Overview

The U.S.-Japan Council brings together Japanese and Japanese American business professionals to build mutually beneficial relationships regionally, nationally and internationally. The Business Networking Initiative seeks to:

  • Provide opportunities for connecting and sharing information among Japanese Chambers of Commerce and the U.S.-Japan Council’s Japanese American business members in the U.S.
  • Provide opportunities for Japanese business executives and Japanese Americans in business to develop informal professional and social relationships at a regional level, which can be maintained long-term.
  • Create opportunities for the U.S.-Japan Council and the Japanese Chambers of Commerce to share information about the Japanese business sector in the U.S., address areas of mutual concern that impact the business sector, and promote new economic collaborations to ensure strong U.S.-Japan relations.

 To view our most recent event, please visit the event page.

Background

In 2004, Japanese American and Japanese leaders, including the Consul General of Los Angeles and business leaders from the Japanese Business Association of Southern California (JBA), began discussing the potential for the Japanese business community to engage with Japanese Americans in mutually beneficial ways. Subsequently, Japanese and Japanese American leaders in Los Angeles and Washington, DC convened to further develop regional business networks throughout the United States.

Today, the U.S.-Japan Council is a sustainable organization that serves as an ally to the Japanese business community and has expanded its reach to additional U.S. regions. Several initiatives have developed since the Council’s inception in 2009, including the regional business networks, an annual meeting of Japanese and Japanese American business leaders and a state-to-prefecture collaborative initiative involving the State of Hawai’i and several Japanese prefectures.

Activities

Regions & Partners

The U.S.-Japan Council cultivates regional networking among Japanese business associations and Japanese Americans in various cities across the country including:

  • California – Northern
  • California – Southern
  • Florida
  • Georgia
  • Hawaii
  • Illinois
  • Japan
  • New York
  • North Carolina
  • Oregon
  • Texas
  • Washington
  • Washington, DC

Our Japanese association partners include:

  • Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of New York, Inc. (JCCINY)
  • Japanese Business of Association of Southern California (JBA)
  • Japanese Chamber of Commerce of Northern California (JCCNC)
  • Japan Business Association of Houston (JBAH)
  • Japan Business Association of Seattle (JBAS)
  • Japan Commerce Association of Washington, DC (JCAW)
  • Honolulu Japanese Chamber of Commerce (HJCC)
  • Japanese Chamber of Commerce of Georgia (JCCG)
  • Japanese Firms Association of Colorado (JFAC)
  • Japan America Society of Chicago (JASC)

Archive

In July 2015, the Business Networking Initiative was held as a separate event from USJC’s Annual Conference. This allowed USJC to expand upon the discussions, in both time and content, and provided participants the opportunity to meet with prominent leaders in DC. The event was a two-day event with over 200 people in attendance which marked it largest occasion of this annual meeting to date. Invitees included discussions and meetings with government officials, business leaders, and Members of Congress. For more information about this event, please visit the event page. 

The U.S.-Japan Council helps facilitate business and economic collaboration by convening government and business leaders. In 2010, the Council began connecting Japanese prefectural governors to American and Japanese American leaders, such as Dr. Daniel I. Okimoto, Professor Emeritus, Stanford University and Ambassador John V. Roos, Ambassador of the U.S. to Japan, to discuss region-to-region business, economic and entrepreneurial collaborations between the U.S. and Japan.