{"id":54980,"date":"2025-03-24T18:50:59","date_gmt":"2025-03-24T18:50:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/?post_type=news&#038;p=54980"},"modified":"2025-03-24T18:53:23","modified_gmt":"2025-03-24T18:53:23","slug":"2025-southeast-region-annual-gathering","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/ja\/news\/2025-southeast-region-annual-gathering\/","title":{"rendered":"2025 Southeast Region Annual Gathering"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Southeast-Dinner-2025-Lauren-Matsumoto-1024x683.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-54981\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Southeast-Dinner-2025-Lauren-Matsumoto-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Southeast-Dinner-2025-Lauren-Matsumoto-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Southeast-Dinner-2025-Lauren-Matsumoto-768x512.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Southeast-Dinner-2025-Lauren-Matsumoto-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Southeast-Dinner-2025-Lauren-Matsumoto-2048x1365.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Southeast-Dinner-2025-Lauren-Matsumoto-560x373.jpeg 560w, https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Southeast-Dinner-2025-Lauren-Matsumoto-493x329.jpeg 493w, https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Southeast-Dinner-2025-Lauren-Matsumoto-915x610.jpeg 915w, https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Southeast-Dinner-2025-Lauren-Matsumoto-287x191.jpeg 287w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>From February 28 to March 2, the Southeast Region held its annual gathering in Jacksonville, Florida, bringing together USJC members and their family plus TOMODACHI Sumitomo Scholars and Watanabe Scholars for a weekend of connection, culture, and community. The weekend kicked off with a rink-side view of the Jacksonville Icemen hockey game, generously catered by Community First Credit Union. On Saturday, attendees explored downtown on Art Bikes, visited the Cummer Museum of Art &amp; Gardens, and enjoyed shopping and dining at a vibrant riverside market.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Southeast-E-Bike-Tour-2025-Lauren-Matsumoto-2-768x1024.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-54991\" style=\"width:327px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Southeast-E-Bike-Tour-2025-Lauren-Matsumoto-2-768x1023.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Southeast-E-Bike-Tour-2025-Lauren-Matsumoto-2-225x300.jpeg 225w, https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Southeast-E-Bike-Tour-2025-Lauren-Matsumoto-2-560x746.jpeg 560w, https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Southeast-E-Bike-Tour-2025-Lauren-Matsumoto-2-493x657.jpeg 493w, https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Southeast-E-Bike-Tour-2025-Lauren-Matsumoto-2-287x382.jpeg 287w, https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Southeast-E-Bike-Tour-2025-Lauren-Matsumoto-2.jpeg 878w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>The highlight of the weekend was a festive evening at the home of USJC Council Leader John and Jan Hirabayashi, where members enjoyed a live classical guitar performance by USJC Associate Koh Kazama, catering, a full bar, and the presence of Honorary Consul Roy Schleicher on behalf of the Consulate-General in Miami Junya Nakano. The gathering wrapped up with a relaxed Sunday brunch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Special thanks to USJC members and organizers John and Jan Hirabayashi, Mari Kuraishi, and Rob Ohno (JALD &#8217;24), and to the many volunteers and supporters who made this event possible. We look forward to seeing even more members at our next regional event!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Recap written by Southeast regional chair Jin Yoshikawa (ELP &#8217;22) and photos by TOMODACHI Sumitomo Scholar Shion Morimoto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Southeast-Hockey-Game-Lauren-Matsumoto-1-1024x768.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-54993\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Southeast-Hockey-Game-Lauren-Matsumoto-1-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Southeast-Hockey-Game-Lauren-Matsumoto-1-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Southeast-Hockey-Game-Lauren-Matsumoto-1-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Southeast-Hockey-Game-Lauren-Matsumoto-1-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Southeast-Hockey-Game-Lauren-Matsumoto-1-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Southeast-Hockey-Game-Lauren-Matsumoto-1-560x420.jpeg 560w, https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Southeast-Hockey-Game-Lauren-Matsumoto-1-493x370.jpeg 493w, https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Southeast-Hockey-Game-Lauren-Matsumoto-1-915x686.jpeg 915w, https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Southeast-Hockey-Game-Lauren-Matsumoto-1-287x215.jpeg 287w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From February 28 to March 2, the Southeast Region held its annual gathering in Jacksonville, Florida, bringing together USJC members and their family plus TOMODACHI Sumitomo Scholars and Watanabe Scholars [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54980","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>2025 Southeast Region Annual Gathering - U.S.-Japan Council<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/ja\/news\/2025-southeast-region-annual-gathering\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"ja_JP\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"2025 Southeast Region Annual Gathering - U.S.