PRESS CONFERENCE
Hiroshi Osaki, CEO & Representative Director,
Yoshimoto Kogyo Co., Ltd.
Taichi Hirata, Director, Department of Culture, Tourism and Sports,
Okinawa Prefecture Office

*Free Cocktail party follows featuring professional foreign performers of Rakugo or Japanese story telling.

The speech and Q & A will be in Japanese with English interpretation

Okinawa Film Festival—a gateway to Asian cultural and economic collaboration

The Okinawa Film Festival is the brain-child of Hiroshi Osaki, head of Japan's leading entertainment company, Yoshimoto Kogyo, headquartered in Osaka.

The event represents the first international film festival to be held on the island, a long awaited honor spearheaded by Osaki when he was selected by the Japanese government to be the Churashima Ambassador extended for his deep understanding and attachment to Okinawa.

The festival, now in its third year, brings well-known foreign and Japanese film directors, actors and actresses, especially from Asia, together for a week in Okinawa, to display their latest films and embark on new liaisons. A new sector added to this year, that marks the centenary of Yoshimoto company, is a focus on the endangered cultures of rural towns and villages in Asia that is grappling with rapid globalizing. The theme of the film festival is Laugh and Peace based on Yoshimoto's vast highly respected creative talent on comedy that is linked to the message of peace sought deeply in Okinawa.

Taichi Hirata, whose trademark is his commitment to ushering in new economic ventures to Okinawa, will speak on the importance of the Festival as a key in the local aspirations that aim to reduce the dependence on American military bases. The American military presence occupies two-thirds of the island and remains a thorn in US-Japan bilateral relations.

Please come to listen to two illustrious speakers pioneering new ground in Japanese political and cultural sectors. The event is timely against fresh debate on the relocation of the controversial Futenma air base.

Please reserve in advance, still & TV cameras inclusive. Reservations and cancellations are not complete without confirmation.

Professional Activities Committee

PROFESSIONAL LUNCHEON
Yoshiaki Sakaguchi
Director, Policy Studies Department, NIDS
Masayuki Masuda, Senior Fellow,
Northeast Asia Division, Regional Studies Department, NIDS

The speech and Q & A will be in Japanese with English interpretation

"NIDS China Security Report 2011"

*Please note this briefing is embargoed until 5:00 am, February 10

The full text of this notice will be posted shortly.

The menu will be confirmed soon.

Please reserve in advance, still & TV cameras inclusive. The charge for members/non-members is 1,700/2,600 yen, non-members eligible to attend may pay in cash. Reservations canceled less than one hour in advance for working press members, and 24 hours for all others, will be charged in full. Reservations and cancellations are not complete without confirmation.

Professional Activities Committee

PRESS CONFERENCE
Takanori Eto,
Plaintiff in Nuclear Power Legal Case

The speech and Q & A will be in Japanese with English interpretation

With the first anniversary of the March 11 triple disaster approaching, Japan's authorities face a string of logistic, economic and legal challenges. The toughest of these challenges relate to their handing of the Fukushima nuclear crisis. Few of the government's critics are as uncompromising or formidable as Takanori Eto.

Juris Doctor at the University of Tokyo's law school, Eto filed a suit with the Tokyo District Court last April, accusing the government of negligence and demanding that it revoke operator Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s licenses to operate the Fukushima No. 1 and No. 2 nuclear power plants. The outcome of the lawsuit is being watched across the world.

Eto returns to the FCCJ to describe his ongoing legal battle against the government and his findings during discovery in the Tokyo district court. He claims that Japan's government illegally dumped radioactive water into the sea and that it is being inconsistent in protecting ordinary people from radioactive fallout, contrasting its response to Fukushima to the 1986 Chernobyl disaster reaction.

