2011 Japanese American Leadership Delegation

Overview

The 2011 Japanese American Leadership Delegation traveled to Japan in March, 2011. The delegates visited to Kyoto for a cultural orientation to Japan followed by Osaka, where they participated in an education-focused symposium, and finally, to Tokyo.

2011 topics explored included economic development, security and trade, women in the workforce, education and entrepreneurship. The delegates met with officials from Kankeiren, Keidanren and Keizai Doyukai in addition to officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports Science and Technology (MEXT). They also met with Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto on his very first day in office, Honorable Yohei Kono and Her Imperial Highness Princess Takamado.

On March 11th, 2011, the delegates experienced the Great East Japan Earthquake while in Tokyo, forever linking them with Japan’s relief and recovery efforts. Several delegates returned to Japan to visit and volunteer in the Tohoku region.

Report

Click here to see the 2011 JALD report.

Symposium

The 2011 delegates participated in the symposium “Breaking Out of the Comfort Zone: Role of Education in the Era of Global Competition,” which was sponsored by the Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership, with the U.S.-Japan Council as a co-sponsor. Three delegates, William Tsutsui, Val Iwashita and Phyllis Campbell served as panelists and covered the topics of developing new skills to compete in a global workforce, current trends in educational exchange and the role of studying abroad in preparing graduates for a globalized workforce.

Photos

Photos from the 2011 program are available here.

2011 Delegates

Phyllis Campbell, Oregon
Erwin Furukawa, Southern California
Kathryn Ibata-Arens, Illinois
Bill Imada, Southern California
Val Iwashita, Hawaii
Susan Morita, District of Columbia
Gary Moriwaki, New York
Susan Muranishi, Northern California
Gary Oda, Hawaii
Kenneth Oye, Massachusetts
Genevieve Shiroma, Northern California
William Tsutsui, Texas
Mari Watanabe, Oregon