YOZO HASEGAWA Nominated by: Kenji Obayashi Seconded by: Georges Baumgartner

Candidate for Director-at-Large

Yozo Hasegawa

I hope you are enjoying your membership in the FCCJ.

This year, 2010, we will be celebrating our 65th anniversary since the Club's establishment. And on this special occasion, I would like to do my best to strengthen FCCJ activity and stabilize the financial structure through strong communication with FCCJ staff and members.

I have been a Nikkei journalist for 40 years, including stints as the bureau chief for Vienna. I am now working as a business news commentator on TV Tokyo (BS Japan) and Radio Nikkei. I have been a member of the FCCJ for 10 years and have served as co-chairman of the SPC (Special Projects Committee) and HR (Human Resources). Over the course of my career, I have developed many quality relationships with global business leaders and have learned much about managing an organization. I have published many business books in Japanese and English, including Rediscovering Japanese Business Leadership (English) and Clean Car Wars (English), for which I had the privilege and honor of holding Book Breaks at the FCCJ.

As SPC co-chairman at the FCCJ, I have organized factory tours to Toyota, Canon, Kirin and a rice-harvest tour to Niigata. In my capacity as a member of the HR committee, I worked to encourage employment at the FCCJ.

I would like to contribute more to invigorating FCCJ activities by organizing various get-togethers and workshops. I want to revitalize the club as a more influential news hub in Asia and the world. For instance I would like to invite global business leaders as guest speakers.

I also would like to do my best to stabilize FCCJ finances by making activities more efficient through better communication among FCCJ staff and increasing the number of new members by tightening connections with business circles. I believe we should work closely with FCCJ staff in performing these tasks, but not by introducing a new general manager from outside to bring in extra money and troubles, as was the case in the past.

I believe we must also try to adapt our financial report to new laws regarding shadan hojin (incorporated association) to get the public-interest as we must choose between being either a ippan shadan hojin (general incorporated association) or koeki hojin (public-interest corporation) by 2013.

The FCCJ has long worked as global base for foreign correspondents in Japan, and has contributed to public society through reporting public news. So I feel the FCCJ has a right to be authorized as a public entity to receive public benefits as such, including tax breaks and so on.

I believe I have learned organizational management through my long career as a Nikkei journalist and that I can contribute much toward making the FCCJ more active, efficient and beneficial to as many people as possible.