On Thursday, April 11, 2013 the Japan Society of Northern California will host our 2013 General Members Meeting and culminate the 2013 Election of Board Members. This exclusive, members-only gathering is your opportunity to meet Japan Society’s staff, plus members of the Board of Directors of the Japan Society, and to learn about our plans for the future. It’s free for all current Japan Society members!
Our special guest speaker, bestselling author Sophie Littlefield, will discuss her new book, Garden of Stones, a harrowing and beautifully woven novel about the vagaries of war, the injustice of racism and a young girl’s search for hope and forgiveness.  Drawing from first person accounts, journals and interviews of internees, Ms. Littlefield will delve into remembering the Manzanar Internment Camp 70 years later.
Click here for more information about the slate of nominees for  this year’s Board Elections! Ballots will be distributed to all eligible voters via email by Thursday, March 28th. Elections will continue until 5:00 PM Thursday, April 18th.
Garden of Stones synopsis:
In the dark days of war, a mother makes the ultimate sacrifice.
Lucy Takeda is just fourteen years old, living in Los Angeles, when the bombs rain down on Pearl Harbor. Within weeks, she and her mother, Miyako, are ripped from their home, rounded up—along with thousands of other innocent Japanese-Americans—and taken to the Manzanar prison camp.
Buffeted by blistering heat and choking dust, Lucy and Miyako must endure the harsh living conditions of the camp. Corruption and abuse creep into every corner of Manzanar, eventually ensnaring beautiful, vulnerable Miyako. Ruined and unwilling to surrender her daughter to the same fate, Miyako soon breaks. Her final act of desperation will stay with Lucy forever…and spur her to sins of her own.
Garden Of Stones is a harrowing tale of stolen innocence and survival that echoes through generations, reverberating between mothers and daughters. It is a moving chronicle of injustice, triumph and the unspeakable acts we commit in the name of love.
Sophie Littlefield is an award-winning and highly-acclaimed author of novels for both teens and adults. She grew up in rural Missouri, attended college in Indiana, and now lives in Northern California, where she writes full time.
Catch Sophie Littlefield’s interview on Garden of Stones with Harlequin Books here.
 
 
 
 
 
Date & Time:
Thursday, April 11, 2013
5:00 to 6:00 pm Members Meeting & Presentation
6:00 to 7:00 pm Reception & Networking
Cost:
The Annual General Meeting is a free event open only to current Japan Society members. For information about how to become a member, please click here. To register, please click here. Seating is limited and early registration is recommended to guarantee admission.
Reception with drinks and hor d’oeuvres to follow.

Click here to register.