2022 New Year Lecture "Women's Social Advancement in Meiji Era"

On January 7, we held a lecture for the first time in about two years at Zennikkei Hall. The theme of this lecture was the social advancement of women, with Mr. Shigeru Matsushita, an economist living in Ichikawa.
The lecturer introduced us the social advancement of women in Meiji and the three people who supported them, Tsuda Umeko , Shibusawa Eiichi , Fukuzawa Yukichi, Also he introduced the life of Oyama Sutematsu, who changed the image of women in Meiji. According to Mr. Matsushita, "For women now, the wind is following." This is because we are in days in which we have no choice but to accept a society that respects individual freedom, independence, and self-management, regardless of gender. And it is said that the latest impact of COVID-19 is further accelerating the flow.
To conclude the lecture, Mr. Matsushita said that now we should learn a lot from Meiji era among which Umeko and Sutematsu had a sense of mission to live devotedly for the sake of society and the public interest, and endurance to have a long timeline to nurture people over 10 years. Now we Japanese should realize that human resources regardless of gender are now in demand.(Pictures from left to right: Oyama Sutematsu, Tsuda Umeko, Shibuswa Eiichi and Fukuzawa Yukichi)

２０２０Members Gathering and Origami Workshop

This year, our activities were suspended due to the spread of novel coronavirus but on December 3rd, we held a members gathering at the Volunteer NPO Support Center and made a crane chopstick holder(Hashibukuro) and a crane New Year's money envelop(Otoshidama- bukuro)as a seasonal Origami.
Eight people participated in the gathering and enjoyed Origami and chatting in an effort to prevent coronavirus infection.

２０１９Donated money for Toshio Hirai 's family

The sad news of the passing of Mr. Toshio Hirai, police officer of Gardena City, by a traffic accident reached us in March. Mr. Hirai came to Ichikawa as a member of Gardena Official Delegation on the occasion of the 55th anniversary of the sister city agreement in 2017.
He acted as interpreter and bodygurd of Mayor Cerda and interacted with IIA members on many occasion.
We solicited donation among IIA members and collected money over 200,000 yen. The donated money was transferred to the account of Gardena Police Foundation and a thank-you note was sent from the fund.
Rest In Peace, Mr. Hirai

2019　Lecture Meeting "Kennedy - Myths and Reality"　new

We had a lecture on November 22 at Zen Nikkei Hall. This time, we invited Mr Hiroshi Tsuchida, an American political scientist, prominent in Kennedy studies, to talk about the story of "Kennedy's Myths and Reality." Overcoming the difficulties and becoming a mythical president are his own strong beliefs - “War must never be waged”, “An error is an error, and if you believe in the right thing it should not be bent”, “The notion that all human beings are equal”, A strong belief towards an ideal society that is, "a peaceful America, and a peaceful world where everyone is recognized as the same person."

2019　Gardena Youth visited Ichikawa　new

On July 30, 6 students and 1 chaperon from Gardena arrived at Narita Airport. They were high school and university students composed of 5 girls and 1 boy, with ages between 14 to 17 years old. On their second day, they began to carry out the scheduled activities and made many visits and inspections while staying with their host families. At the farewell dinner party, each student expressed their impressions and talked about the beautiful sceneries, kindness of people, and the precise and well-organized program. Moreover, they did not forget to express their gratitude to their host families and all the people who were involved in this program. 　　　

Lecture Meeting "Green New Deal”; Tracing a tendency of American Socialism

On May 29, 2019, we had a lecture meeting at Zennikkei Hall with lecturer , Mr. Noboru Kohsaka.
The Green New Deal (hereinafter referred to as "GND") resolution was drafted in February by the Democrat Representative Alexandra Ocasio Cortes (age 29) in collaboration with Senator Edward Marquee. The resolution is a grand plan that includes not only environmental issues but major reforms of social and political issues. Although the resolution was rejected in the Senate and not yet submitted to the Parliament, it can be the issue of the presidential race as Americans are highly interested in the issue of climate change.
In the second half of the lecture, he talked about the socialism tendency behind the policies of the Democratic presidential candidates and how Americans think about socialism. It seems that the way of thinking about socialism is changing. The main policies of the Democratic Party presidential candidates cost enormously and increase the deficit. These policies tend to be regarded as socialist, and it is the focus of attention whether the Democratic Party will take these as policies and enter the next presidential election.
The Presidential Election 2020 would be important for both America’s future and the global world.

