Dear members,

We ended January with our new year’s Hacks & Flacks party, as well as excellent PAC speakers including the ambassadors of Israel, the U.S., and Palestine. Now we want to keep that momentum going.

Gary Bremermann has more details about our shinnenkai in his No.1 Shimbun article. Raising awareness about the Club and attracting new members are ongoing concerns. To that end, we have launched a special committee, led by Michiyo Nakamoto, that will examine the medium- and long-term challenges facing the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan, and then propose how we can prepare for and respond to them. The intention is to build a stronger, more vibrant organization. Please reach out to her or the Board if you have ideas or want to contribute to this mission.

I also attended New Year’s parties at the Foreign Press Center of Japan and the Japan National Press Club, which face many of the same issues as our organization. We have different professional swim lanes, but we are all tasked with winning gold medals for our memberships, meaning a better return on Club investment. We hope to see even greater cooperation with these organizations that benefits all of us. We will keep you posted on possible next steps.

In March, our Finance Committee will present our business plan for the year starting in July. I’d like to thank Treasurer Anthony Rowley and Rick Dyck, who are leading efforts on that front and who also called for the creation of the task force mentioned above. They will present this budget at our next General Membership Meeting, which I hope you will attend in person.

Finally, I also want to highlight the efforts of our Entertainment Committee, led by Simon Farrell and Jake Adelstein, who have been reinvigorating our Saturday Night Live events, as well as other Club opportunities such as regional promotion nights. A great St. Patrick’s Day celebration is in the works for March, but If you’ve never been to an SNL, it's incredible value with great entertainers and many regulars. Please put it on your calendar.

All the best.

Dan Sloan
President, FCCJ