2015 USJC Annual Conference – Last chance to register! (Oct. 31)
Registration for this year’s Conference — to be held from November 9 to 10 in Tokyo, Japan at the Cerulean Tower Tokyu Hotel — will close on Oct. 31. Register now to reserve your seat by following one of the links below.
Please feel free to contact Mr. Shane Graves ([email protected]), Program Manager (U.S.), or Mr. Nobuaki Yasunaga ([email protected]), Director of External Affairs (Japan), if you have any questions.
Registration (English): https://www.regonline.com/USJCAnnualConference2015
Registration (Japanese): https://www.regonline.com/USJCAnnualConference2015JP
Annual Conference Special Event: “Tastes of Tokyo” — Last chance to sign up! (Oct. 31)
Looking for a culinary adventure? Or perhaps an exciting conversation with newly-made friends? Why not have both?!
Sign up is closing soon for the “Tastes of Tokyo” dinners (click here for Japanese), a special event during the Annual Conference. Conference attendees and supporters have the opportunity to participate in a unique dining experience where small groups will go out to restaurants across the city. This will take place after the conclusion of the Conference on Tuesday evening, November 10 beginning at 7:00 pm.
There is nothing better to promote friendship and people-to-people exchange than sitting across a table and sharing a meal with fellow USJC colleagues and other Conference attendees.
Sign up now before you miss out on this special occasion!
Registration closes on October 31st!
Annual Conference Breakout Session Registration — Last chance to sign up! (Oct. 31)
Attention all Conference Attendees!We have a variety of exciting topics planned for breakout session activities on November 10, from 2:30 to 6:00pm, including panel discussions, networking and interactive sessions, a short offsite excursion and an English-language Kyogen performance.
All participants will have the opportunity to attend two options from a variety of scheduled activities. However, some of the programming options have space limitations, and we would like to ask that Conference registrants sign up in advance. Registration must be complete by October 31 to ensure a reserved seat. In addition, Conference attendees can choose only one session of limited seating (the other must be a session with unlimited seating).
No registration is necessary for breakout sessions that have unlimited seating, and Conference registrants are welcome to attend two sessions with unlimited seating.
Please view available sessions and register for your preferred breakout here.
#USJCAC Social Media Contest
Looking for more ways to participate in the 2015 Annual Conference? Why not be rewarded for it?!
If you’re at the Annual Conference and you see a USJC logo, take a picture of yourself with it! Tweet or post the picture to Instagram using the Annual Conference hashtag #USJCAC and you will be automatically entered into a raffle to win a $50 iTunes gift card!
Want to check out the competition? We will retweet ones that we think are especially creative on the USJC Twitter or the USJC Instagram during the Conference.
TOMODACHI ELP News
While we are preparing to welcome the 2015 TOMODACHI Emerging Leaders to Tokyo, here are some updates from Courtney Sato, a 2013 Emerging Leader. She is working on a Yale exhibit that is soon opening–and her ideas originated at the 2013 Annual Conference! We thank her for her contributions to the following article.
“Out of the Desert: Resilience and Memory in Japanese American Internment” Exhibit
Curated by Courtney Sato, ELP ’13November 2, 2015 – February 26, 2016
Yale University – Sterling Memorial Library Memorabilia Room
120 High Street, New Haven, CT 06511
Enter through the 128 Wall Street Door and the Memorabilia Room will be to the right
Open Monday – Friday 8:30 am – 4:45 pm
outofthedesert.yale.edu
Opening Reception: Thursday, November 5 (4-6 pm) in the Sterling Memorial Lecture Hall & Memorabilia Room
The opening reception will feature a brief lecture on internment by Columbia University historian Gary Okihiro and remarks by former internee Yonekazu Satoda, whose diary is featured in the exhibit. A viewing of the exhibit and a light reception will follow.
After more than a year of curatorial work, the exhibition “Out of the Desert: Resilience and Memory in Japanese American Internment” will open at Yale University’s Sterling Memorial Library next week. This is Yale Library’s inaugural exhibition to draw from multiple archives across the university. It is also the first-ever exhibit centered on Asian American history.
