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.