JAPAN-AMERICA SOCIETY OF DALLASFORT WORTH
500 North Central Expy 201, Plano, TX 75074 www.jasdfw.org

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Organizations Filed Purposes: To be a catalyst for vibrant, lasting interaction between the people of North Texas and Japan, impacting lives in a spirit of enduring friendship and trust.

To further mutual understanding and ongoing engagement between Japanese and Americans. We provide quality programs in art and culture, education, business, public policy, and international exchange, and create opportunities for friendship and meaningful interaction.

Japan Currents Symposium: The Japan Currents Symposium brings leading thinkers from both Japan and the U.S. to explore current and future issues that affect the critically important bilateral relationship. Past topics range from international trade to politics, security, and the globalization of Japans economy. The past years theme was The Business and Diplomacy of Baseball in U.S.-Japan Relations and was inspired by the planned 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Japan. The event took place on February 13, 2020. The luncheon featured speeches by Ambassador Ryozo Kato, former Ambassador from Japan to the United States (2001-08) and former Commissioner of Nippon Professional Baseball; Dale Petroskey, President and CEO of the Dallas Regional Chamber and former President of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum; and Ambassador J. Thomas Schieffer, former Ambassador from the United States to Japan (2005-09) and former President of the Texas Rangers Baseball Club. Dr. Hiroki Takeuchi, Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of the Sun & Star Program on Japan and East Asia in the Tower Center at Southern Methodist University, moderated. The afternoon program included speakers Robert Fitts, a baseball historian and award-winning writer; Kazuhiro Gomi, President and CEO of NTT Research, Inc.; Karin Morris, Vice President, Community Outreach with the Texas Rangers Baseball Club and Executive Director, Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation; and Matt Murton, baseball operations staff with the Chicago Cubs Baseball Club and a former professional baseball player in the U.S. and Japan. Dr. Takeuchi moderated the afternoon panel discussion as well.(People Served: 130)

Social Programming:About 100 attendees came to our annual sake tasting event to sample Japanese spirits and cuisine. Our partners with the UTD Asia Center provided the venue and the Sake Export Association were instrumental in bringing brewers and distributors to North Texas. We continued our annual Japan-America Friendship Night in partnership with the Texas Rangers Baseball Club. Consul-General Hideo Fukushima threw out the first pitch, and attendees enjoyed seeing Japanese baseball star Shohei Ohtani. We hope to continue this tradition again soon at the Rangers brand-new stadium. In one of our highest-attended events of the year, we screened the film Persona Non Grata, which presents the dramatic story of Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara. Over 600 people attended this program at The University of Texas at Dallas, and Consul-General Fukushima joined us in North Texas again to give opening remarks. This event was in partnership with the Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies at UTD, AJC Dallas, and the Consulate-General of Japan in Houston. Fall 2019 included a special October concert at Kawai Piano Gallery, where trumpet virtuoso Kana Madarame graced us with her talents. She was in Texas as part of her Project Kana with the goal of sharing Japanese culture through unique art forms and multiple languages. 2019 closed with our always-entertaining Bonenkai Forget-the-Year party, which sold-out quickly and featured a feast from Wa Kubota in Plano. The festivities helped us celebrate one of the most successful calendar years in the Societys history.

Otsukimi Moon Viewing Festival:The Japan-America Society of Dallas/Fort Worth (JASDFW), in partnership with the Crow Museum of Asian Art, hosted the Otsukimi Moon Viewing Festival on the evening of September 14 in Frisco, Texas. This marked the 20th version of the annual event, which grew from a small gathering in a donors yard to now become a celebration attended by thousands. This year included live music, vendors selling goods, taiko drumming, a haiku contest, and special activities to celebrate the lunar beauty of an evening in North Texas. The Japan Foundations Center for Global Partnership served as the presenting sponsor and Canon Solutions America was the supporting sponsor.Otsukimi, a Japanese harvest moon festival, literally means moon-viewing, and it celebrates the Harvest Moon that typically falls on the fifth day of the eighth month of the traditional Japanese calendar. Japanese folklore says that there is a Rabbit-on-the-Moon that makes mochi. The Japanese believe that the Moon Rabbit is pounding rice into a paste that will be made into mochi rice cakes. Ancient Buddhist folklore tells of a virtuous rabbit that gave its life to feed a Buddhist deity disguised as a poor, elderly man. Touched by the rabbits selflessness, the deity drew the rabbits shape into the surface of the moon where it remains to this day. The tale is said to have given rise to Harvest Moon festivals across Asia. Traditionally, otsukimi festivals in Japan involve crafts of making rabbit masks, decorating with seasonal pampas grass, and eating dango a confectionary made from rice flour.Attendees of all ages at this years Otsukimi Moon Viewing Festival could enjoy many crafts throughout the festival. Some of these crafts included origami, a moon rabbit ears creation activity, and Japanese calligraphy. As in many past years, visitors also enjoyed a traditional tea ceremony demonstration with Chado Urasenke Tanko-Kai Dallas-Fort Worth Association. Otsukimi Moon Viewing Festival visitors could also enjoy sweet treats, beverages, and gifts. MatchaLove by Ito En was on hand to sell ice cream and cold tea, and Madame Butterfly Nagasaki offered handmade handbags and silk scarves. Other booths and vendors included Bright Wish Kanzashi, Mitsuwa Marketplace, Yama Izakaya & Sushi, the Frisco Roughriders, the Crow Museum and its Lotus Shop, Tokyo Escapes, Kawaiichikkie, Bobaddiction, ukiyo-e woodblock prints, and Japanese flower arranging by Ikebana International, Dallas Chapter 13.Over 2,000 guests from across North Texas came out to Simpson Plaza at Frisco Square, where the event was hosted for the first time. The night began with a thunderous start, as popular local group Dallas Kiyari Daiko took to the stage with taiko drumming. Other musical performances included song and dance by the Cherry Blossom Choir, the Shakuhachi Ensemble with Master Stan Richardson and Mujuan Dojo, and a very special guest koto player Masayo Ishigure, who lives in New York City.(People Served: approximately 2,000)

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