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.
Sergey Korsunsky made an emotional appeal about his country's fight for independence, including a flashback to the beginning of 2022, when Russian officials assured the world they had no intention of starting a war. That included the Russian ambassador to Japan, who came to the FCCJ to make the same argument.
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.
Several past presidents and many board members from previous administrations attended, and all contributed insights from their years of experience. I'd like to give a brief overview of the questions raised and answers given.
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.
Dear members,
There are quite a few changes going on at the club these days. They are touching personnel, procedures and practices. Before describing the latest moves, it may help to sketch out the guiding principles for our work.
All of our efforts are organized around three central priorities - ensuring financial viability, building the premier destination for global journalism in Japan and creating the best experience possible for our members.
Hello FCCJ members,
I wanted to reach out to the club's membership to introduce myself briefly and open the channels of communication for the entire board. I've been a journalist for more than 30 years, beginning in Chicago and then working in San Francisco and New York before landing in Tokyo nine years ago. I'm now an executive editor at Bloomberg News, responsible for our coverage of technology in Asia.
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.
First, the positives. Committee members and Club staff have worked tirelessly to keep services active throughout the pandemic. I am still amazed and humbled that the Club stayed open during the many periods of restrictions requested by the government. A big thank you, too, to the General Manager, Toru Morishima, whose patient and firm leadership has already won him accolades.
Club activities are picking up steadily this month, and I am grateful to the committee heads for their hard work. I am delighted to report that Saturday Night Live events are proving wildly popular, with full houses in April. We have several unique events coming up in May, including a special bunraku performance and a concert by Tokiko Kato exclusively for members. Both events will showcase top Japanese artists who usually appear before much larger audiences. I encourage members to take the opportunity to come along and meet these celebrated performers.