Workshop “Oriami” 　new

A workshop called “Oriami” was held on Dec. 18 at the Zennikkei Hall. Oriami is a metal mesh that is supple like cloth and has tension like paper that can be folded like Origami.
We tried to fold it into a crane, but we found it difficult to put a crease on it and it did not produce a firm shape like that of a paper crane. Nevertheless, about 25 participants managed to fold Oriami cranes and showed each other’s work, and shared their impressions. Somehow, we were not satisfied with the result and decided to fold up a “celebration crane” with paper, and closed the workshop with much satisfaction.

Graveyards and weeping willows in USA 　

The lecture meeting of the above theme was held on Aug 24 at Zennikkei Hall with more than 30 attendees. The lecturer, Ms. Mariko Kurosawa, professor of Senshu University, told us about the design of tombs, which were replaced with weeping willows, and about their relation with the graveyard. An Interesting story is about Napoleon’s Willow which is the willow tree planted beside Napoleon’s tomb on Saint Helena Island. Many visitors to Saint Helena Island cut the tip of this willow’s branch as souvenir and plant the cuttings all over the world.

2018 Ichikawa high school students visited Gardena

From August 2 to 11, 8 high school students, 1 chaperone from the IIA Students and Youth Committee together with another chaperone from city office were dispatched to Gardena. The committee supported them in 7 preliminary training workshops, running a debriefing session after trip , and a compilation of report booklet. High school students stayed in host families' residence for seven nights and experienced the American life. They visited the Mayor office and the city council as well as library, sister city parkett, museum, famous tourist spots, theme park, major league ballpark. They also enjoyed getting touch with local children at summer camp and local students at pool party.

2018 Lecture “King of California Winery, Kanae Nagasawa”　

The 1st lecture meeting was held at Zennikkei Hall on May 31 with nearly 40 people attending. This lecture followed today’s lecturer, Mr. Noboru Kohsaka’s publishment “Satsuma Clan Kanae Nagasawa”.
A few years ahead of the Meiji Restoration, Nagasawa left Satsuma(Kagoshima) with other students at his age of 13. Then he moved to the United States and succeeded in cultivating wine in California. Later, he was called as the king of California Winery.
Mr. Kohsaka talked about many topics with regard to Nagasawa as well as about Segodon.

2018　General Meeting

We held the general meeting at Zennikkei Hall on Feb.23 concluding this fiscal year.
2017 was the big year for us as we celebrated 55th anniversary of the sister city affiliation with Gardena. We visited Gardena in summer and welcomed Gardena delegation in autumn. We wrapped up those events with many pictures on the screen. And in 2018, we will dispatch Ichikawa Youth to Gardena.
We pledged our continuous collaboration for the active international exchanges.

2017 Gardena Delegation visited Ichikawa on commemoration of
55th anniversary of sisiter city affiliation

From November 1 to 5, 30 official members from Gardena City visited Ichikawa..
They spent a busy schedule; a courtesy visit to mayor and city council chairperson, the Imperial Palace, the parliamentary tour, the Ichikawa civic festival , Asakusa, the sky tree sightseeing and more. In addition to those, IIA sponsored event "Japan Day 2017" added the variety on itinerary. At Japan Day, they experienced Japanese traditional art form "do" such as Japanese traditional music, aikido, kendo, tea ceremony, flower arrangement and calligraphy.
Memorial ceremony and celebration dinner were held for the first time at the Yamazaki Creation Center with more than 100 members gathered and we pledged to our exchange activities for the years to come.
On the way to Narita Airport on their homecoming day, we asked members how do you like this stay and they gave us the greatest compliment word "Amazing!"

2017 Lecture "Trump Administration and world of its politics and
economy"

On September 14, we had the second lecture this year with more than 30 participants at Zennikkei Hall. Once again Mr. Shigeru Matsushita, the economist living in Ichikawa, was a lecturer. The followings are the summary of his lecture.;
In the background of the birth of the Trump administration, various problems exist such as the falling of the middle class to the low, widening income and asset disparity, disaffection against the political elites and more. Viewing the whole world, the UK’s Brexit, refugees, terrorism, unstable economy and gaining strength of far-right political parties in Europe, China and Russia’s struggling for supremacy, IS and North Korea’s spreading terrorism infer that the world is now entering the new era.
As for the Japan's economy and social affairs, he introduced four viewpoints; (1) the economic growth cannot be achieved only by monetary relaxation, (2) public sectors can assume the leading role in breakaway from deflation, (3) expecting the new era in which women can work active, (4) the multitask can produce the new benefit in society.
The lecture made us realize that the world situation is coming more mixed than before and made us think about how we could live from now.

