Issue:

CLUB NUMBERS

TOP 10 PAC EVENTS

  1. Junichiro Koizumi (Former PM) 181
  2. Yuriko Koike (Candidate for Tokyo Gov) 160
  3. Shigetada Kishii, Soichiro Tahara, Shuntaro Torigoe, Akihiro Otani, Satoshi Aoki (Journalists) 143
  4. Kengo Kuma (Architect/Olympic stadium) 121
  5. Shintaro Ishihara & Shizuka Kamei (Former Tokyo Gov & Member of house of Representative) 110
  6. Pikotaro (Singer/songwriter) 110
  7. Tadae Takubo (President of Nippon Kaigi) 107
  8. Renho (Candidate for DP president) 107
  9. Rachel McAdams (Hollywood actress) 102
  10. Gerald Curtis (Burgess Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Columbia University) 97

TOP 10 FCCJ YOUTUBE-CHANNEL VIDEO VIEWS

113,485 James Rickards: Author of Currency Wars, lawyer and economist (March 21)
29,343 Masaaki Hatsumi: 34th grand master of the Togakure-ryu Ninjustsu (May 30)
19,398 Yuriko Koike: Candidate in the Tokyo Gubernatorial Election (July 7)
11,103 Dan Wang and Billy Fung Jing-en: Tensions between China and Hong Kong (Oct. 16)
8,112 Manny Pacquiao: Deepening the relationship between Japan and the Philippines through boxing! (Nov. 24)
5,740 David Kaye: Freedom of Expression in Japan (Apr. 18)
4,287 Mashu Baker, Shohei Ono and Haruka Tachimoto: Judo gold medalists at Rio Olympics (Aug. 29)
4,273 Nomi Prins: How will a Donald Trump America impact Japan and global markets? (Nov. 16)
3,883 Kengo Kuma: New Olympic Stadium Tokyo 2020 (Jan. 14)
3,874 Ryugo Hayano and Haruka Onodera: The 5th Anniversary Series of the 3/11 Disaster (Feb. 7)
2,493 Pikotaro: Why PPAP took over the internet (Oct.27)

WEBSITE NUMBERS (Jan.-Nov.)

105,200

Total users

532,830

Total page views

TOP 5 FILM COMMITTEE EVENTS

  1. While the Women are Sleeping, with producer Yukie Kito; stars, Shioli Kutsuna, Sayuri Oyamada and Makiko Watanabe (130 attendees)
  2. Nikkatsu Roman Porno reboot kickoff with Hideo Nakata, Sion Sono, Isao Yukisada, Akihiko Shiota, Kazuya Shiraishi; and special screening of The World of Geisha (Tatsumi Kumashiro) (120)
  3. A Bride for Rip Van Winkle with director Shunji Iwai (110)
  4. Red Turtle with director Michael Dudok de Wit (110)
  5. Desperate Sunflowers with director Hitomi Kuroki (110)

TWITTER FOLLOWERS

3,248

(as of Dec. 19)

TOP 5 BOOKS MOST INQUIRED ABOUT AND BORROWED FROM THE LIBRARY

  1. Tensai by Shintaro Ishihara
  2. Islam in Indonesia: The Contest for Society, Ideas and Values by Carool Kersten
  3. The Company and the Shogun: The Dutch Encounter With Tokugawa Japan by Adam Clulow
  4. Japan, Russia and their Territorial Dispute: The Northern Delusion by James D. J. Brown
  5. Japan Restored: How Japan Can Reinvent Itself and Why This Is Important for America and the World by Clyde Prestowitz

TRUMP MAKES A TOKYO VISIT

Real Estate Developer and as of Jan. 20, President of the U.S. Donald Trump presents his views at a professional luncheon on Aug. 18, 1993. FCCJ President Lew Simons (Knight-Ridder) is seated next to him, smiling at the speaker’s remarks. Trump was on a swing through Asia to thank investors who had helped him during his financial crisis and to discuss potential retail projects. His comments were quoted in a New York Times article of the same date by Andrew Pollack, and included urging the U.S. to get “tougher” with Japan in its trade negotiations and calling past U.S. negotiators “morons” and “idiots.” The article also quoted him as saying that in trade negotiations America should be represented by a top businessman.

Donald J. Trump needs no introduction, but here’s a thumbnail sketch. He was born on June 14, 1946, in New York City and raised in a family entrenched in the real estate/construction business. From the early 1970s, when he took over the family’s business and renamed it the Trump Organization, he successfully expanded the company until becoming financially over-extended in the late 1980s after building resort casinos.

Trump’s dire financial situation was further aggravated when his wife, Ivana, discovered an affair and divorced him in 1992. (She reportedly received a $20 million settlement.) “The Donald,” as Trump had come to be known, however, made a successful comeback by the end of the 1990s, and went on to become a celebrity entrepreneur as the host of NBC’s hit show, “The Apprentice.”

Trump, too, had long been active in politics, supporting candidates from both major parties over the years. He considered running for the presidency in 2000 as a candidate from Ross Perot’s Reform Party and in 2012 as a GOP candidate, but bowed out of the race.

Little can be added to all that’s been said about Donald J. Trump over these many years and especially the last few months. His utterances have been sliced and diced by both opponents and supporters, with appropriate spin given by each side.

There is little doubt, however, that his inauguration this month will also bring major changes, domestically and internationally.

– Charles Pomeroy