Dear Friends,
April is one of my favorite times of year in Japan – the sakura are so spectacular that I don’t even mind the crowds of people out enjoying them. The weather is turning warmer, there is a sense of renewal and the blossoms make everything feel beautiful.
Here at the Japan Society of Northern California, April also means it’s time for our Annual General Members Meeting (AGMM), an occasion when we invite our members to join us for a program and reception, we welcome our new board members and we look ahead to the months to come. It’s also a great time to start or renew your Japan Society membership and stay closely connected with our community.
This year, we have a particularly special AGMM planned for April 14 (please join us!).
After a short business meeting, we will transition to a fun and fascinating program focused on Japan’s kabuki theater, inspired by the hit Japanese film Kokuho—now the highest-grossing Japanese live-action film ever. (If you weren’t able to join our screening in February, I recommend watching it when it comes to a theater or streaming channel near you.)
Kokuho follows the rivalry between two young men who become onnagata (male actors who specialize in female roles). Whether you’ve seen the movie or not, this is a great chance to learn about the traditions of Kabuki and enjoy a live dance performance from Japan.
Kabuki-za in Tokyo
Mark Frey, who teaches courses on Kabuki for the JET Alumni Association of Northern California, will lead the discussion. We’ll also be joined from Japan (via Zoom) by Ume Nakamura, a performer and teacher of Japanese traditional dance, and the granddaughter of renowned kabuki actor Shikan Nakamura VII.
The AGMM is also a great chance to catch up with other JSNC members and hear what we’ve been up to. Speaking of that… here’s a quick JSNC pop quiz:
- How many programs did we host between Jan. 1 and March 31st?
- Which of these areas did we cover? Arts & Culture, Business, Food, Healthcare, Innovation, Policy, Networking, Young Professionals, VIP
- What was our most popular program?
- What was our highest rated program?
- What was YOUR favorite program so far?
Answers:
- 16 programs—MORE than 1 per week! (you can see our past programs here)
- Everything except… FOOD! Even though we had no food-focused programs in Q1, we did have excellent catering at most of our events, and we have two food events coming this month
- Our Japan Night Networking reception in January during the JP Morgan healthcare conference brought in nearly 400 people! (photos)
- Master Crafts: Traditional and Contemporary, presented with our partner JapanCraft21, earned an impressive 9.6/10.0 rating (based on 101 responses!) (video)
- I’d genuinely love to hear your answer to the last question. What was your favorite?
As always, if you missed a program, there’s still a good chance you can catch it online. We post recordings of many of our programs on our Youtube channel or our video gallery a few weeks after the event, so if you missed a program, there’s a chance you can watch the video. We also have a great photo gallery with pictures of most events on our website.
We have a lot more great programs on the way, so please keep an eye on our website and emails! And don’t forget to sign up for our group language lessons – registration for summer classes are now OPEN. And you can sign up for private lessons at any time.
Thank you again for being part of the JSNC community. We are off to a great start in 2026 and I hope to see many of you at the AGMM and upcoming events.
Warm regards,
Steve
