President's Message

Dear members,

These are busy days for your club.

We hosted the Ukrainian ambassador to Japan at the FCCJ at the end of February to mark a year since Russia invaded the country.

We held a long overdue gathering for the board of directors and regular members on January 18. It was a real pleasure to get together and discuss the state of the FCCJ in person.

Dear members,

As many of you have undoubtedly heard by now, the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan and two of its members were threatened in a series of phone calls in December. The caller said she was furious because the club had provided a forum for people with “anti-Japanese” views and that the journalists involved had been critical of the country.

Dear members,

We had the U.S. ambassador to Japan visit the FCCJ last month to deliver perhaps the most consequential speech of his tenure so far. Rahm Emanuel came to the club to mark what he argued was an historic moment following elections in the U.S., Brazil, Italy, Israel and France.

Dear members,

I'm happy to report that we had a packed house on October 26 to hear artist and activist Ai Weiwei speak at the FCCJ. He was inspiring - exactly the sort of guest speaker we want to draw to the club. And the timing was perfect, coming just as Xi Jinping was anointed for a precedent-breaking third term in China.

Hello FCCJ members,

Dear members,

I am writing this in my role as president now that there has been a slight, and unavoidable, extension to my time in office while the Club chooses my successor.

Dear members,

As my term as president comes to an end, I’d like to share some observations so that we can continue to work together to make improvements to our Club.