FALL 2012

Features:Seattle Week in Review

continues on pages 2-3

“Defi ning Leadership”pages 4-5

Meet the New Tokyo Offi cepage 6

USJLP: Global Impactpage 7

News and Updatespage 8-15

Save the Dates!back cover

Seattle shines with surprises for 2012 Delegates

Scott and Laurie Oki (far left) hosted one of the highlights of the 2012 Seattle Conference: a reception on July 17, 2012 at their beautiful home on Lake Washington with “surprise” special guest U.S. Ambassador to

China Gary Locke (fi rst row center, petting “Mochi”).

This past summer USJLP met for the seventh time in Seattle to hold the

thirteenth annual conference from July 14-21, 2012. Seattle shone in bright, summery display of the diverse offer-ings of the city. From toasting the start of a great week in Woodinville wine country, to conversing lake-side with Seattle leaders and receiving executive treatment at Microsoft, new experienc-es awaited for Delegates each day.

Surprises were anything but few and far between. The group was delighted with the unexpected chance to meet Ambassador Gary Locke at Scott and Laurie Oki’s home reception, and were

all too happy to delve in to a mid-plena-ry meditation session led by practicing Buddhists. And, on the final day many Delegates and Fellows were pleased to discover a hidden talent for kayaking!

However, perhaps the overall biggest surprise for Delegates came as they re-flected back on the week, recalling the high energy and lack of ego of the group, and how, in all of their diversities, there lay a common thread that wove among them revealing new opportunities, inspi-rations and collaborations, not to men-tion life-long friendships.

Read more about the week’s events, discussions and memories inside!

2 Seattle Week in Review

Seattle 2012 Week in Review

Saturday, July 14 - Monday, July 16 The thirteenth annual conference kicked-off with a Welcome Dinner at Seattle hot-spot Wild Ginger, where the atmo-sphere was charged with the Delegates’ excitement of meeting new friends and reuniting with tomodachi from Japan 2011.

Sunday’s morning plenary was preceded by a talk and Q&A with Timothy Egan, author and New York Times columnist, who shared his insights into the Seattle area and jump-started the week’s discussions on leadership. Delegates took in an afternoon Seattle Mariners game and closed the day with din-ner as Gohei Nishikawa (12,13) and Robert Kayihura (09,12)

each shared a “My Story” on overcoming challenges. On Monday Delegates took a mid-day break from a full day

of plenary sessions to go on a historical guided tour of Pike Place Market. In the evening the group rode out to DeLille Cellars in the heart of Woodinville wine country, where they enjoyed dining al fresco while taking in the beautiful views.

Little did they know at the time, but on July 15 Delegates witnessed Ichiro Suzuki play his last home game as a Seattle Mariner before his trade to the New York Yankees. US-

JLP will miss you Ichiro! Pictured above from left: Ben Mazzotta (12,13), Erik Leklem (12,13), ICHIRO, Ann Kim (11,12) and Laura Winthrop Abbot (11,12).

Tuesday, July 17 - Wednesday July 18Following morning plenary sessions the group visited Micro-soft’s Executive Briefing Center, where they were treated to a VIP tour of Microsoft’s “Home of the Future” - a full-scale prototype of what visionaries think homes could look and feel like in 5, 10, 20 years. After this glimpse into the future, Del-egates were then welcomed by Scott and Laurie Oki at their private residence. Scott, a former Microsoft executive, is cur-

rently CEO of Oki Development and a member of the USJLP Honorary Advisory Board. Delegates rel-ished the opportunity to speak with him and surprise special guest Gary Locke, U.S. Ambassador to China.

By Wednesday Delegates had held plenary discus-sions on everything from the future of nuclear energy, Buddhism in the 21st century, U.S. foreign policy and the rise of China. With much more to discuss, Dele-gates spent all day in plenary sessions and then relaxed on a boat cruise of Lake Union and Lake Washington.

Below: Delegates raise a toast to a great confer-ence at Delille Cellars. Left to right: Kay Kitazawa (12,13), Keisuke Matsumoto

(11,12), Brendan Kelly (11,12), Keiko Ihara (11,12), CB Cain (12,13), Takako Kubo

(12,13), Mika Nabeshima (09,12), Maki Tanaka (11,12), Atsuko Nishigaki (11,12), Aaron Ford (12,13), Jiro Yoshino (09,12),

Genn Perkins (12,13), Ken Katayama (12,13).

Above: On July 16, Delegates

toured the famous Pike Place Market, learning

about its history and the origins of Seattle.

The 2012 Delegates enjoying fresh air and beautiful Seattle scenery on a July 18 boat cruise of Lake Union and Lake Washington.

3Seattle Week in Review

Thursday, July 19 The day started early as the Del-egates headed out for a special factory floor tour of the largest building in the world - Boeing’s Everett facility. After getting up close and personal with Fellows Weekend kicked off in the afternoon with Fellows joining Delegates for afternoon discussions and presentations on leadership, and dinner at the Seattle Aquarium. Attendees enjoyed hearing “My Story” presentations from performance race car driver Keiko Ihara

(11,12) and ClearWater CEO David Abraham (12,13).

Friday, July 20 The final day welcomed in three key note speakers: David Sanger, Chief Washington Correspon-dent for The New York Times, Tom Johnson, USJF Chair-man, and Minoru Makihara, Chairman of the USJLP Hon-orary Advisory Board. Fellows and Delegates then spent the day together in a sea-kayaking adventure on Lake Union and closed the conference with dinner at the Fairmont Olympic, complete with a talent show featuring a another riveting per-formance by pianist Gohei Nishikawa (12,13), salsa dancing with Debra Saito (12,13), and Michael Jackson impersonator extraordinaire Aaron Ford (12,13).

Delegates were excited to view the 787 Dreamliner in production at the Boeing Everett factory on July 19. From left to right: Jiro Yoshino (09,12), Hiroaki Toya (11,12), Gohei

Nishikawa (12,13), Laura Winthrop Abbot (11,12), Keisuke Shirai (12,13), Atsuko Nishigaki (11,12), Glenn Perkins (12,13), Yumiko Kusakabe (11,12), Mika Nabeshima

(09,12), Takako Kubo (12,13), Travis Sullivan (12,13), Keiko Ihara (11,12) and Kay Kitazawa (12,13).

