In no particular order;

JOHN BOYD, YOZO HASEGAWA, TOMOKO HOSAKA, MARTIN KOELLING, JOEL LEGENDRE-KOIZUMI, STEVE McCLURE, JUSTIN McCURRY, RICHARD SMITH

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JOHN BOYD
Nominated and seconded by: Fred Varcoe; Bob Neff

I have no agenda or campaign statement other than to say that if you elect me as a director at large, I will diligently work to complete the tasks I’m presented with.

As for my background, I’ve been freelancing for a couple of decades, largely covering technology news and events and the impact they have on business and people, though I also enjoy the opportunity to write on a variety of topics.

I string for several magazines including IEEE Spectrum and New York Stock Exchange Magazine. I’m also seeking new assignments.

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YOZO HASEGAWA
Nominated and seconded by: Haruko Watanabe; Fred Varcoe

My dear friends!
I am Yozo Hasegawa who is nominated as a candidate for Directors at Large by Ms.Haruko Watanabe and Mr.Fred Varcoe.
I have been economic journalist of the Nihon Keizai Shimbun(Nikkei) for about 40 years since 1967 and covered global business news in automobile industry, steel industry, retail business and so on..

During the time I had been stationed in Warsaw and Vienna as the first bureau chief between 1982 and 1985, I covered East Europe's challenging market economy.

Now I am working as news commentator through BS Japan,Radio Nikkei and J-cast news.I ‘m also writing articles in the newspaper and magazines. I had a book break of my English book [Clean Car Wars] pulished by Wiley & Sons last year.

I have contributed to FCCJ as a member of Human Resources committee to develop employees’ talent and evaluate personnel skills. I also worked as a special project committee to organize special activity and promotion of new culinary art. Through these activity I want to contribute more to FCCJ to show its presence to the world.

I believe FCCJ has strong role not only as a place to correspond the news but also as a decenct,faithful,and transparent press club for the members to work joyfully.

When I elected I will do my best to improve the working environment and try to open Sushi-bar restaurant during weekends through frank communication between the management and employees.

Please vote for Yozo Hasegawa for a Director at Large.

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TOMOKO HOSAKA

Nominated and seconded by: James Simms; Justin McCurry
My reason for running for a position on the FCCJ board is simple – you, the members. Our industry is in the midst of a historic transition, some would even say crisis. But with every challenge comes opportunity, and I believe that with the right leadership, the FCCJ can emerge better, stronger and more relevant through this time of change. The problems that the FCCJ currently faces are not unique. Every major U.S. journalism organization is struggling with falling membership and revenue, among other issues. As someone who serves on the national board of the Asian American Journalists Association, I have the experience and knowledge to help the FCCJ board find innovative and smart solutions for some of its most pressing challenges. I seek your support and pledge that if elected, I will strive to represent you with passion, integrity and pragmatism.

Below are some statements that reflect what I can bring:

I’ve known Tomoko as a friend and colleague through our work for the Asian American Journalists Association for more than five years. She was a driving force in re-energizing the Asia chapter of AAJA, and I’m confident that she will also make a difference at the FCCJ through her boundless enthusiasm, mixed with a level-headed pragmatism that allows her to get things done efficiently. I can’t think of anyone else more qualified to become a board member for the FCCJ.

– Sharon Chan, national president of AAJA

Tomoko is passionate about excellence in journalism. As a national advisory board member, she has brought fresh ideas and energy to the Asian American Journalists Association, organizing workshops and teleconferences to train journalists in Asia and the U.S. about smarter, more in-depth coverage of news in Asia. I strongly support her candidacy as a director for the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan.

– Yukari Iwatani Kane, former chair of the FCCJ Scholarship Committee

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MARTIN KOELLING
Nominated and seconded by:
Pio D'Emilia; Yoshisuke Iinuma

Let’s face the crisis

Dear members:

Thank you for your trust in the last election. After one year on the Board, I humbly ask you to renew my term, although the Board – to the disappointment of all – did not succeed in steering the FCCJ out of troubled waters. Our esteemed Club is in difficult times, whether still or again is open to discussion. There is only thing I know for sure from my talks with members: many share my concern that we are facing one of the biggest crises in our club history, as we have to solve very serious management and financial problems, while at the same time the world and the news industry are also in a deep crisis.

As former chairman of the GM search committee and a Board member, I share responsibility for the human-resources problems of the last year. I am very sad that the Board was unable to detect early enough the division between management and labor that led to the recent demands of our staff and could not solve the problem within our term.
However I have decided to contribute to their solution by running for office again, because I think that my agenda of last year, the positions I fought for on the Board, and the insights I gained through my stints on committees for finance, human resources, food and beverage still can help to rejuvenate the FCCJ.

Because of the time constraints of being a one-man office, I will focus on one issue that I think has to be a top priority of the new Board: creating a comprehensive membership-marketing strategy that reaches from our professional and social events to our publications (No. 1 Shimbun and the home page) and the exploration of new membership categories.