The exhibit can be traced back to the 2013 USJC Annual Conference in Washington, DC. At the conference, USJC Senior Vice President Kaz Maniwa introduced Courtney Sato (ELP ’13) to Council Member Delphine Hirasuna, curator of the exhibit “The Art of Gaman.” After meeting Ms. Hirasuna, Ms. Sato began research to identify internment materials already housed in Yale’s collections. She quickly uncovered a vast but largely unknown collection of materials related to internment.
Yale’s collections include official WRA and government documents, as well as a range of internee correspondence, artwork and literature. Of particular note are a number of original Ansel Adams photographs of Manzanar developed by Adams’s longtime printer Alan Ross, watercolor paintings by Charles Erabu “Suiko” Mikami, student scrapbooks, artwork and high school yearbooks. The exhibit also highlights materials related to resettlement on the East Coast. Through an exploration of the central themes of resilience and memory, this exhibit underscores the importance of everyday creative production and alternative narratives of internment.
A digital touchscreen exhibit will debut at the opening reception on November 5th and will go live at outofthedesert.yale.edu shortly thereafter. Visitors to the website will be able to scroll through exhibit materials including a copy of the 1943-1944 Manzanar High School Yearbook, engineering maps of Poston, correspondence between internees and Quaker activists, and handmade Junior Red Cross scrapbooks.
The exhibition will run from November 2, 2015 through February 26, 2016. The USJC community is invited to the exhibition opening reception on Thursday, November 5, 2015 from 4-6 pm in the Sterling Memorial Lecture Hall & Memorabilia Room. Day of Remembrance programming to be held in February 2016 will be announced closer to the date on the exhibition website (outofthedesert.yale.edu).
Recent Events
Presentation at JACO – Tokyo
On October 21, USJC Director of External Affairs Nobuaki Yasunaga spoke at the Japan Association for Charitable Organizations (JACO) in Tokyo. He discussed the American and Japanese entities of USJC, as well as the TOMODACHI Initiative, touching upon the difference between NPOs in the United States and Japan.We thank JACO for this opportunity!
Member News
Congratulations David Boone!
A big congratulations to Council Member David Boone who has been promoted to President of Federal Services at CB&I!
Mr. Boone joined CB&I in 2013, and most recently served as Vice President of Operations.
Upcoming Events
November 21 – U.S.-Japan Relations Symposium (Evanston, IL)
Date & Time: November 21, 2015 from 9:30am to 6:00pm
Venue: Harris Hall, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL
Please join us at this symposium on November 21. This symposium, co-sponsored by USJC, will offer a unique and in-depth examination of the relationship between Japan and the United States. In particular, we will explore the role the Nikkei community in the Midwest can play, and its relevance for the future relationship between these two nations.
We hope you will attend and support Council Member and JALD alumnus Rick Morimoto, who helped spearhead this event. USJC President Irene Hirano Inouye, as well as other USJC members, are also participating in this symposium as moderators and/or panelists.
For additional information and the RSVP link, please click here.
Opportunities
EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT-SILICON VALLEY JAPAN PROJECT (SILICON VALLEY)
Overview
The Executive Assistant position will have primary responsibility for administrative and operational support to USJC’s Silicon Valley Project, including: office management; executive and organizational support for the Executive Director, Chairman and Executive Committee, SVJP; and general administrative support duties. The position requires an individual who is flexible, able to multi-task and prioritize, takes initiative, is well-organized, able to plan and meet deadlines and is comfortable working independently and as part of a team. Travel, including to Japan, is expected.
How to Apply
Candidates should provide a cover letter, resume and 2-3 professional references to [email protected], subject line, “Executive Assistant- Silicon Valley Project.” Candidates must submit all necessary information and documents. Successful candidates will be requested for a phone or in- person interview. Review of applications will begin October 16, 2015.
Please download the PDF version of this description here.
TOMODACHI INITIATIVE PROGRAM MANAGER (TOKYO OFFICE)
Working under the Executive Director of TOMODACHI, the Program Manager is responsible for helping to find, select, develop, manage, monitor and evaluate TOMODACHI programs, including managing relationships with implementing organizations. The Program Manager will work with individuals from the U.S.-Japan Council, the U.S. Embassy and other key TOMODACHI team members in the implementation of this mission.
For more information and to apply, click here.