USJLPers welcomed the opportunity to speak to key note speakers Tom Johnson and Minoru Makihara at the farewell dinner on July 20. Pictured from left to right: Tom Johnson, Miyuki Yoshida (06,07), Ann Johnson, Keisuke Matsumoto (11,12), Keiko

Ihara (11,12), Minoru Makihara, Kota Yamaguchi (07,10).

Photo left: China experts in this year’s class were thrilled by the serendipitous opportunity to meet U.S. Ambassador

to China Gary Locke at Scott Oki’s reception on July 17. From left to right:

Osamu Kaneda (12,13), Amb. Locke, Dale Rielage (12,13), and Brendan

Kelly (11,12).

Photo right: Scott Oki (left) steers Jason Edgar (12,13), Mika Nabeshima

(09,12), Keisuke Shirai (12,13) and C.B. Cain (12,13) over Lake

Washington.

Left: Fellows and Delegates stayed in good formation as they paddled their

kayaks on Lake Union on Friday, July 20.

Right: Delegates brought Japanese summer festival spirit to the closing

dinner by dressing in beautiful yukatas. From left: Hiroaki Toya (11, 12), Kay Kitazawa (12,13), Osamu Kaneda (12,13), Yumiko Kusakabe

(11,12), Keisuke Matsumoto (11,12), Maki Tanaka (11, 12), Mika Na-

beshima (09,12) , Mari Matsumoto (09, 12).

4 Seattle 2012: “Defi ning Leadership”

Glenn Perkins (12,13)

How many leaders does it take to define leadership? So that we didn’t take the L in USJLP for granted, George Packard challenged Delegates during our

week in Seattle to think about what leadership actually means. It’s a tough ques-tion to answer, and having a group representing such wide-ranging fields and backgrounds, not to mention different nationalities, didn’t make it any easier. Principles that achieve stunning results for one individual or organization, or in one country, might flop in another.

Throughout the week we heard a lot of ideas about leadership -- both explicit definitions of it and descriptions of what it looks like in practice -- from New York Times columnist Timothy Egan’s notion that a leader “moves people ahead of where they want to go” to Jiro Yoshino’s (09,12) discussion of how leaders can utilize “productive distress” to C.B. Cain’s (12,13) proposal that a leader “is servant to those they lead.”

On Friday, Mika Nabeshima (09,12) and I encouraged four breakout groups to come up with their own creative interpretations for defining leadership and present them to the group, including the Fellows who had started to arrive. I’ll do my best to synopsize the four perspectives, but, believe me, it is nearly impossible to do them justice in this limited space:• Nijikai Leadership: Leadership is an art which combines (1) a great idea, (2) vision, (3) persuasion, (4) luck. Organizing nijikai is a study in all these, though usually the part where you persuade people to stay out is pretty easy.• The Leader/Manager Divide: Visionaries can lead people, sometimes without even being in a capacity to manage them. Managers frequently need to utilize consensus to mobilize people. Personality and communications skills may help balance these opposing tendencies.• The Crisis/Status Quo Balance: Leadership requires abilities and skills that can respond to a crisis with decisiveness and clear direction, but sometimes the great-er challenge is maintaining a forward course in day-to-day situations.• Easy and Eff ective E Principles: Leadership = experience + expertise + example + empathy + ecosystem + “ennovation” + “enspiration.” Celebrities and public

Above: Jason Dean (11,12) and Ben Mazzotta (12,13) model the spirit of the week, and some spiff y USJLP

t-shirts!

Below: USJLP ladies give Gohei Nishikawa (12,13) a little lift up on deck;

Three cheers for USJLP! Hiroaki Toya (11,12) with fi rst year Delegates Osamu Kaneda, Tokuko Kubo, Ren Ito,

and Masaru Tsuchiya all shine at Delille Cellars;

“Look ma, no hands!” Mika Nabeshima (09,12) and Glenn Perkins (12,13) in a little off -land teamwork.

“The Facinating Facets of Perspective”

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LEADERSHIP.

It lies at the heart of this Program. Yet, exactly how do you,

the leaders of this generation, defi ne leadership quali-

ties? As the theme of this year’s conference, Delegates

were challenged during the course of the week to discuss

and defi ne what it means, and what it takes to be a leader

today. Two sets of ears were put to the task to stay open

and alert all week, picking up on the themes that seem to

resonate in both cultures. Did Delegates reach a consen-

sus? Or just open more questions worth exploring? Glenn

Perkins and Mika Nabeshima give us the scoop.

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5Seattle 2012: “Defi ning Leadership”

figures are sometimes mistaken for leaders just because people follow them; others gain legitimacy by embodying these principles. (A Lady Gaga musical accompani-ment was a special touch from this team.)

Leave leaders to define leadership and you get a bounty of thoughtful perspec-tives, all “enspiring.” You didn’t think we’d come up with a universal agreement, did you? The consensus was that this discussion was going to go to nijikai and likely beyond.

“Raising the Glass Ceiling (Or Is That

Just Blue Sky?)”

Mika Nabeshima (09,12)

G eorge Packard had the idea of establishing an overarching theme for the conference this year on the subject of leadership. After all, this is a LEAD-

ERSHIP program! As one of the conference rapporteurs, I want to highlight one aspect of that theme, the changing role of women in leadership.

During Sunday’s panel on “Defining Leadership,” with Yumiko Kusakabe

(11,12), C.B. Cain (12,13), Joseph Daniels (12,13), Hajime Kitajima (11,12), and Jiro Yoshino (09,12), someone asked why there were four men and only one woman on the panel.

“Why women still can’t have it all” by Anne-Marie Slaughter had been pub-lished in The Atlantic just before the conference and encouraged discussion and responses from “But don’t we?” to “Do men have it all?” to “Do we have to have it all?”

During the breakout group session on Wednesday, in which we were free to choose topics for discussion, one group chose to focus on women in leadership. Twelve delegates shared stories and exchanged ideas about the reality of women in leadership positions and the challenges they face today. While we agreed that the “glass ceiling” still exists, we also acknowledged that progress has been made

in accepting women in leadership positions in the last twenty years, although still to a lesser degree in Japan.