Apart from that, I would like to initiate and support the following initiatives:

1. Improve governance and focus on clean, ethical and financially responsible management. As should be clear by now, these areas still need improvement.
2. Increase transparency and accountability: The Board could not only send the president’s message to the members after each Board meeting, which we started doing last year, but also directly discuss its politics and strategies with our staff. To be clear, I don’t want the board to micromanage, but we have to macromanage. All stakeholders should share information to be able to unite behind a common goal: to keep the Club alive as the place where the news is made.
3. Create an inclusive human-resources policy that uses and sets free the creativity of our staff to help us overcome the crisis and improve the quality of our services.

For those of you who don’t know me, I repeat my standard self-introduction: I am 42. Since 2000 I have been the Japan correspondent of the German financial daily Financial Times Deutschland as well as a member of the FCCJ. I have an M.A. in Sinology from the University of Hamburg, which taught me the most helpful skill for Club politics: a high tolerance of frustration.

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JOEL LEGENDRE-KOIZUMI
Nominated and seconded by: Masuhiko Hirobuchi; Monzurul Huq

Vote for Legendre: Trust, Ethics and Professionalism

I am honored to have been nominated as a candidate for the FCCJ’s Board of Directors by Mr. Hirobuchi Masuhiko, former bureau chief of TV Asahi in London and New York, and Mr. Monzurul Huq, correspondent of the Daily Prothom Alo, a leading Bangladesh newspaper.

Based in Japan, I cover all of Asia, where I work as a TV and radio correspondent and columnist for RTL.

The FCCJ has served me well. I am concerned that without reforms in how we govern our Club, new younger correspondents arriving in Japan will not have the same benefits I have had.

The last couple of years I have witnessed things I never imagined at the FCCJ: Board members breaking time-honored rules, concealing facts and disregarding member and staff rights.

It is no surprise that our employees were driven to the brink of striking these past few weeks.

Of course our industry is also facing difficult challenges. Information is public property, therefore the right to be informed should not exclude anyone or any group nor any aspect of economic, social, cultural or political life.

Thus, my first commitment if elected is to help the new Board to restore dignity, friendship and respect for diversity. Without these, we cannot have good governance, nor can we succeed in our basic mission, which is to “provide services to facilitate the collection and distribution of news without discrimination,” as stated in the Club’s Articles of Association.

My second initiative is to assist the President in initiating a long-term plan to retain our shadan hojin status, which is now under review. If we deviate too far from our “press” mission, we shall lose our standing.

A third objective is to reopen the Club’s committee system, in particular the Professional Activities Committee which once was open to all Regular members who wished to volunteer.

This year’s committee, a small and able group, brought political and business leaders to the Club. Nevertheless, I know that the “small-tent” approach contributed to too few speakers on Japan’s dealings with Europe, Asia and other major regions and virtually no speakers on Japanese cultural subjects.

Profession: I was educated in law and economics and specialized in international relations, security and mass media in Europe and Asia Pacific. After working as a news anchor at France TV and being hired by Radio-France, I was assigned to Asia as a foreign correspondent. I also taught audiovisual upgrade courses to Asian international broadcasters in China, the Republic of Korea and Japan. I joined the Japan National Press Club April 1993 and the FCCJ in September 2005. Many of you know my wife, Kazuko Koizumi, who is senior press officer at the Foreign Press Center.

I would like to acknowledge the outstanding work of FCCJ members spanning many decades. But I understand that decisions of recent Boards undermined the confidence and trust both of members and staff. I ask for your vote for Director at Large and I will develop policies that guarantee creativity, ethics, professionalism, trust.

Thank you

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STEVE McCLURE
Nominated and seconded by: Tim Kelly; Charles Pomeroy

Dear fellow members,

My campaign slogan in this year’s election is a simple one: communication, communication, communication.

One of the things I find most frustrating about the Club is the lack of good communication in an organization established by people who are in the communication business.

The recent problems between the GM and the staff show all too vividly what can happen when there’s a communication breakdown.

If re-elected, I will work toward establishing a structure that will enable staff members to more effectively voice their concerns about human-resources issues, including a fair and transparent way of handling staff grievances. I’m in favor of formal staff/union representation on the Human Resources Committee and the Board itself. That will make it easier for all of us to work together to make the Club a better place, with all parties’ rights and responsibilities clearly defined and understood.

And as a member of the Board, I have sometimes failed to appreciate the extent to which the membership is in the dark regarding the Board’s discussions and decision-making process, the recent GM/union fracas being a case in point.

Rumor and gossip can all too easily flourish under such circumstances, fueling the petty politicking that is so harmful to the Club, both internally and in terms of its public image.

So better communication between the Board, its committees and the general membership is essential. I have some ideas about how this can be achieved, such as e-mail bulletins to the membership, but would also very much like to hear any suggestions my fellow members may have in this regard.
One thing the Board needs to better communicate to the membership is a sense of leadership and direction. During the GM/union unpleasantness, the Board – and I fault myself as much as anyone else in this regard – has largely been in reactive/ad hoc mode. If re-elected, I will work with my fellow directors to make the Board more pro-active and strategy-oriented. After spending the last two years trying to be an honest broker/gadfly on the Board, I now want to do more to help develop positive solutions to the Club’s problems.

