Issue:
Dear Membership:
We are very excited about the new food and beverage vendor, Tokyu Corp., which will start Club operations at the FCCJ on October 1. Please expect a revitalized and exciting menu, attractive pricing and fare and a focus on service worth your patronage. We also expect that our banquet events, parties, and tastings will be well run and more frequent, as Tokyu’s experience across a variety of restaurants and hospitality venues will bring new vigor to the Club. There’s more on Tokyu in a No.1 Shimbun story by Board Director Michiyo Nakamoto, who is also co-chair of the F&B Committee.
Despite summer holidays and scaled-down Club activities, we hosted a number of great speakers and events, including two young kabuki stars, a look at Japanese security, and a tea date with a Diet member and Nihoncha industry leader. I wrote about it for the No.1 Shimbun, so please take a look. I mention our club magazine because this issue will be the last stint for interim editor David McNeill before he passes the baton to Tim Hornyak from October. I thank all for a great line of editors extending back to Justin McCurry and my old sempai, Pat Killen.
It appears Japan may soon have a Cabinet reshuffle. We are hosting Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications Yoshimasa Hayashi on September 1. He is going to discuss the aftermath of the Kumamoto earthquake. I have known Minister Hayashi for almost 30 years, and along with former Minister Taro Kono, they are two of the most experienced and foreign media-friendly Diet members that the Club has had the pleasure to host. If you cannot attend in person, I hope you check out the YouTube archive from the PAC event. Separately, the Club’s own Kumamoto relief fund has raised 350,000 yen, and I thank everyone who contributed. We will close the fund next week.
We have a number of new Board members and so far there’s been great enthusiasm to build on the promotional and fundraising efforts of the last two BoDs. Meanwhile, we have a number of committees kicking off the new Club year of events and activities. I greatly encourage you to join a committee and bring your expertise and enthusiasm to the FCCJ; we absolutely need you.
In that vein, we are trying to restart the Membership Marketing and IT committees, respectively. If you have time or interest in being part of either or any committee, don’t hesitate to contact me or any Board member.
All best,
Dan Sloan
FCCJ President