We discussed the challenges women face not only from the majority question-ing their qualifications, but also balancing family demands and dealing with other women in different life circumstances (married/unmarried, kids/no kids, caring for aging parents, etc.) or generations. Do men also face such difficulties?

The value of bringing diversity in the workplace, particularly at the management level, is being recognized more and more as critical to generating sound decisions and keeping organizations competitive in an increasingly global and complex envi-ronment.

We agreed that for such changes to continue, there must be buy-in by the ma-jority and structural changes to promote greater opportunities for any minority groups whether defined by gender, race, religion, or cultural background.

On a personal level, our children will have a different view, having seen their mothers in the workplace and in leadership positions. There was not enough time to discuss this topic in-depth but the conversation ended on a positive note with the suggestion of starting a network within USJLP to continue the exchange of ideas, to encourage further discussion and to provide a support mechanism through the network and dialogues.

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Above: Delegates form a pyramid of smiles on the dock of Scott Oki’s lakefront home;

Keisuke Shirai (12,13), Lynn Hashimoto (06,07), Nobuko Kato (05,06), and Yuuko Iizuka (00,09) are all

for “going green” at Agua Verde Paddle Club;

Seeing double: buddhist priests Keisuke Matsumoto (11,12) and Taka Kawakami (08,09) at Friday’s dinner.

Below: The panel that started it all... Hajime Kitajima, Joseph Daniels, C.B. Cain, Yumiko Kusakabe and Jiro Yoshino pose after an excellent “theme of the week”

plenary session on leadership.

6 Tokyo Offi ce Update

On September 1, Tomoyuki Watanabe succeeded Takeo Takuma, who retired on August 31, as the new Japan

Representative of the US-Japan Foundation’s Tokyo office. In this capacity, Watanabe-san will serve as Deputy Director of the USJLP. Takuma-san dedicated 16 years of service to the US-Japan Foundation and was influential in shaping the first 13 years of USJLP. Watanabe-san brings a breadth of leadership experience to the Foundation with his background in executive search consulting, global management, and his founding of an NPO dedicated to developing the next gen-eration of business leaders and social entrepreneurs in Japan. The gentlemen address USJLP in the messages that follow.

Message from Takeo Takuma:

Dear USJLP Fellows and Delegates,I have left the Foundation as of the end of August 2012.

About 14 years ago, George initiated the program and, thanks to his dedication and your support, USJLP has become one of the most unique projects of the kind and its achievement is now very widely and highly appreciated in U.S. and Japan. Please render the same strong support to Mr. Tomoyuki Watanabe, my successor as Japan Representative of the Foundation, and to Aya Tsujita with whom I have been work-ing since an embryo stage of the program in Japan. Wishing each one of you great success in your future endeavors.

Takeo Takuma, with sincere thanks to all

On August , 2012 USJLPers organized a retirement party to say “otsukare-sama” to Takeo Takuma (front row, center) and thank him for his long service as Vice President of USJF.Pictured back row from left: Gen Kanai (06, 07), Ken Yagi (08, 09), Hiroaki Kuwajima (09, 10), Hiroaki Toya (11, 12), Takashi Sakamoto (01, 02), Jiro Yoshino (09, 12), Kota Yama-

guchi (07, 10), Akihisa Shiozaki (10, 11), Kyoichi Sasazawa (07, 08), Taro Kono (00), Noriyuki Shikata (01, 06), Satoshi Okada (03, 04), Tomohito Ihara (08), Daisuke Takatsuki (09, 10). Front row from left: Keiko Ihara (11, 12), Atsuko Nishigaki (11, 12), Yu Miyaji (10, 11), Maki Tanaka (11, 12), Takeo Takuma (USJF), Aya Tsujita (USJF), Naoko Odaka (03, 04)

holding Mari Ikeuchi, Rachel Brunette-Chen (06, 07), Makiko Nakayama (08, 09), Yuko Mochizuki (USJF).

Message from Tomo Watanabe:

USJLP Fellows and Delegates, It is a great honor to join the United States - Japan Foun-

dation. I have been involved in leadership development pro-grams and initiatives at another NPO for over a decade, and truly look forward to being part of this great program which Dr. George Packard designed and developed over the years. I am also very much grateful for Takuma-san for his long term commitment for this program, and would like to thank him for his contribution over many years.

I very much look forward to meeting every one of you in the nearest future.

Sincerely,Tomoyuki (Tomo) Watanabe

On September 1, Tomoyuki Watanabe (right) joined forces with Yuko Mochizuki (left) and Aya Tsujita (center) to create a super USJF Tokyo Offi ce line-up!

USJF Welcomes New Head of

Tokyo Office

7

USJLPers Recognized for Their

Global Leadership

Keiko Ihara (11,12), left, and Tetsuya Bessho (06,07), right, at the September 18 press conference and award ceremony for the Japan National Policy Unit’s “Passion without borders” distinction. The ceremony was presided over by Motohisa Furukawa (05,06).

USJLP: Global Impact

In May 2012, Mona Khanna (07,10) was invited to be one of 13 international journalists to participate in the recent inau-

gural Disaster Management and Resilience in the Asia Pacific Journalism Fellowship program cosponsored by the East-West Center and the Center for Global Partnership. Through a two-week tour of high level discussions with government of-

ficials and private sector leaders in San Francisco, Honolulu, Tokyo and Sendai, the fellows were introduced to a broad range of disaster management activities in the U.S. and Japan as well as post-disaster challenges to political, economic and energy resiliency. Fellows met Jin Sato, mayor of Minamisan-riku, who survived the tsunami in a harrowing ordeal that had him clinging to a radio antenna at the top of a building. Dr. Mona was elected to speak on behalf of the journalists at the U.S. Embassy hosted reception in Tokyo. After the formal program ended she traveled on her own to Ogatsu and Ishi-nomaki City in Tohoku to provide care to tsunami survivors living in government shelters. Dr. Mona also provided an in-service on how to decrease risk of stroke by managing blood pressure, trained residents of a disaster settlement on how to take blood pressure, and donated a blood pressure machine to the community. Partly due to her work helping Japanese survivors, Dr. Mona was recently awarded the Institute of Medicine of Chicago’s Global Health Humanitarian Award and the American College of Physicians Oscar E. Edwards Memorial Award for Volunteerism and Community Service.

