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President’s Report, AJA AGM, August 10, 2011 At an Annual General Meeting we affirm who and what we are as an Association of people who celebrate the links of friendship, interest and goodwill between Australia and Japan. In our program of events throughout the year we often take this for granted, and simply enjoy the occasions and events where we get together and achieve the everyday goals of meeting together. On March 11 this year, however, we were confronted with the terrible earthquake and tsunami which struck Japan, and we had to become more than we had ever been before as the Australia Japan Association of SA. There was suddenly a need to help Japan and to provide avenues by which we could do this. Consequently, we started fundraising both within our AJA group and in cooperation with other Japanese groups and the wider community, and these efforts began with a collection at the very next AJA meeting. An early AJA highlight was the $7,000 raised by two collection days in the city, and our members organised or supported events like the Hafla Belly dance party, the Grace Emily Concert, the Ginza Dinner, and a Garage Sale, as well as the Condolence Ceremony and Matsuri dinner organised by the combined Japanese groups represented in the Japan Earthquake Appeal Committee. I am aware that I haven’t mentioned every event, but can say the total raised so far by all groups that I know of is in excess of $40,000. The crisis in Japan is ongoing, and we will continue to support those in need in the best way we can, as the opportunity to do so arises. Meanwhile, in the coming year we will maintain our normal program of events, supplementing the conversation meetings with social and community events. Many of these will have a fundraising component to further our support for Japan. On a more normal front, we have strongly established our participation in four significant Japanese events now, the Matsuri on Mobara, the Burnside Japanese Cultural Day, the OzAsia Festival and the Australia Day Parade. Even Japanese Garage Sales are part of our program! A major and very successful innovation to Conversation Meetings has been a new Focus 505 Chiayo portable PA system, which is in use this evening. The fact that we often get more than 50 people attending meetings twice a month has made this a communication necessity. At this point, I want to thank all members and friends of the AJA of SA for the tremendous support they have given to our activities in the past year, especially the committee, who volunteer so much time. We lost Nami Abe, Mayumi Hew, Yuka Miura and Yuki Akita earlier in the year to family or work commitments, but they still attend when they can. Tonight for similar reasons we will lose our energetic Public Officer, Steve Jordan, from the committee for a year or two. I thank him in particular, and will miss the strong support he has been over the last two or three years. The new committee-elect are Kyoko Katayama, Sue Treloar, Mio Honda and myself all continuing on, with Tatsuhiko Sakai rejoining and Sebastian Dyson making his committee debut. As our constitution allows for 10 members, I am pleased to declare these 6 people duly elected as your AJA of SA committee for 2011-12. On this note, I will conclude my report, and I look forward to your continued support in the coming AJA of SA year. Jim Stewart August 10, 2011 Progress Report on AJA of SA response to the Japanese Earthquake Disaster 27-03-2011
The events and consequences of the earthquake and tsunami on Friday, March 11, are well known to you all, and even now, more than two weeks later, they are hard to believe, so destructive and tragic have they been. However, we have not been idle even though it may seem so on the surface. The committee, with other concerned members, has met on a number of occasions to consider our options in helping the disaster victims in Japan. At the conversation meeting held the Wednesday after the earthquake, where a record 80+ people attended to hear news and offer support, $400 was raised in spontaneous and generous donations. We have needed to decide what we can do by ourselves, with whom we can cooperate in bigger events or actions, how we can best use the resources of the AJA of SA now and in the future and what are our legal responsibilities in any public fund-raising we may undertake. The results so far are that we have authority to collect donations for Japan in the name of the Australian Red Cross in a number of ways. We are also promoting all genuine fund-raising efforts through our Bulletin and website (so please keep me informed, with as much notice as possible). We are, of course, organising our own activities. Three members of the AJA committee are also part of the Japan Earthquake Appeal Committee convened by Multicultural SA Chairman, Hieu Van Le, and now chaired by Hon. Consul-General Adam Wynn. It is planning a Service of Condolence on Monday, April 11, a fund-raising Dinner and helping to coordinate some form of concert with the many artists who have volunteered their services. We intend to support all events that we can, from okonomiyaki in Victoria Square to JAFA's Kodomo no Hi Festival. Meanwhile the AJA of SA has already been raising funds in the City with two wonderfully supported collection days in the city, mainly in Rundle Mall, and will continue to do so with involvement in the Kimono Choir and the Harvest Dancers and other events as they develop. Many social events, such as the AJA Golf Day will become fund-raisers, and we are considering another Garage Sale, and a special pizza night at Caffé Amore in the near future. In the longer term, because this crisis will not be over soon, our intention is to support more localised projects in the ravaged parts of Japan, and we will keep you informed about this. For now, with greater knowledge of what is possible, we will support our families and friends in Japan in any way we can in this immediate emergency. As President, I thank everyone in the AJA of SA for what they have done so far and for what I know they will continue to do. Your efforts so far have been tremendous. I also thank all others who are working with us or with the same objective in mind: let's help Japan as well as we can! Below is a letter which I have sent to the Japanese Consul-General in Melbourne on your behalf. Jim Stewart Letter to the Consul-General concerning the Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami
The Consul-General, Melbourne Dear Mr Kotake, On behalf of the Australia Japan Association of SA I wish to extend to you and your staff the deepest sympathy and sorrow for your countrymen in Japan during the terrible events and their tragic consequences which have been unfolding there since Friday, March 11. All members of our Association have ties to Japan and there has been an outpouring of concern and many offers to do something, anything, to be of assistance at this time. There has also been a lot of worry and fear for family and friends whose whereabouts has been unknown, and a lot of comfort and support given to those feeling the stress. Like many other groups, some who are not Japanese-related but simply wish to help in such a dreadful disaster, the AJA of SA has been working on ways in which we can raise money for the relief efforts in Japan, and trying to coordinate the many offers of help, donations of time, talent and money that our members and friends are making to us. For now all proceeds will go to the Red Cross for use in Japan. Over the last few years, in my capacity as President of the AJA of SA, I have made numerous friends in the Consulate in Melbourne, including yourself, and just as the AJA of SA is greatly concerned about the welfare and spirits of the Japanese nationals in our Association and elsewhere in our community, so I am concerned about all of my Consulate friends. I sincerely hope that your families back in Japan are safe and well, and offer my prayers and wishes to strengthen you in any uncertainty and grief. Mr Kevin Rudd said last week that Australians have a deep personal link to Japan through the many sister school and sister city relationships which have developed, especially over the last 20-30 years. As a teacher involved in both links, I can assure you that very many Australians do genuinely care about what is happening in your so tragically beleaguered country. Please reassure your people back home that they in our thoughts. We wish them well and will continue to support them in the months and even years ahead. We are sure that their indomitable spirit and wonderful work ethic will see them through this terrible time. Yours faithfully, Jim Stewart President, AJA of SA Inc.
