Founded in 1987, the purpose of the Friendship Cup Tennis Tournament is to develop a warm relationship between the people of Japan and the United States.

Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, this year we are unable to meet in person for our usual tennis tournament. However, we still believe in the importance of tennis and sport in fostering a warm relationship between Japan and the U.S.

This year we will be hosting an online gathering to celebrate 31 years of the US-Japan Friendship Cup. We are extremely excited to welcome Former Ambassador Shunji Yanai as our special guest. Ambassador Yanai, while serving as the Consul General to Japan in San Francisco, helped create the very first US-Japan Friendship Cup Tournament. At this event he’ll be discussing the history of this tournament and the importance the grassroots friendship between the U.S. and Japan.

You will also be able to learn about the history of Yonex and tennis rackets, participate in a tennis trivia quiz, network, and more. Participants in the trivia quiz may win a Yonex racket as a prize!

We hope you will join us at this fun and meaningful event!

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Date and Time: September 1, 2020 @ 6 PM (PDT) | September 2, 2020 @ 10 AM (JST)

Pricing: Free!

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Agenda:

6:00 PM  –   Welcome Remarks and housekeeping on Zoom

6:05 PM  –   Greetings from Consul General in San Francisco Toru Maeda

6:10 PM  –   Slide Show: Looking Back at the US-Japan Friendship Cup Tennis Tournament’s 31 Year History, Kathleen Kimura, the Member of the Board

6:15 PM  –  Fireside chat with Ambassador Shunji Yanai and Larry Greenwood, former president of Japan Society of Northern California + Q&A

6:35 PM  –  Yonex Video

6:40 PM  – Greetings from Sada Chidambaram and conversation about tennis and sports with Tennis Hall-of-Famer Anne Cribbs, Olympian Rosie Casals, Stanford #1 Laxmi Poruri, and longtime Stanford coach Dick Gould.

6:55 PM  –  Tennis Trivia Quiz

7:05 PM  –  Small Group Breakout session – Networking

7:20 PM  –   Closing Remark

7:25 PM  –  Event Ends

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Speakers:

Ambassador Shunji Yanai

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In Cooperation With:

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