Dr. Mona Khanna (07,10) Gives

Medical Care to 3.11 Survivors

Mona Khanna (07,10) administering a medical examination to a 3.11 tsunami survivor in May of this year.

Kiyori Ueno (09,13) Serves

Those in Need in Ethiopia

A fter a two-year stint as a Donor Relations Officer at the United Nation’s World Food Program’s headquarters in

Rome, Kiyori Ueno (09,13) transferred to the WFP’s Ethiopia County Office in late June. Kiyori tells us,“The transition was my wish as I wanted to be closer to the people we, the WFP, serve; people suffering from hunger and refugees from Soma-lia, South Sudan, and so on. Despite its long, proud history, Ethiopia remains one of the poorest countries in the world. In the few months that I have been here I have had many op-portunities to visit various sites, including refugee camps on border with Somalia and sites where WFP distributes food to poor Ethiopian people, and to interview those people. Seeing those people with my own eyes has been heart-breaking but I have also witnessed their toughness and resilience.”

Kiyori Ueno (front, center) in late June, 2012 at a Somali refugee camp in the town of Dollo Ado in Ethiopia, near the Somalian border.

On September 18 the Japanese National Policy Unit of-ficially recognized 63 Japanese selected by members of

the foreign press for their distinguished activities, presence and success outside of Japan. Three of these “passion without borders” superstars are USJLPers! Tetsuya Bessho (06,07) was recognized for starting the Short Shorts Film Festival (now a qualifying festival for the Academy Awards), Keiko Ihara

(11,12) for her leadership as a female athlete in the world of high-performance racing, and Kay Shimizu (11,14) as a leading researcher on the political economy of Japan and China.

8News and Updates

News & Updates

Spencer Abbot (10,11) and Laura

Winthrop Abbot (11,12)

Spencer and Laura shared their happy news that they’re expecting their first child, a daughter. Their “aka-chan” is due in late December. Spencer recently began an assignment as Executive Of-ficer of Strike-Fighter Squadron 27, the “Royal Maces,” an FA-18E Super Hornet squadron based in Atsugi, Ja-pan. Spencer joined the squadron at-sea aboard the aircraft carrier USS George Washington in early July, and he’s scheduled to become the squadron’s Commanding Officer next fall. Laura continues her work at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo as Executive Director of the TOMODACHI Initiative.

David Abraham (11,12)

ClearWater Nippon became a formal NPO in Japan this summer and had its first members meeting in Tokyo in July. We provide clean water to people in need in Africa and also go to schools in Japan to educate children about the im-portance of clean water globally. We are looking for board members and other volunteers interested in being involved in an NPO that helps the world’s poor-est live happier, healthier lives. We are also one of few Japanese aid organiza-

tions in the water sector with an office in Africa. For more details: http://clearwa-terinitiative.org/nippon/

Steve Brock (06,07)

Since I last wrote, I completed my as-signment at the White House as Di-rector for East Asian Security Affairs at National Security Council Staff, was promoted to Captain, USN and am now at the Pentagon serving as Deputy Director for Intelligence (DDI) on the staff of Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS). At NSS, I was grateful the U.S.-Japan alliance components of my port-folio afforded me the opportunity to benefit from very valuable professional collaboration with several USJLPers to include my time as co-chair of an Ex-ecutive Branch principles process on Guam-Okinawa realignment. I also

picked up another masters at National Defense University along with fellow distinguished grad, USJLPer, and Navy shipmate Brent Sadler (07,10). A high-light of this summer occurred when my wife Melanie, daughter Kaia and I met up with Nori Shikata (01,06), his wife Akiko and his son Tomo in late August. Nori was helping Tomo settle in for his first year of college at Georgetown. It was good to see Nori and meet his family back on campus of my old grad school alma mater. My three year old Kaia is moving her way up through the State Department’s “Diplotots” day care ranks and developed an unbounded en-thusiasm for Japanese restaurants this summer! And saving the best for last, the biggest news I have to pass is that my wife Melanie and I are expecting our second child in April (USJLP 44!)

Steve Brock (06,07) working with President Obama last year during one of several meetings related to rebalancing U.S. security policy towards Asia.

D.C.-area USJLPers came out on September

7 to welcome Mika Nabeshima (09,12) to

the capitol. From left to right: Ken Katayama

(12,13), Yumiko Kusak-abe (11,12), Erik Leklem (12,13), Ren Ito (12,13), Mika Nabeshima, Raelyn

Campbell (08,09) and Morgan Courtney.

Twice the USJLP cuteness! Fiona Marie was born to Kathleen (08,09) and David (10,12) Motzenbecker on

May 9, 2012 and has already attended her fi rst Seattle conference. Fiona, we’ll see you again in 2042!

9News and Updates

The latest , greatest Calabia family photo! Chris (10,11) in June holding baby Connor ,with Suzanne,

Gabriella (8), and Julianna (5).

Chris Calabia (10,11)

Greetings, USJLP Tomodachi! My fam-ily and I were blessed to welcome F. Connor Calabia to our family this past May. Gabriella (8) and Julianna (5) have been sharing favorite books and songs with their new brother, while Suzanne and I remain amazed as we watch our

family grow, even if we will be getting a little less sleep for a while. Earlier this year, I was honored to be promoted to Senior Vice President at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, where I continue to focus on the regulation and supervision of the largest and most complex global financial institutions. So 2012 has been a wonderful year of new chapters at home and at work. Warm regards from our family to yours.