President’s Report, AJA AGM, August 11, 2010 The past year has been a time of change and consolidation for the AJA of SA. Conversation meetings at the Caffé Amore have continued to be successful, with an average attendance of about 45 people. Financial membership rose to 123 by the end of the year and AJA sponsored events were well attended. Since the last AGM we have participated in the 2009 OzAsia Festival and been a major partner in the Salisbury Matsuri on Mobara. Both were very successful and we are already preparing for our roles in the 2010 events. Our second Japanese Cultural Day at Burnside Library was again a great occasion, enhanced by the Japan Foundation’s Japanese Doll Exhibition on at the same time. AJA was able to secure this wonderful exhibition, which has travelled the world, for the Burnside Civic Centre Atrium. AJA volunteers kept it open for the two weekends it was here. Other regular events were our Christmas Dinner, a hanami picnic, a kimono night and a beach picnic, a dolphin cruise and a bowling tournament, parkland BBQs and five dinners at special interest restaurants organised by the new AJA Fine Dining Club. Beach Volleyball continues to be popular, with two teams now playing, and a visit to Old Adelaide Gaol gave members a thrill! As members of the AJA of SA you are all well aware of our activities, either by hearing of them or more often by participating in them. We have had many successful events, and I am proud as President of AJA to have represented you at numerous occasions during the past year, including meetings for Multicultural SA and the OzAsia Festival, Matsuri on Mobara and on a visit to the Japanese Consulate in Melbourne. The 2009-2010 executive has been Kyoko Katayama (Vice-president), Sue Treloar (Treasurer), Steve Jordan (Public Officer after being coopted) and myself (as Secretary, too). The committee have been Mio Honda, Seiko Fuse, Yoko Sato, Nami Abe, Mayumi Hew and Mikhael Crossfield, until he went to Japan. Yuki Akita rejoined the committee after returning to Adelaide to work. At this AGM we are losing Seiko and Yoko to Japan, and Nami to work commitments. They will be greatly missed, as they have been active members, and we hope they can return to us in the future. The role and efforts of all committee members have been very important in all of our achievements. They work hard behind the scenes, attend extra meetings and take on responsibilities which require a sacrifice of their own time. I sincerely thank them for the tremendous support they have given AJA. An AJA sub-committee has been working on our website and new ways to communicate information more effectively to our members, and this will continue. Another sub-committee has been reviewing our Constitution. We want to bring it up to date, and hope to table any changes at a general meeting next February or March. The different election procedures for this AGM are an example of our better understanding of the Constitution and the changes needed to reflect our current role as an Association. Another has been the re-institution of a Public Officer to the Committee executive. Our radio program, J-Talk, run by Kyoko Katayama, Keiko Sugai and Lee Guerin, has had a break for six months, but will be back on the air on September 3. The J-Talk report will contain more information on this. Many others have also worked well with and for AJA, including our sponsors, the Caffé Amore, Matsuri Japanese Restaurant, Ronin Martial Arts Supplies and the Burnside Library, especially Sharon Downing, who has sent a letter of thanks for our recent efforts at the Burnside Library. This year we have also had great support from the Japanese Consul-General Mr Hasegawa and the Consulate staff, the Hon. Consul-General Adam Wynn, Multicultural SA, the OzAsia Festival management, Steve Davidson from Salisbury Council for Matsuri on Mobara, Munetaka and Gail Umehara and their dancers, Kyoko Katayama’s Kimono Choir, and many other individuals, without whom we could not have been involved in so many wonderful projects. As I complete my 5th term as President of AJA, I thank everyone who has made my task so much easier. It is a great privilege to serve the Australian-Japanese community of Adelaide, and very rewarding, too. Jim Stewart Note: If your computer cannot view the Japanese on the website or the newsletters, try going to Declan Software’s Guide to Installing and Using Microsoft’s Japanese IME. |
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From the President |