PRESS CONFERENCE
George Takei, Actor, author and social activist

13:00-14:00 Thursday, November 20, 2025
Language: The speech and Q & A will be in English.

The Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan is proud to host a press conference by George Takei, the actor and social activist, whose award-winning children's book on the wartime incarceration of Japanese-Americans is about to be released in Japan.

Mr. Takei is known for playing Hikaru Sulu, the cool-headed and capable helmsman of the Starship Enterprise in the iconic science fiction television series "Star Trek." In a career stretching more than six decades, the California native has appeared in some 40 feature films and hundreds of TV episodes, making him perhaps the most popular ethnically Japanese actor in the American entertainment industry. He has also been a best-selling book author and advocate of social justice, speaking on issues from gay rights and marriage equality to racism against Japanese-Americans.

The latter is the topic of his current visit to Japan. Last year, Mr. Takei published an illustrated children's book in the United States about the World War II-era detention of Japanese-Americans called "My Lost Freedom." The book, which won the Golden Poppy award from California booksellers, has been translated to go on sale in Japan at the end of the month. It recounts his personal experiences during the war, when at the age of five he and his family were seized from their home in Los Angeles and sent to camps in Arkansas and California.

Now age 88, Mr. Takei wrote the book for children today who are the same age that he was when he was incarcerated. Its images of soldiers rounding up families as "enemy aliens" just because they look different has a clear resonance in an era when immigration agents are sweeping people off the streets in the United States, and xenophobia is also on the rise in Japan.

Please join us to hear Mr. Takei talk about his newest book, his storied career and more.

How to attend: 
Please register by emailing front@fccj.or.jp with your name and the name of your media outlet. FCCJ members should also include their membership number. Doors will open 15 minutes before the event.

How to watch online: https://www.youtube.com/c/FCCJchannel/live  

How to ask questions: https://forms.gle/HEZZpYYT9teAkWeQ6      　

TV crew: Please make a reservation at front@fccj.or.jp. Doors open for TV crews only at 30 minutes before the event. FCCJ will limit live-streaming of FCCJ-hosted press conferences to Club members only. Non-members will no longer be permitted to live-stream these events. However, non-members may still film for reporting purposes and use footage after the press conference.

Professional Activities Committee