Chris Howard (04,05)

I am happy to report that our oldest son, Cohen, graduated from Virginia

Episcopal School and enrolled at Se-wanee (The University of the South) in Tennessee and is thoroughly enjoy-ing the experience thus far. Our young-est son, Joshua, enrolled at Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia so Barbara and I are almost “empty-nest-ers” but for our dog, the indefatigable Sammy - a beagle/Jack Russell terrier mix. Summer was delightful with busi-ness, professional and personal travel intermixed throughout including West Virginia, Annapolis, the Dominican Re-public, Dallas and Vancouver, Canada. I had the good fortune of moderating a panel at the Aspen Ideas Festival en-titled “Raising Boys, Engaging Guys & Educating Men” and was awarded the Pathfinder Award by my alma mater, the US Air Force Academy, with my best friend and fellow USJLPer, Colo-nel Rodney Lewis (10,11) in the audi-ence. My fourth year as president of Hampden-Sydney College began on 28 August as we welcomed the second largest freshmen class in our school’s 238 year history and the most highly-qualified as well as the highest percent-age (14%) of Eagle Scouts. We also launched an innovative program called “C-Day” whereby the entire College community comes together to help our students discern their purpose, passion and calling in life.

Keiko Ihara (11,12)

I’ve been participating in the World En-durance Championship (WEC) race se-

ries this year. In Belgium and the U.K., I won the world championship points of the series as a first female racing driver in the world. In June, I could participate in the legendary Le Mans 24 hour race in France as the sole woman competi-tor.

In October, WEC comes to the Fuji Speedway. With support from our US-JLP colleagues Laura Winthrop Abbot

(11,12), Hiroaki Toya (11,12) and Takako

Kubo (12,13), I’m planning to conduct an educational program for American and Japanese children at the circuit.

Jo Ann Jenkins (00, 01)

In June 2010, I was appointed President of AARP Foundation, the charitable arm of AARP. The past year and a half has been energizing and fulfilling. AARP Foundation focuses on four priority ar-eas where action and legal advocacy will have the greatest impact on the lives of low-income, 50+ Americans: hunger, income, housing and isolation. One of our major initiatives this past year is our Drive to End Hunger program, a mul-tipronged assault on the hunger prob-lem among Americans 50+. To help broaden visibility of the hunger prob-lem, we have partnered with Hendrick Motorsports and NASCAR driver, Jeff Gordon, to bring the message of senior hunger to an expansive new audience. I never imagined I’d be spending my weekends at the race tracks across the

In June 2012 Keiko Ihara (11,12) participated in the

Le Mains 24-Hour endurance race in France as this year’s

only female competitor in the FIA World Endurance Champ-tionship. Pictured: Keiko with her her Le Mans car sporting

the TOMODACHI logo.

Jo Ann Jenkins (00,01) promoting the AARP’s Drive to End Hunger program at a NASCAR race, thanks in part

to their partnership with #24 driver Jeff Gordon.

10News and Updates

country – but it works! I’m pleased to report that since its 2010 inception, the Drive to End Hunger has driven corpo-rate and individual donor commitments with an expected value of $16 million, plus we have fed over 6.7 million meals and reached over 1 billion people with our message around senior hunger.

I’m also gratified to report that follow-ing the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami in Japan, AARP Foundation partnered with international aid agen-cies to help provide assistance to senior citizens who survived the disaster.

Ken Jimbo (06,07)

I have obtained a year of research leave from Keio University and am currently conducting research in Southeast Asia

(Singapore and Bangkok). The main focus of my research is comparative analysis of U.S.-Southeast Asia security relations by contrasting U.S. security en-gagements in Singapore, Thailand and Philippines, etc. Any USJLP fellows who have a chance to come to Bang-kok, Thailand by March 2013, let’s get together!

Ken Kaihara (10,11)

In early September Elbridge Colby

(10,11) and I jointly travelled to Tokyo to exchange views on strategic issues with Japanese officials and experts including, of course, Nobu Akiyama (09,10).

Tetsuya Kawabe (01,02)

On June 15 I left Toyota’s head office in Nagoya and took on a new position as Project Manager for Lexus Brand Man-agement Division in Tokyo. I have a small team that focuses on how to uplift Japan through our global products. Lex-us may not have a long history, but we have both passion and customer service that sets us apart from other premium brands. Over the past 20 years our cus-tomer base has changed – the average age used to be mid-40s, but now it is late 60s. This year Lexus has started to refo-cus on marketing to customers in their 30s-50s worldwide and I am excited to see the changes and improvements that are happening.

Takafumi Kawakami (08, 09)

My wife, Hillary Pedersen and I wel-

Taka Kawakami (08,09) and his wife Hillary Pedersen welcomed their fi rst born, Juna Catherine, on April

5. Juna attended her fi rst USJLP conference this past summer and will return with the class of 2042!

comed a beautiful daughter, Juna Cath-erine Pedersen-Kawakami in Kyoto on April 5th, 2012. We are hoping she will be a USJLP candidate in 2037. Also, this year I’ve been teaching the classes to learn about Japanese hospitality (omotenashi) as a part of the Toyota Way of Sales & Marketing program and Zen meditation to local JGSDF.

Hiroaki Kuwajima (09,10)

This past May I started to work as CFO of the Japanese think tank, Aoyama Shachu Corporation, which was estab-lished in 2010 by ex-senior Japanese government officials as well as Harvard Kennedy School graduates. ASC is ded-icated to provide policy analysis and ad-

Ken Kaihara (10,11) introduced his three children Yuka (5), Kotaro (7) and Mirei (10) (above, left to right) to

Midori Goto ( 04,07; center) when she performed with the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra in the National Cherry Blossom Festival in DC on March 31. This past spring Midori was elected for the American Academy

of Arts and Science and also received an honorary Doctor of Music degree from Yale University for her accomplishment and service in the world of music.

Mark Vlasic (08,09; left) and Hiroaki Kuwajima (09,10; right) reunited in Belgium last June when they both happened to be in Brussels at the same time. Hiroaki was there as a Fellow for the Global Emerging Voices

program and Mark for a speaking engagement at Transparency International.

During a ceremony on September 10 Erik Leklem (12,13; right) received the NATO award for his service

in Afghanistan. Admiral James Stavridis (left), Su-preme Allied Commander,

Europe, presented two awards: the Non-Article

Five Service Service medal and the Superior Civilian

Service Award.

11News and Updates

Proud parents Aiko Lane (11,14; right) and Haru Ohtsuka holding a future member of USJLP class of

2042 - baby Caella Murasaki, born June 25.

visory services to both national and re-gional political parties in Japan, standing on a bipartisan position. ASC’s mission is to fundamentally reshape the Japan’s national policy making process by mo-bilizing key stakeholders in the govern-ment and the private sector, and I will be mainly in charge of strategy planning and financial management.

