FIRST OF ALL, I WOULD LIKE TO SHARE WITH YOU the encouraging news about our December sales figures. During the last month of 2009, the Club made a net profit and the amount was much higher than that of any single month in the recent past. This allows us to start the year with renewed hope that the worst is probably over and we can once again look confidently to the future. Steering the Club in a direction where the future no longer looks bleak was a prime goal set by our Board, and both the Board and management continue to work hard to realize that aim. Our banquet sales are slowly returning to a healthy state and allowing us to see some light at the end of the tunnel. Even so, the overall economic situation of Japan calls for a cautious approach and the upcoming months are going to be crucial for us, as it will become clear during this period if the sales recovery that we see now is a sustainable one. It is with your support that the Club is slowly moving ahead, and I am confident that our Board will be able to count on that support in the coming months.

Two important Club events in January deserve mention. The General Membership Meeting of our associate members is a yearly gathering that also serves as a platform for a free and candid exchange of opinions between the Board and the associates. Our associate members collectively form one of the main pillars that sustains the Club, and the present Board recognizes how important this is. Six of the nine voting board members attended the gathering and shared views with associate members on various issues ranging from future Club governance to a possible increase of membership dues. The December GMM agreed to discuss the issue of membership dues at a special meeting of the general membership at the end of January. This year's formal gathering of associate members expressed concern about the negative impact of a move towards increased membership dues at a time when the economic downturn is having serious repercussions on many other institutions similar to our Club. The meeting also cast serious doubt over any positive outcome of the initiative, with some members holding the belief that it might persuade some associates to leave the Club. The meeting eventually adopted a resolution expressing its strong opposition to any possible membership dues increase, and conveyed its position to the special GMM.

Another point of resentment on the part of our associate members relates to the dissatisfaction of associates over the governance of the Club. It’s a long outstanding matter that had been discussed earlier in various platforms and I personally feel opening the gate for the associates to serve on the Board, particularly over the responsibilities of finance and human resources, might serve the interests of the Club better. There are a number of highly regarded experts in financial and HR matters among our associate members and taking advantage of their availability is something that needs to be explored further. The General Membership Meeting of the associates adopted a second resolution asking the Board to look at the matter without further delay.

In January, the Club also organized its annual New Year party where representatives of Japanese media, political parties, government officials, corporate PR personnel and others are invited. Club members joining the event were able to expand their information networks, while the main host committee of the event – PAC – benefited from the huge attendance, as contacts to many potential speakers were among those invited.

There have been a number of reports published recently in Japanese newspapers and magazines about the exodus of foreign media from Japan. The latest to close a bureau in Japan was Time magazine, which shut down its office here on January 1. As the main body in Japan representing foreign media, our Club is dismayed by such moves and believes that the exodus of the Western media is more a cost-cutting measure rather than a dwindling interest about things happening in Japan. Japan is now going through a very interesting phase in its politics and to suggest that the country has lost much of its significance does not paint a true picture of the reality here.

The print media in the Western world are going through a period of crisis, as declining readership and the strong influence of the Internet are forcing many to look for alternatives. Thus, many of them see closing the operation of expensive bureaus as one such easy way out. However, we also know that a reverse trend exists in many developing countries and also in China and South Korea. The increasing presence of Chinese and South Korean journalists in Japan supports the view that interest in Japan remains strong and significant. As a result, the FCCJ wants to attract more Chinese, Korean and other Asian journalists. So the launching of our Japanese-language website at this time is very appropriate (many Asian journalists are not strong English speakers but are fluent in Japanese). The page is already accessible and we want to know what you think about it. Please feel free to let us know your opinion and any suggestions you might have that will help us to improve the contents and technical aspects of the Japanese pages.

– Monzurul Huq