Sir,

I would like to take this opportunity to express my thanks to FCCJ President Dan Sloan for his speech at the Kansai Press Club in Osaka on March 13th.

Nearly 130 Kansai area journalists were on hand for the event, including the dean of sportswriters and, like Dan, a baseball fan, as well as representatives from local government and industry. It was, organizers said, an unusually large crowd, which I think only demonstrates how interested people in this part of Japan are in the activities
of the FCCJ.

I firmly believe that this visit, the first of its kind, benefited both the FCCJ and those of us in the Kansai region. FCCJ stands for the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan, not just Tokyo, and these kinds of diplomatic missions on the part of the FCCJ president are an excellent way to build contacts outside of Old Edo for all members.

I hope that this visit starts a yearly tradition of visits by future FCCJ presidents, not only to Kansai but also to other major regions of the country.

Regards,
Eric Johnston

Dear Editor,

Reading Henry Scott Stokes’ article “A room with no view” reminded me of a conversation I had last year with a top executive of Mitsubishi Estate, the developer that owns a third of the Marunouchi district.

Discussing the company’s buildings in the area, the executive said he had made a more than decent offer to the FCCJ to move into one of its newly redeveloped buildings, but had been rebuffed.

Although I don’t know the details, I would be disappointed if this were true. The club’s present location does little justice to an organization of such stature. A move to a more desirable and spacious premises could be more than compensated by new memberships, and the cost may be less than for other companies due to the FCCJ’s considerable brand value, providing it doesn’t undersell itself.

As to the cover story on the so-called 9/11 conspiracies, full marks for grabbing people’s attention, but you could drive a truck (or even a few planes) through the holes in this story. I look forward to Benjamin Fulford’s next story on how JFK and Elvis are alive and well, smoking Cuban cigars in Havana with Fidel and Yukio Mishima.

Anthony Fensom