Aiko Lane (11,14)

My husband, Haru, and I welcomed a baby girl into the world on June 25, 2012, and named her Callea Murasaki Ohtsuka. While her birth came too close for me to make it to Seattle this year, at 9 weeks we were able to go to Tokyo to introduce her to our family

and friends. Callea visited Tsukiji fish market, rode the subways, and frequent-ed various izakayas around the city. She had a great time, but her jet lag wore her parents out! We hope you can meet her soon!

Ananda Martin (06,07)

Ananda was recently promoted to Of Counsel in Paul Hasting’s Shanghai office where she leads the Paul Hast-ings’ Global Compliance and Dispute Practices Group in Asia. She regularly advises Japanese and Chinese clients on international anti-bribery law and represents multinational corporations in investigations, litigation and arbitra-tion. She is married to USJLP Fellow Doug Raymond (08,09) and is joined in Shanghai by Doug and their two Chinese-speaking children. Doug and Ananda are looking forward to Jane

Kang’s (05,06) annual Thanksgiving visit to Shanghai.

Keisuke Matsumoto (11,12)

Launched in April 2012, my brand new project, “Temple Management School for Buddhist Monk” has been garnering immense praise. Within the next year I am also preparing for another new proj-ect, “Hospitality School for Buddhist Monk’s Wife.” As for the other news, we are expecting our second baby in November.

Ben Mazzotta (12,13)

What is new with us? Emery started

walking. The Center for Emerging Mar-ket Enterprises (http://fletcher.tufts.edu/ceme) will be expanding our cost of cash research into Egypt and Mexico. We will study how consumers and busi-nesses use cash, and what the prospects are for mobile money and financial in-clusion. Please get in touch if any Fel-lows have contacts there in financial services, government, or retail. And the USJLP visited the Fletcher School last week. I sat next to Fellows Leo Kosin-

ski (05,08) and Rocky Weitz (06,07) at George Packard’s convocation address. Packard brought the crowd to its feet, explaining why Eisenhower exhorted the country to build peace through the twin pillars of “intellect and decent pur-pose.” At once frank and classic, his talk outshone so many diplomatic platitudes blithely muttered on the same stage. Truly inspirational.

TK Nakagaki (02,03)

It was great to finally finish my doctor of ministry program and graduate from the New York Theological Seminary on May 19, 2012. I am determined to pub-lish my dissertation on Interfaith sym-bols, which I am now revising for Eng-lish publication and translating it into Japanese as well. I also finished another program called NYPD Citizen’s Police Academy and received a certificate on June 20.

The annual Hiroshima and Nagasaki

John Blake (10,11) and his wife Christine at their wedding ceremony on September 7. Congratulations

to the happy couple!

Seattle USJLPers reunited at Wild Ginger on October 6 to welcome

Taro Kono (00) and Laura Winthrop Abbot (11,12) who were both in town to speak at the U.S.-Japan Council’s annual conference. Pic-

tured from left to right: Jane Kang (05,06), Taro Kono, Tom Prata

(05,06), John Creighton (02,03), Laura Winthrop Abbot, and Lynn

Hashimoto (06,07).

12News and Updates

memorial ceremony together with the “Voices from Japan” exhibit were suc-cessfully held on August 5 at the Cathe-dral of St. John the Divine and attended by more than 500 people. I have been organizing this event since 1994 (for 18 years!). I deeply appreciate generous donation of various organizations which include the US-Japan Foundation.

Kenji Nawa (03,04)

After 4 years in Boston, MA, my family came back to Nagoya, my hometown. Nagoya is located between Tokyo and Osaka and is where the 2005 World EXPO was held. It is my privilege to participate in USJLP events both in the Kanto and Kansai areas. Please let me know if you have a chance to drop by Nagoya (kenjinawa@hotmail.com).

Atsuko Nishigaki (11,12)

In May, I started working at the Min-istry of Economy, and Trade Industry (METI) where I used to work, after nine years’ working experience as a senior researcher at the Institute for Interna-tional Policy Studies (IIPS), which the former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Naka-

sone chairs.Now I’m in charge of Security Export

Control at METI, while taking care of my three children. It is really hard for me to manage work-life balance now.

Gohei Nishikawa (12,13)

Hi USJLP family! I hope all of you are enjoying the rest of the summer. I would like to inform you about my upcoming performance in New York: Japanese Art Festival, JAM, will be held in East Village NY from November 9-11, 2012. I am invited to this event as a guest per-former, and will perform on Novem-ber 10 (Saturday) evening. You can get more information and tickets at jam@japanesenetwork.org. Tell them you are a friend of Gohei’s. And of course Niji-kai will be held afterwards!

Hide Ohashi (08,09)

Earlier this year I was sent to Malaysia for 6 months on business to work with Petronas, the Malaysian government-owned oil and gas company. I had never been to Malaysia before but my

experience was more comfortable than I expected. In fact, Malaysia is one of the top overseas places that Japanese couples move to after retirement. The country is clean, pro-Japan and has a GDP per capita is around $10,000 which is relatively high for Asia. During my stay I was able to experience attend-ing a Formula 1 race, Ramadan, and also appeared in a local newspaper with Prince William and Princess Catherine.

Miko Oyama (09,13)

I am proud to be dispatched from Keidanren as a visiting fellow at the Cen-ter for Strategic and International Stud-ies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C., and the US representative of the Keidanren 21st Century Public Policy Institute, for two years beginning in October 2012.

This is an important period for the leadership of both our nations, with the United States choosing its next presi-dent in November and Japan set to hold a general election in the near future. I am very pleased to be able to work in Washington, the seat of political power, at this time. I hope to do my best in the fields of both politics and economy to help deepen ties between our two coun-tries.

Jim Schoff (00,01)

I wanted to let you all know that I’ve begun a new chapter in my professional life as a Senior Associate in the Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington.