-Japan Council\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"From February 28 to March 2, the Southeast Region held its annual gathering in Jacksonville, Florida, bringing together USJC members and their family plus TOMODACHI Sumitomo Scholars and Watanabe Scholars [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/ja\/news\/2025-southeast-region-annual-gathering\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"U.S.-Japan Council\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-03-24T18:53:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Southeast-Dinner-2025-Lauren-Matsumoto-scaled.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/ja\/news\/2025-southeast-region-annual-gathering\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/ja\/news\/2025-southeast-region-annual-gathering\/\",\"name\":\"2025 Southeast Region Annual Gathering - U.S.-Japan Council\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/ja\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/ja\/news\/2025-southeast-region-annual-gathering\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/ja\/news\/2025-southeast-region-annual-gathering\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Southeast-Dinner-2025-Lauren-Matsumoto-1024x683.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-24T18:50:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-03-24T18:53:23+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/ja\/news\/2025-southeast-region-annual-gathering\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"ja\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/ja\/news\/2025-southeast-region-annual-gathering\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"ja\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/ja\/news\/2025-southeast-region-annual-gathering\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Southeast-Dinner-2025-Lauren-Matsumoto-1024x683.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Southeast-Dinner-2025-Lauren-Matsumoto-1024x683.jpeg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/ja\/news\/2025-southeast-region-annual-gathering\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/ja\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"\u30e1\u30c7\u30a3\u30a2\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/ja\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"2025 Southeast Region Annual Gathering\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/ja\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/ja\/\",\"name\":\"U.S.-Japan Council\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/ja\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"ja\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"2025 Southeast Region Annual Gathering - U.S.-Japan Council","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/ja\/news\/2025-southeast-region-annual-gathering\/","og_locale":"ja_JP","og_type":"article","og_title":"2025 Southeast Region Annual Gathering - U.S.-Japan Council","og_description":"From February 28 to March 2, the Southeast Region held its annual gathering in Jacksonville, Florida, bringing together USJC members and their family plus TOMODACHI Sumitomo Scholars and Watanabe Scholars [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/ja\/news\/2025-southeast-region-annual-gathering\/","og_site_name":"U.S.-Japan Council","article_modified_time":"2025-03-24T18:53:23+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1707,"url":"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Southeast-Dinner-2025-Lauren-Matsumoto-scaled.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/ja\/news\/2025-southeast-region-annual-gathering\/","url":"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/ja\/news\/2025-southeast-region-annual-gathering\/","name":"2025 Southeast Region Annual Gathering - U.S.-Japan Council","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/ja\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/ja\/news\/2025-southeast-region-annual-gathering\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/ja\/news\/2025-southeast-region-annual-gathering\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Southeast-Dinner-2025-Lauren-Matsumoto-1024x683.jpeg","datePublished":"2025-03-24T18:50:59+00:00","dateModified":"2025-03-24T18:53:23+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/ja\/news\/2025-southeast-region-annual-gathering\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"ja","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/ja\/news\/2025-southeast-region-annual-gathering\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"ja","@id":"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/ja\/news\/2025-southeast-region-annual-gathering\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Southeast-Dinner-2025-Lauren-Matsumoto-1024x683.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Southeast-Dinner-2025-Lauren-Matsumoto-1024x683.jpeg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/ja\/news\/2025-southeast-region-annual-gathering\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/ja\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"\u30e1\u30c7\u30a3\u30a2","item":"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/ja\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"2025 Southeast Region Annual Gathering"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/ja\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/ja\/","name":"U.S.-Japan Council","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/ja\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"ja"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/54980","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/54980\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54995,"href":"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/54980\/revisions\/54995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usjapancouncil.org\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}