Japan Society of Fairfield County
Annual Meeting 2006
Sunday October 22, 2006
The current slate of officers and
directors was re-elected to
serve another one year term.
JSFC is financially sound and the board
recommends retaining the
current dues level to fund
the current program.
The JSFC web site has proved to be very
successful. We've logged over
12,000 visits thus far, and have well over 1000 visits per month now.
We
believe it is desirable to have the maximum participation in our
events and
will make event information fully available on the web site. Because
this has
the potential to increase the participation of non members, we have
decided to change the fee structure for our events to more effectively
recoup the costs
of non-member participation and encourage those who participate to
join. For 2007 events, we will have a member's price, a price $5 higher
for non-members accompanying a member as a guest, and a price $10
higher for non-members.
Member's dues renewal date is noted on
the mailing label; please keep
your dues paid up so we don't have to charge you the non-member rate.
If you did not receive an email notice for the annual meeting, please
send us your email. It will help insure that
you receive priority notification and reservation rights for our
events. I currently have emails for approximately half our membership.
A request for our directory by one of our members was declined at the
annual meeting. We do not share our membership list or email list with
anyone.
We are establishing a family board to
provide diversions for young
children at our events so everyone can enjoy our programs.
We welcome volunteers to help run our
society and serve as future
directors and officers. Involvement now trains one for future
leadership.
Future events were discussed and will be
appropriately posted on our
Upcoming Events page.
Joan and Jerry Rolnick donated a collection
of historic Japanese materials to JSFC from approximately 1920,
including an official Japanese rail guide in English and Bridgeport
newspaper coverage of the Great Tokyo (Kanto) earthquake of
1923. This was a wonderful addition to both our society and
our movie event as Bluestockings was set in
this period. Russell Handelman is cataloging the material.
Diane Barton will attend the presentation of
the final plans for Mill River Park in Stamford, home of the Nojima
Cherry trees. It is our hope that these trees will be
preserved. The story of these trees, as told by Noboru Uezumi as
a
Kamishibai presentation, is now on our web site.
Vernon, Nancy, and Nina attended a
reception for returning
JET program
participants.
This excellent program allows young Americans in spend a year in Japan
as an assistant english language instructors, working with students in
nursery school through high school as well as their regular language
teachers. This program is run by the Japan
Local Government Center
(CLAIR) which encourages municipal to municipal interactions
between
Japan and the US. Read about the extensive program of municipal mergers
in Japan in the JLGC newsletter.
Jiyuu Renai (Bluestockings): Set in Tokyo in the early
1920s, Jiyuu Renai explores the beginnings of the Japanese women's
movement, the pressures between tradition and modernization and between
eastern and western values through the lives of two friends,
Akiko and Kyoko, who had pledged in high school to become “new
women”. Meeting again after a few years, Akiko is now in an
arranged marriage to a wealthy businessman from a conservative family,
while Kyoko is a divorcee barely scraping by as a country house
caretaker, but who has at least remained truer to her
convictions. Akiko decides to help her friend with money and a
job, and by doing so entangles their lives further in the growing
cultural tensions of Taisho era Japan. Compelling, layered
performances in a story of forces in conflict, desires pulling
characters in unexpected directions, and with lavish period costumes
and sets, Jiyuu Renai vividly re-creates a critical period in Japanese
history.
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