A mini 2011 USJLP reunion for Aiko Lane’s (11,14) visit to Tokyo

on September 5. From left to right: Nobuko Kato (05,06), Atsuko

Nishigaki (11,12), Keiko Ihara (11,12), Terumichi

Tawara (10,11), Yu Miyaji (10,11), Hiroaki

Toya (11,12), Aiko Lane, Aki Shiozaki (10,11).

Kenji Nawa (03,04); left) cooling down in August with his children Masaki (11), Ryuji (4) and Risa (9).

Atsuko Nishigaki (11,12; far left) and her family had the distinct honor

of meeting with Former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone (center) upon her departure last spring

from the Institute for International Policy Stud-ies. Atsuko appears here with her children (from

left to right) Eko (9), Kento (9), and Takashi (7), and her husband Masato Yamada (far

right).

13News and Updates

My two-year stint at the Defense Depart-ment ended earlier this summer, and I am very pleased to carry on my work on U.S.-Japan relations and regional secu-rity cooperation here at Carnegie.

Noriyuki Shikata (01,06)

After two very eventful years in the Prime Minister’s Office, in early Sep-tember I left my post as Deputy Cabinet Secretary for Public Affairs and Direc-tor of Global Communications, and as-sumed the post of Political Minister at the Embassy of Japan in London.

Since the establishment of the Office of Global Communications at Prime Minister’s Office in August, 2010 with the initiative of then Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Motohisa Furukawa

(05,06), and support from James Kondo

(05,06), our office has gradually grown and we now currently have over 10 staff. I strongly hope that this important of-fice will continue to grow in the years to come.

My time at the Prime Minister’s Of-fice has been quite tough and challeng-ing, especially after March 11, 2011. At the same time, it has been a great plea-sure and a wonderful experience for me to work closely with many American friends, including several USJLPers. Operation Tomodachi and Tomoda-chi Initiative have become major sym-bols of a new era of U.S.-Japan alliance, and I am personally deeply grateful for the wonderful support extended by so

many American people for Japan.In my new post, I will be working not

only on Japan-U.K. relations but on ma-jor international political issues, which would also have bearings upon Japan-U.S. relations. I am strongly hoping that we will soon have a London branch of USJLP! Please drop me a note at noriyuki.shikata@mofa.go.jp when you come to London!!

Tomohito Shinoda (00)

In August and September, I escaped from the heat of Japanese summer to enjoy Nordic cool weather, being in-vited to Stockholm University as a visit-ing scholar, and housed at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs. During my stay in the region, I gave lectures at these institutions as well as the Finland Institution of International Affairs, Lund University and Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Speech top-ics included “U.S.-Japan Alliance and

China,” “Institutional Change and Japa-nese Politics,” and “DPJ’s Response to Fukushima Nuclear Accident.”

Yayoi Shionoiri (10,11)

In June, I hosted an informational event in New York about Seikeikai, a grass-roots organization undertaking recon-structive efforts in Kesennuma, Miyagi post-3/11. Thank you, in particular, to George Packard, Takeshi Ueshima

(01,02), May Liang (04,05) and James

Lintott (00,01), and Kay Shimizu (11,14), from the USJLP family for their various forms of support, and to many others, including Lolita Jackson (10,11), Kelly Nixon and Matt Pottinger (10,11), for representing the “NY USJLP clan” at the event! Seikeikai has been selling beautiful bracelets woven by the Kes-senuma survivors, and they are now be-ing sold in the US through http://www.etsy.com/shop/KesennumaBracelets.

On September 20 Joe Hurd (09,10) represented the Obama

Re-Election Campaign in Madrid as a democratic debate

panelist at the fi rst ever Rock the Vote event held outside of the United States. The event was attended by 1600 U.S.

students and expatriates and resulted in over 600 Americans

registering to vote. Joe went toe to toe against a Romney

representative for an hour long debate on everything from jobs

and the economy, to health care, immigration, climate

change, and the Middle East.

The New York USJLP community came out on June 6 to support Yayoi Shionoiri (10,11) as she hosted a fundraiser and informational event for Seikeikai, a grass-roots

organization formed by 3.11 survivors in the Miyagi prefecture town of Kesenuma. From left:

Yayoi, Matt Pottinger (10,11), Lolita Jackson (10,11), Kay Shimizu

(11,14) and Kelly Nixon (USJF).

Noriyuki Shikata (01,06; right) being interviewed by Hong Kong Phoenix on Japan-China relations on

January 13, 2012

14News and Updates

Tokuko Shironitta (05,06)

It’s been almost six months since we moved to Singapore. A lot happened before we moved here. I left the US Embassy Tokyo last November, as my son developed nephrotic syndrome and required intensive care. Right after that, my husband’s transfer to Singapore was decided. I continue to take care of my son at home. Luckily, his condition has not been very serious and no symptom of recurrence has seen so far. I plan to start looking for opportunities here once the situation settles. Singapore is a highly recommended place to live and visit. Feel free to be in touch with me when you come!

Koichi Sughimoto (10,11)

Hi, USJLP Fellows and Delegates. I am currently working for Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne in Australia as a clinical fellow of cardiac surgery. Our unit performs around 700 operations per year for congenital heart disease, especially in complex heart disease. As all you know, The Economist selected Melbourne as the world’s most livable city where you can enjoy variety of res-taurants and a relaxed atmosphere. Let me know when you drop by on the op-posite hemisphere from US and Japan.

Yuka Uchida (05,06)

In August Yuka Uchida was married to a Japanese diplomat currently stationed in D.C., Mr. Toshihide Ando. The two

met while Yuka was with the Brookings Institute as a visiting scholar of Center for North Asian Policy Studies (CNAPS). Their relationship blossomed during the centennial celebration of Japan’s donation of cherry trees to Washington, D.C. at which Toshi worked as a head of Cultural and Public Affairs Section. They enjoyed their honeymoon travel-ing around the Grand Canyon. Yuka was also recently the featured speaker at an event on Japan’s Middle East Policy held at the Woodrow Wilson Interna-tional Center for Scholars.

Corina Warfi eld (11,14)Michael and I welcomed sweet baby James into the world on August 10. He’s keeping us very busy, and we are loving every minute of it! We head to

Bogota, Colombia at the end of Sep-tember and look forward to settling-in to our new post. I was sorry to miss all my good USJLP friends this summer in Seattle, but hope to see you again soon!