In the aftermath of Chernobyl, the government banned imported food containing over 370 becquerels because it said it was too dangerous to consume. Since Fukushima, however, the government insists that the safe level in rice or beef is 500 becquerels. How can such apparently contradictory policies be made, and what impact will Eto's findings have on his legal challenge? With the decision from the Tokyo district court due this month, come along and hear him discuss the implications of this hugely important case

Plaintiff in Nuclear Power Legal Case

PROFESSIONAL LUNCHEON
Satoshi Kamata, Freelance Journalist
Kenzaburo Oe, Author & Nobel Prize Laureate in Literature
Keiko Ochiai, Author & Manager of Crayon House

The speech and Q & A will be in Japanese with English interpretation

"Sayonara Nuclear Power Plants! & Citizens' Initiative for 10 Million Signatures"

An historic turnout at last year's Sept. 19 anti-nuclear energy rally was a turning point for the movement in Japan. The 60,000-plus demonstrators included a wide range of participants and unprecedented numbers from Fukushima and Japan's powerful labor unions.

One of the biggest draws was author Kenzaburo Oe, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. A prominent anti-nuclear voice recognized worldwide, his major works include "Hiroshima Notes," "The Silent Cry" and "Changeling."

Oe is one of nine founding members of the "Sayonara Nuclear Power Plants!" campaign that organized the rally. Their efforts include collecting 10 million signatures for denuclearization that will be presented to the Prime Minister and heads of the Diet.

Freelance journalist Satoshi Kamata is the campaign founder and major force behind its organizing efforts. A vocal critic of the nuclear industry and governmental policy for four decades, he is well known for his writings on the disadvantaged and marginalized. His monumental "Japan in the Passing Lane" has been translated into English, French and other languages.

Among the prominent writers in the group is Keiko Ochiai: prolific author, popular radio personality, translator, organic foods advocate and founder/manager of Crayon House bookstore for children. Through her many talents she has committed herself to bringing the voices of the oppressed, children, women, the elderly and disabled to mainstream society.

Please come to hear these celebrated literati talk about their upcoming rallies on February 11, March 11 and July 16, along with their insights on nuclear energy and the anti-nuclear movements in Japan and abroad.

Menu:
Chinese Sauce of Grouper and Porcini, Seasonal Salad

Please reserve in advance, still & TV cameras inclusive. The charge for members/non-members is 1,700/2,600 yen, non-members eligible to attend may pay in cash. Reservations canceled less than one hour in advance for working press members, and 24 hours for all others, will be charged in full. Reservations and cancellations are not complete without confirmation.

Professional Activities Committee

PROFESSIONAL LUNCHEON
Vlaidmir Chernikov,
Chairman, Chernobyl Consequences Mitigation Agency,
Ministry of Emergency of Republic of Belarus

The speech and Q & A will be in Russian with English interpretation.

Although the Japanese government says it is bringing the crisis a the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant under control, many people at home and abroad are not buying that. And recent revelations that the government has failed to record the minutes of vital meetings on the nuclear crisis -- the worst nuclear catastrophe since the 1986 Chernobyl accident -- stunned the nation.

Under such circumstances, a visit to Japan by Vladimir Chernikov, deputy minister of emergency of the Republic of Belarus, who chairs the Chernobyl Consequences Mitigation Agency, promises to be very timely.

He will attend Fukushima Accident rehabilitation conferences in Tokyo, visit the city of Fukushima and hold talks with senior Japanese government officials during his upcoming trip. He has also agreed to come to the club to share knowledge and pertinent information.

The former Soviet republic has been one of the Chernobyl disaster's main victims because about 80 percent of Chernobyl contamination from neighboring Ukraine fell on its territory. Belarus and Fukushima share many similarities in terms of the consequences for people and the economy, some experts say.

Chernikov and his team believe their experience will help the Japanese overcome the Fukushima crisis by utilizing Belarus's advanced and reliable technologies to rehabilitate radiation-contaminated land, for example.

Born on Aug. 6, 1958, exactly 13 years after the U.S. atomic bombing of the Japanese city, in Bobruisk, he studied engineering and later held a job as a senior regional civil defense officer.

After serving as first deputy chairman of the Committee on Consequences of the Chernobyl Disaster in 2005-2006, he went on to become acting chairman of the Chernobyl Consequences Mitigation Agency in 2006 and was appointed as chairman of the Chernobyl Consequences Mitigation Agency in 2007.

Menu:
Chicken Tarragon Fricassee, Noodles and Green Vegetables, Seasonal Salad

Vlaidmir Chernikov, Chairman, Chernobyl Consequences Mitigation Agency, Ministry of Emergency of Republic of Belarus

H.E. Sergei Rakhmanov, Ambasssdor of the Republic of Belarus