Steve’s December Update

Happy Holidays from the Japan Society of Northern California!

One of the things I have loved about Japan is the opportunity it provides to experience holiday traditions that have (sort of) crossed cultures. As we approach Christmas I have warm memories of a recent Christmas with my family in Japan, complete with baked chicken from 7-11 and Christmas cake! And, of course, illuminations – the Japanese version of holiday lights on steroids. It really is a wonderful time of year!

The end of the year is also a great time to look back and appreciate the last 12 months. As 2022 comes to a close, I especially want to thank you for all of your support and interest over the last year. Whether you attended our events, became a member, studied Japanese, and/or supported our organization financially, you are the inspiration for our work. And, as we enter 2023, we look forward to your continued support, membership, attendance at our events, participation in our language classes and more!

I hope that you were able to join some of our events and activities in 2022. Looking back at the last 12 months, I realized what a busy year it was for the Japan Society. In 2022 we…  

• Organized ~40 programs on a range of topics, from food and pop culture, to healthcare, innovation, policy, business and more
• Held 3 major events (including our annual Innovation Awards, Healthcare Week in Japan and our Annual Gala)
• Attracted ~6300 registrants for our various programs (of which ~4350 people attended)
• Received an average program rating of 9.0 (on 10 pt. scale) across 25 rated programs
• Held more than 80 group language classes
• Taught Japanese language to more than 500 students 

What were your favorite JSNC activities in 2022? And what would you like to see us do in the new year? Send us your ideas! (https://www.usajapan.org/about/contact-us/#msg) 

Although the team is taking a well-deserved break between Christmas and the New Year, we already have a full agenda for January, including:

• Japan Night reception in conjunction with the JPMorgan Healthcare conference (1/9) (in person, by invitation)
• A review of the annual CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Japanese (1/19) (online)
• Our annual Outlook for Japan 2023 (date TBD)
• A Kyudo and Iaido Workshop in the Santa Cruz Mountains (1/29) (in person)
• A program on Japanese knives (1/18)
• The start of our new language classes, and, 
• A presentation by one of Japan’s great disruptors and serial entrepreneurs – Yoshito Hori, CEO of Globis, Japan’s largest business school (1/25) (hybrid event, Palo Alto and online).

We hope that you have a peaceful holiday and come back ready to join some of the exciting programming we have planned. In the meantime, if you are so inspired, please enjoy some 7-11 chicken and cake in the best of Japanese Christmas traditions. See you in 2023!