2017　Ichikawa Citizen Group visited Gardena on commemoration
of 55th anniversary of sisiter city affiliation

30 members of the Ichikawa citizen group visited Gardena for three days after sightseeing the California National Park (Yosemite, Sequoia & Kings Canyon) from July 6 to 13. We enjoyed the summer days under the bright sunshine and majestic view of Yosemite and Sequoia. In Gardena, we enjoyed the barbecue dinner with Gardena people, meetings with children at the school and the summer camps in addition to the official ceremony and the celebration dinner. We were very impressed by usual handmade hospitalities and warm welcome of Gardena people more than usual .

2017 2nd General Assembly and Members Gathering

On Jan 26, the second general assembly and members gathering was held.
At the general assembly, we wrapped up the activities of the year and talked about next year's projection. After that, we enjoyed the tea time chatting over the things about USA and Gardena including visiting and welcoming Gardena on 55th anniversary of sister city affiliation.

2016 Gardena Youth visited Ichikawa

From Jul 25 to Aug 1, two boys, two girls and one chaperon visited the city.
They made a courtesy call to the mayor, visited many places in and out of the city, exchanged opinions with Ichikawa youth as well as experiencing Japanese culture.
They could have good time and memories with their host families on free day.
At the farewell party hosted by IIA and Ichikawa City, they spoke about their expression on this visit and showed dance performance which was acclaimed by audiences.

2016 Lecture “Buzz over Donald Trump and American’s emotion behind the scene”

On May 9, our first lecture meeting this year was held with over 40 attendances.
Mr. Kohsaka, the professor emeritus of J.F. Overlin University, took Mr. Donald Trump as today’s theme. He talked about how Trump’s popularity is booming, what his policies on politics are and why he can generate enthusiastic support of American people , showing many pictures on slide show.　

2016 “New Year Festa 2016”

First time ever, International Day In Ichikawa was held in January under the theme of New Year Festa. On Jan.24 more than 300 people came to the venue Ichikawa Kinro Fukushi Center. Our committee with other Overseas City Committees was handling a part of programs “Lottery”. There were a lot of prizes donated by IIA members and we presorted them 1st, 2nd,3rd and 4th places.
4th place prizes went to everybody at the party and others were by picking the ticket numbers. The lucky winners were so happy with prizes including fine ball-point pens, brand-name goods and gift certificates.

2015 The workshop “Souvenirs Making”

On Oct. 7 and 21, we got together to make souvenirs for up-coming Rosenheim City Delegation with Rosenheim City Committee. The souvenirs are tote-bags made of cloth with beautiful stitches on them.
We handed them over each one of Rosenheim Delegation at the Welcome Party on Nov. 5. They all were pleased with this surprise and we also were happy to see it.

2015 The Lecture “World Economy and Our Daily Lives”

The first lecture of this year was held on May 22 at Shimin Danwashitsu.
Mr Shigeru Matsushita, the Economist who lives in Ichikawa City, gave us very informative talks on what happening in World Economy and how it may affect our daily lives. His four key topics were, �@The world is experiencing unforeseen situations,�AStrong concerns regarding China’s development, �BJapan needs to develop further strategy of growth, �CHow Japan can take advantage of upcoming events to increase world wide interest in its local creativity
such as food, art and ways of living lifestyles. This may trigger further growth of Japanese Economy.

2015 The Lecture “Public Safety and Racial Problem in USA”

On Feb.27,　we were pleased to have Mr. Noboru Kousaka, the emeritus professor of J.F. Oberlin University, who is a famous academic in American Politics and Social Study. He introduced three recent cases which were based on racial problems and continuous efforts of New York City Mayors to calm down the racial situation.
He emphasized that the discrimination in American Society which triggered a High Crime Rate of minorities is still underway.
The lecture may prompt us to foresee the same problems in our future society.

Ichikawa High School Students visited Gardena City in 2014

During Jul. 28 to Aug. 6, nine students visited Gardena City,California, USA on Youth
Exchange Program. Our committee helped students preparing for the travel at the orientation meetings in cooperation with IIA Student Section and Division of the International　Relations, Ichikawa City.
The students stayed host families houses and visited City Hall, City Council, Police Department, Museum, Theme Park and more. They also enjoyed sightseeing and sports on their free days. At the farewell party, they entertained Gardena People with their performances of playing piano and dancing.
At the debrief session on Aug. 18, each student reported his/her experiences with confident look.