Issue:
Dear Membership:
We held elections and shared with the Membership in June the outcome, which continues into July, to select two Associate Director positions. For the meeting, a quorum was achieved with 174 votes cast. Two resolutions passed - a vote to approve the Balance Sheet, Revenue & Expenditures Statement and Registry of Assets for FY 2025 and to repurpose a 20-million-yen relocation reserve for current operations, capital expenditure and retirement payments, and to dissolve the relocation reserve and 60-million-yen relocation liability.
Regular members elected consist of Michiyo Nakamoto, Harry Dempsey, Martin Fackler, Chris Gilbert, Peter Lyon and myself, with Avi Gokool serving as a Reserve Director. Among Associate members, Masayuki Watanabe has been selected so far. Anthony Rowley and Simon Farrell were elected as Kanji. The current Board will serve until all nine Directors have been elected to form a new Board, hopefully at our July 16 EGMM. Election ballots will be sent to you soon, and we hope to launch the new Board then.
We have basically negotiated a near seamless change in our F&B vendor, which we will share as soon as the ink is dry and parties share with their own stakeholders. I would like to thank the F&B Committee and General Manager for handling a critically-important issue with diligence and aplomb, and trust that you, the Membership, will be happy with the outcome of this process.
We hosted former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida late last month, and the press conference brought media, students and academics, and many Associates, as well as a significant on-line crowd. The event was one of many over the last year that completely aligned with our historic role to be where the news is made in Japan, as well as our modern value, which is far from complete. We have many more such moments to come, but I encourage whether in-person or on-line for you to join these events to learn, be entertained, or just have a good day or night out.
You may be reading this on our homepage or via the No.1 Shimbun, and it is in that regard that after review I’m happy to inform you that Tim Hornyak will take over the position of editor from interim Editor-in-Chief David McNeill after the summer. We look forward to Tim’s editorship, and encourage you to submit pitches, suggestions on how the publication can improve, and features you’d like to read over the next few months.
Finally, this may be my last president’s column for the No.1, and it has been a deep honor over the last two years to share what’s happening - or happened - at the Club, our highs - and lows, and my and many others’ deep passion for this institution and its mission. Keep the light on.
Dan Sloan
FCCJ President