Seiko Yamazaki (01,02)

I joined Hitotsubashi University’s Grad-uate School of International Corporate Strategy (ICS) as a Project Researcher back in 2011. My research interests in-clude: creating shared values through companies’ activities, and both com-petitive and global strategies of Japanese companies. I am also one of the Orga-

nizing Committee Members of the Por-ter Prize, an award established by ICS to bestow recognition on Japanese compa-nies that have achieved and maintained superior profitability in a particular in-

They met through USJLP! Miyuki Yoshida (06,07) ,

right, welcomed Nicole Gibbs (12,13), left, to her former

hometown of Portland, where Nicole graduated from the

Oregon College of Art & Craft (“OCAC”) in Ceramics. After

the USJLP Seattle Conference, Nicole traveled to Portland

to install an exhibition in the Centrum Gallery at OCAC. Her

solo show featured several ink and clay drawings on rice paper, as well as a new piece

titled Divided Attention. Made from thousands of small draw-ings sewn together, this large textural collage fi lled one of

the gallery walls..

Yuka Uchida (05,06; left) with her husband Toshihide Ando (right) against a majestic honeymoon landscape

at the Grand Canyon in August, 2012.

Michael (left) and Corina Warfi eld (11,14) cradle baby James, born August 10. Welcome to the USJLP family! G’dday mates! Koichi Sughimoto (10,11; right) with

his colleagues at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, where Koichi currently serves as a clinical

fellow of cardiac surgery.

15News and Updates

Harvard Kennedy School of Government students at Prime Minister Noda’s offi cial residence on March 16, 2012 during a trip organized by Jiro Yoshino (09,12). Jiro sits in the front row far left, next to Mr. Nagashima, the National

Security Adviser to the Prime Minister, who gave a talk to the students that was moderated by Noriyuki Shikata (01,06; front row, second from right). Prime Minister Noda (center) was also present to give remarks..

dustry by implementing unique strate-gies based on innovations in products, processes, and ways of managing.

Jiro Yoshino (09,12)

Back in March I, as the chair of Japan caucus in Harvard Kennedy School, helped organize the Harvard Kennedy School’s “Japan Trip.” Bringing class-mates to Japan to see what was going on one year after the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake had very special meaning to me and the other organizers. Twenty-four participants from 12 countries vis-ited the affected city of Rikuzen-Takata and had the opportunity to meet and talk to both locals and the deputy mayor of city. We were impressed how they were dedicated to overcome this un-precedented hardship and the ways that they were finding hope through the pro-cess of recovery. Another highlight of this trip was meeting and talking with the leaders of Japan: Prime Minister Noda and the National Security Adviser of the Japanese Prime Minister, Mr. Nagashi-ma. At the Prime Minister’s office they discussed with us the essence of how to

mobilize people to achieve shared pur-pose and make the world a better place. Furthermore, we had the great fortune of having Noriyuki Shikata (01,06), the then Deputy Cabinet Secretary for Pub-lic Relations, moderate the discussion. I am amazed at the many USJLP Fellows in high positions in each country.

Nominate a candidate!USJF is currently accepting

applications for the 2013-

2014 conferences.

The deadline is Monday,

January 7, 2013.

On August 14, 2012 the US-Japan Foundation and USJLP co-hosted a reception at Scholastic headquarters in New York for recent high school graduates from Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima (pictured above in green shirts), who all spent two weeks in the U.S. as young Tohoku ambassadors of the “TOMODACHI Summer 2012 BEYOND Tomorrow U.S. Program.” USJLPers in attendance included: Jason Edgar (12,13), Lolita Jackson (10,11), David Janes (02,03),

Mari Matsumoto (09,12), TK Nakagaki (02,03), Gohei Nishikawa (12,13), Eriko Sase (08,09), Yayoi Shionoiri (10,11), and May Yamada-Lifton (06,09).

Tohoku Youth Ambassadors Share Personal 3.11 Stories in NYC

L ast August, ten student survivors of 3.11 traveled to the U.S. as part of

a program jointly produced by the TO-MODACHI Initiative and BEYOND Tomorrow to provide affected Tohoku youth with opportunities to learn from the U.S. experience in post-disaster re-construction and planning, as well as act as Tohoku ambassadors and share their personal 3.11 stories.

On August 14 in New York, at an informal gathering organized by David

Janes (02,03), a number of USJLPers were fortunate enough to meet these young men and women and hear their powerful first-hand accounts of 3.11.

The TOMODACHI Initiative Director is Laura Abbot (11,12) and BEYOND Tomorrow counts James

Kondo (05,06), Keiichiro Asao (01,02), Claire Chino (08,09), and Daisuke Iwase

(11,14) among its founding members.

SAVE THE DATES!

Tokyo BonenkaiThursday, December 6, 2012

7:00 - 9:00 p.m.

International House of Japan, Roppongi

Seattle BonenkaiMonday, December 3, 2012

Details TBA

New York BonenkaiTuesday, December 11, 2012

6:00 - 8:00 p.m.

417 Park Avenue

Washington, D.C. BonenkaiThursday, December 13, 2012

Details TBA

USJLP FOURTEENTH

ANNUAL CONFERENCE

Kyoto and Tokyo

Sunday, July 21 -

Sunday, July 28, 2013

FELLOWS WEEKEND

Friday, July 26 -

Sunday, July 28, 2013

New York Offi ce:

US-Japan Foundation

Attn: USJLP

145 E. 32nd Street, 12th Fl.

New York, NY 10016

USA

info@us-jf.org

Tokyo Offi ce:

US-Japan Foundation

Attn: USJLP

Reinanzaka Building 1F

1-14-2 Akasaka, Minato-ku

Tokyo 107-0052 Japan

infotokyo-usjf@nifty.com

Candidates for the 2013-2014 Conferences

USJLP welcomes applications from American and Japanese citizens between

the ages of 28-42 with demonstrated leadership, achievement, or the potential

for leadership in their respective fi elds. Visit www.usjlp.org/apply for complete

information on submitting applications.

Applications must be received by Monday, January 7, 2013.

Please send all inquries to applications@usjlp.org.

We look forward to hearing from you!