers, courtesy of Kirin and Sapporo, and lots of sake, too!

The Bonenkai will be held in the same building that houses the Society's offices:

LOCATION: 1819 L St NW, First Floor (entrance next to Mackey’s)
DATE: Thursday, December 14, 2006
TIME: 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
DONATION: $15 @ the door

Registration is a must, and guests are asked to RSVP by December 12, 2006.

For further information, see the Society's website at www.us-japan.org/dc .

Society Seeks an Assistant for the Japan Bowl

The Japan-America Society is now taking applications for a temporary position opening from January to April 2007 to assist the Director of the National Japan Bowl™ to prepare and run the 2007 competition.

The Japan Bowl™ is a competition developed by Society to test the ability of high school students throughout America who are studying the Japanese language. 2007 marks the 15th year of the competition. The competition will be held on Thursday and Friday, April 12-13 in Washington DC and approximately 350 high school students will attend. The Japan Bowl™ was modeled on a TV quiz show format and aims to make the study of Japanese challenging and enjoyable. Teams of students are asked questions regarding Japanese culture, grammar, kanji, katakana, kotowaza, and onomatopoeic expressions.

The Japan Bowl Assistant must have fluency in both Japanese and English and have strong English-language writing skills. The Assistant will assist the Director in maintaining registration databases; recruiting and training volunteers; assisting with preparation of editing the materials; and assisting with logistics.

Until the end of April 2007 the Assistant will work an average of 30-40 hours each week at a starting hourly rate of $12, but with no health, pension, vacation or other benefits. Depending on the needs of the Society and the skills and experience of the Assistant additional responsibilities may be added, and the term of employment may be extended.

The Assistant must have the legal right to work in the United States; the Society will not seek any temporary workers visa on behalf of theAssistant.

Interested applicants should send a letter of interest and resume to JASW by fax (202-833-2456) or email (jaswdc@us-japan.org).

Society Appoints New General Counsel

The Japan-America Society is pleased to announce that Ms Akemi Kawano, an attorney at Alston Bird, has agreed to serve as the Society's new General Counsel. She replaces Jeff Lepon, who has provided the Society with many year of outstanding service. Mr. Lepon will continue to serve as the Chairman of the Society's National Japan Bowl.

Ms. Kawano is an associate in the International Tax Group in the Washington, DC office. She focuses her practice on transfer pricing matters and the federal income tax consequences of domestic and cross-border transactions. She has been involved in negotiations of Advance Pricing Agreements and the resolution of transfer pricing disputes for multinational
corporations.

Prior to attending law school, Ms. Kawano performed as a pianist in numerous solo, chamber music, and orchestral performances in the United States and Europe. She received her bachelors and masters degrees in piano performance from the Juilliard School and a doctorate from the Manhattan School of Music.

Ms. Kawano received her law degree from the George Washington University Law School in 2002, with honors. She is a member of the New York State Bar Association, the District of Columbia Bar, and the Tax Section of the American Bar Association.

Ms. Kawano and Alston Bird will provide legal support to the Society on a pro bono basis, and the Board of Trustees and Society express their great appreciation to her and Alston Bird.

JICC Presents "Nobody Knows"

The acclaimed movie “Nobody Knows” -- “誰も知らない” -- a film by Hirokazu Koreeda, will be shown at the Japan Information and Culture Center on Wednesday, December 13, 2006 at 6:30 P.M.

Four siblings live happily with their mother in a small apartment in Tokyo. The children all have different fathers. They have never been to school. The very existence of three of them has been hidden from the landlord. One day the mother leaves behind a little money and a note, asking her twelve year-old boy to look after the others. And so begins the children’s odyssey, a journey nobody knows.

Though engulfed by the cruel fate of abandonment, the four children do their best to survive in their own little world, devising and following their own set of rules. When they are forced to engage the world outside their cocooned universe, the fragile balance that has sustained them collapses. Their innocent longing for their mother, their wary fascination towards the outside world, their anxiety over their increasingly desperate situation, their inarticulate cries, their kindness to each other, their determination to survive on wits and courage.

Based on true events that shocked Japan, this story of abandoned siblings is a "harrowing, tender film" (The New York Times) that "unfolds with leisurely beauty" (LA Weekly). Filmed over a year and featuring a performance by 12-year-old Yagira Yuya that won the Best Actor prize at the 2004 Cannes International Film Festival (first Japanese and youngest winner ever), this "haunting" (Newsday) tale is "heartbreakingly brilliant" (The Boston Globe).
Reservations required, admission is free.

Please email: jiccrsvpfall06@embjapan.org for reservations

The Japan Information and Culture Center is located at 1155 21st Street NW.

Almost 4 Billion Post Cards

Some 3.79 billion New Year greeting cards went on sale on November 1, Japan Post officials said.

It was the last time for Japan Post to release New Year greeting cards as it will be privatized in October 2007.

The number of New Year greeting cards for 2007, the Year of the Boar, is 7.2 percent less than the number Japan Post issued last year.

(from the Mainichi Daily News)