JASC Presents: Kyoto

'JASC Presents: Hiroshima' = Huge Success!

(Panelists discuss topics pertaining to 'War and Peace' during JASC Presents at the Hiroshima Peace Museum

From left to right: Masato Morishima, Koichiro Kawaguchi, Joshua Schlachet, Ryosuke Ueno)

JASC Presents: Hiroshima went off without a hitch and was, by any measurement, an absolute success. Over 40 people outside of the JASC world showed up to listen to ideas from Masato Morishima, Koichiro Kawaguchi, Joshua Schlachet, and Ryosuke Ueno. After the students delivered their speeches, the audience asked questions in order to further probe the thoughts of the panel on issues regarding war and peace. In all, the event lasted from about 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM, with guests and JASCers mingling for about an hour afterwards.

Event coverage was provided by the Japanese news stations NHK and TSS, as well as several local newspapers. Coverage of the event made Yahoo Japan and can be seen at: http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/videonews/rcc/20081223/20081223-00000007-rcc-loc_all.html

Although the 61^st Japan-American Student Conference American Executive Committee is not directly involved with JASC Presents activities, the American Executive Committee would like to offer our deepest thanks to the Hiroshima Peace Museum for providing a free and spacious venue, as well as to Professor Kazumi Mizumoto for delivering a splendid keynote speech. In addition, we would like to send our congratulations to Joshua Schlachet (59^th JASCer and 60^th AEC member) and Sayaka Shingu (60^th JASCer) for organizing a successful event!

The next JASC Presents event will be located at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, Japan, on January 9^th. Look for a post containing detailed information sometime next week!

JASC Presents: Hiroshima

This Monday kicks off the first JASC Presents event ever. JASC Presents was created this year out of the wish to better carry the influence of the summer-long conference into the real world. That said, I have arrived in Hiroshima and I am ready for an excellent forum event.

JASC Presents: Hiroshima

Theme: War and Peace

Panelists: Joshua Schlachet, Masato Morishima, Ryosuke Ueno, and Koichiro Kawaguchi

Location: Hiroshima Peace Museum

Time: 13:00 - 17:00

If you are a JASCer or just someone who is interested in Japanese-American relations then please feel free to stop by for some excellent conversation. I have a bit of insight into what some of the panelists are thinking about and from what I've heard it should be very interesting.

Honorable Japanese Executive Committee Chair-sama

For the first introduction post regarding our lovely counterparts across the sea (or in my case, across the country) I am going to give you a glimpse into the mind of the one, the

 only, HIDEYA MATSUMOTO!

(Hideya and I in Boston. We shared the same RT, so I feel I have a unique insight into his mind...)

What was your original goal/intention for attending the 60th Jasc?

Taking the role as one of the Japanese students telling American students about Japan and how our relationship is important.

Now that the 60th is over, and some time has lapsed, how much as a person do you think you have grown?

Considering there were lots  and lots of people and experiences that struck my hearts and that gave me huge amount of knowledge and courage. I don't think i can describe how much i grew up after JASC, but the clear and most important thing is that I had an unforgettable summer in 2008.

What kind of leader do you want to become for the 61st? In the perspective of the Japadeles? Amedeles?
I might say, as a Japanese student (Japadele), I should be a leader who can connect as many delegates as possible, especially since Japanese delegates are kind of shy to some extent.

What do you want to accomplish in the 61st? In the RT? As a person?
I want to leave something in the history through JASC, especially on the relation between US and Japan.

Briefly describe one particular memory you had at JASC that was memorable to you.
I saw one guy walking on a bridge with a girl who I thought was cute.

If you could describe yourself as a type of food, what would it be and why?
curry rice - spicy, hot, black and white and most importantly, delicious!! Yes I am!!

(Delicious?... Maybe)

If you only had one option, which would you choose: time or money? why?
money- because if you have no money, you can't survive longer than 3 months because you can't get any food from metropolitanized cities such as Tokyo, or will you steal them? No I can't.

Besides answering to the questions, what are you doing right now?

I was sending e-mails to my buddies and ......(^^)

What is your ideal day?

Watching movies while drinking wine and relaxing with my cat after taking a bath in the suite room of Ritz Carlton Tokyo.

The world is ending in 24 hours. How do you want to spend your last day on Earth?

Will make the drama [24]

If you had to lose one of your 5 senses, which would you lose and why?
Hearing-cause sometimes in few years later we lose it anyway, so why not lose it now?

Please write a brief message to the future Amedeles.

hello future buddies!! you will see unbelievable scenes, people, experiences in 2009 summer, don't wait, grab the chance!! Anyways my motto is "Semper Gamby", see you guys in Japan!!

Side Effects

The Japan-America Student Conference is a life-threatening experience. If you should try and partake in it, know that you too could be one of those claimed. In fact, this past year, I was myself a 'victim' of JASC; my life was taken from me.

The good part is, I was given another one in return. A much better one. Today as I write this, I cannot possibly imagine what I would be doing if I hadn't joined those other students on that month-long trip over the summer. It seems silly, and somewhat melodramatic of me to say, but it's true. What makes JASC 'life-threatening' and not simply 'life-altering'?

It isn't so outlandish to say that our actions and choices follow us through life. We all know that how well we do in school affects our career, and so on. But something like JASC seems, at first glance, to be too short and insignificant to pose any 'threat' to our current path. But looking back on this year, I'm pretty certain that my life has been changed significantly for the experience. The friends I made, the things I learned and the contacts I've stashed away are all gems. And I honestly have a completely different idea of what the next few years of my life will look like than I did a few months ago. And now I'm enjoying the planning of next year's conference, hoping that it'll be as much for its participants as last year was for me.

The point is that given the chance, JASC will mix things up and shed a new light on them. When you open your eyes again, you might look in the mirror and find someone else looking back, ready to go somewhere new. It's worth a shot - I've never heard of it going sour for anyone before. Care to join us?

~Colin

60th JASC Info Session

Hello reader,

I hope this finds you warm, happy, and…not stressing out from finals looming around the corner.

Whether you want to believe it or not, we are in the final month of 2008. Looking back, it was an exceptionally busy and significant year: Oil hit $100 a barrel for the first time, the U.S. stock market crash and the devastating effects of the ensuing economic recession, the 8.0M earthquake in Chengdu, the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, Hurricanes Gustav/Hannah/Ike's destruction to the costal regions, PM Fukuda's resignation followed by PM Aso, the series of political crisis in Thailand, Kosovo's independence from Serbia, Barak Obama's election as the 44th U.S. president, the terrorists attacks in Mumbai...

Although this is only a small handful of the wide assortment of current events that affected us all, let's be thankful for the roof over our heads, food in our stomachs, the education system we easily take for granted and… the Internet. Oh, the simple joys of life.

2008 also marked the 60th anniversary of a student exchange program between Japan and the U.S. called JASC.

On the 13th of December, the 60th JECs and Japadeles will have their annual “Houkokukai” or information session of what went on during the 60th. It will be held at Keio University’s Mita campus from 1:30-4:30 PM. Admission is free and open to the general public. If you are interested and are in the Tokyo region, please send an email to lecture.jasc60@gmail.com with your name and contact info. Although it'll be conducted in Japanese, we highly encourage you to drop by and chat with the JASCers.

Reflecting on 2008, countless small incidents rippled out to large-scaled ones, affecting us vulnerable global citizens. Quoting Mahatma Gandhi, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” Rather than lamenting on world affairs (like me), take that extra step forward to create change...like attend JASC (hint).


… Ok, no more bla-bla rantings from a delirious sleep-deprived person. I’ll shut up now.