2011 Meeting of the Ambassador, Consuls General, Japanese Executives & Japanese American Leaders

February 10th – 12th, 2011 marked the 7th Annual Meeting of the Ambassador, Consuls General and Japanese American Leaders. The Annual Meeting, sponsored by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and organized by the U.S.-Japan Council and the Embassy of Japan, was held in Washington, DC.

This year’s meeting brought together 33 Japanese American leaders, 17 Consuls General, Consuls and Acting Consuls General, Ambassador Ichiro Fujisaki, Senator Daniel K. Inouye, ten representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, executives from the Japan Foundation’s New York and Los Angeles offices, and Japanese business executives from Washington, D.C. Deputy Chief of Mission Hidekazu Ishikawa and U.S.-Japan Council President Irene Hirano Inouye served as this year’s co-chairs.

The purpose of the meeting was to bring leadership together from both sides of the Pacific to discuss how to collaboratively work together to ensure a stronger U.S.-Japan relationship. Both the Japanese officials and Japanese American leaders held meetings on Friday in order to prepare for Saturday’s joint meeting which addressed national security, economic collaboration and people-to-people exchanges.
With another new Administration in Japan, the meetings between US and Japanese top officials regarding the U.S.-Japan Security Alliance and the continuing global economic challenges in both countries, emphasizes the importance of maintaining a strong U.S.-Japan relationship now more than ever. Building strong “people-to-people” relationships among Japanese Americans and Japanese leaders has been the goal of these meetings, the Japanese American Leadership Delegations, and the Japanese American-Japanese regional business networks. With the success of these programs as well as the present-day challenges, re-defining the future of the U.S.-Japan relationship and building new opportunities for collaboration and partnership was a central and necessary goal of the meeting as well.
Discussions focused on areas identified by both the U.S. and Japan as areas with high potential for collaboration including high speed rail, clean & green technology, fostering quality educational exchange and language education, and building legislative networks to support U.S.-Japan relations. Recommendations were made in each of these issue areas and follow-up activities have already begun. The U.S.-Japan Council is grateful to all of those who contributed to the Annual Meeting and enjoyed collaborating with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Embassy of Japan on this program.
To view photo galleries from this year's Annual Meeting click here.

Previous meetings:

February 2003 in Los Angeles
January 2004 in Washington, DC
November 2005 in San Francisco
June 2007 in New York City
January 2009 in Washington, DC
February 2010 in Washington, DC

For more information, please contact the USJC or your local Embassy or Consulate General of Japan.