While formal structures and guidelines can and should be put in place to facilitate better communication at the Club, there’s one form of communication that can’t be legislated: the spirit of friendship, harmony and professional solidarity which for me is at the heart of our Club. As a Director I want to do my best to help keep that spirit alive by communicating your concerns to the Board so that we can put our collective shoulders to the wheel in overcoming our current difficulties and planning our future strategy.
For those of you who don’t know me, I’m a native of Vancouver, Canada, and have lived in Japan since the late Showa Era. Formerly Asia bureau chief of Billboard magazine, I recently launched McClure’s Asia Music News, a Web site/e-mail newsletter covering the Japanese and Asian music industries.

I humbly ask for your support.

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JUSTIN McCURRY
Nominated and seconded by: Dennis Normile; James Simms

I have been involved in Club life since I arrived in Tokyo more than five years ago. For the past three years I have served as PEN representative for the Foreign Press in Japan, helping to improve correspondents’ access to government bodies and quickly disseminate information about press conferences and other events of professional interest. I have also served on the Publications and Freedom of the Press committees, and in 2005-06 was editor of No. 1 Shimbun.

I would like to contribute more to the FCCJ, an organization that has extended me unwavering professional support and without which I would not be able to do my job. That is why I am asking for your vote as I seek election to the board.
It is no secret that the Club faces several financial and other challenges in the coming year. I look forward to helping the next FCCJ president find sensible solutions to these problems, and to strengthening the Club’s role as a venue for press conferences and other events that reflect the energy and diversity of the city in which we work.

As a regular user of the workroom, I will strive to improve our working environment. It is time to spruce up the workroom and make it a more pleasant place. Aside from a lick of paint and the addition of a few paintings and photographs, we can also make more imaginative use of the space currently occupied by boxes of dusty files.

We need to bring our archiving and book-search operations into the 21st century, and I support proposals to digitize our resources to make them more accessible and to lighten the load of our hardworking library staff. Better use could be made of the office near the entrance to the library, which is currently little more than a storeroom.

Journalists are working harder than ever as the age of digital media places new demands on our time and resources. Those of us who considered ourselves newspaper reporters just a couple of years ago now have to write blogs, create audio and video content, and take photographs.

To ensure that all FCCJ journalists are adequately equipped to meet these challenges, I would like to add to the workshops the Club has already hosted on adapting to life as a cyber-journalist. I envisage events covering everything from digital photography to Twitter. I will also propose that a discussion forum on digital journalism be included on the FCCJ Web site.

Before arriving in Tokyo at the end of 2003, I worked in the Osaka bureau of The Daily Yomiuri. In addition to The Guardian, I write for The Lancet medical journal, the football fanzine When Saturday Comes and several other publications. For my sins, I support Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club.

Please feel free to contact me with questions and comments at justin.mccurry@guardian.co.uk
Thank you very much for your support.

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RICHARD SMITH
Nominated and seconded by: Todd Crowell; Pio D'Emilia

Fellow FCCJ members:

Many of you know me. When I ran for this office last year, I received a surprising number of votes from you, for which I remain most grateful.

I am from Quebec City in Canada. I worked as a freelance reporter in my hometown and Montreal. As you know, it is no easy thing to just show up here in Tokyo unemployed, as I did 13 years ago, with the intent of breaking into journalism, and then right away be a success. It took me many years of effort and more than a little privation, but I refused to give up my calling and now find myself relatively busy with the niche of journalism I occupy: imports of food and agricultural products to Japan and South Korea. What I bring to the position of director is an intimate knowledge of how to succeed under adverse circumstances. Consequently, I am keenly interested in the day-to-day support and services the Club makes available to journalists. I want us to make sure that necessary services are provided, that we do not expend resources on services that are not useful to us, and that the services we do have are provided efficiently and adequately. My years of service on the Library, Archives and Workroom Committee, my two full years as editor-in-chief of No. 1 Shimbun in its previous incarnation as a newspaper, bringing it to full in-house publication except for printing, as well as my extensive use of the Club’s professional facilities and workroom have kept me abreast of both what is good now and what could be improved.

As a director, I will listen and consider seriously the views of all, regardless of where we have stood in the past.

Meetings are a place to conduct pressing Club business, not settle old arguments. I have always spoken my mind passionately and I make no apology for that because I think I have been honest. Sometimes this has led me to disagreement with others, some of which I regret and some of which I do not. On the other hand, there have been many at the Club who also gave me encouragement or who helped me with a kind word or advice or an introduction or sometimes more. It is to honor the spirit of what they and others like them have done for me and others that I offer my candidacy.

True, not all memories are happy ones, and there surely are a few things I wish I could forget. But today, I choose to focus on that which I think is best in us. In running for this post, I offer you a year of grateful and dedicated service.