JASC Presents: Kyoto (That's a wrap!)

(JASC Presents: Kyoto panelists listen intently to Consul General Dong)

Well, I am over 12 days late with this update. If you can't tell from the lack of original content from our ECs, then let me put it bluntly: This is the busiest time of the year for planning the 61st as our recruitment phase is in full swing. 

Anyway, here's the readout from JASC Presents: Kyoto, which took place on January 9th at Ritsumeikan University. The United States Consulate General Edward Dong delivered a thrilling speech on the (then) coming change of administration and what the results might be upon Japan-U.S. relations followed by a question and answer session from the audience of 40-plus young adults from the Kansai region of Japan. 

The program then moved into its second phase in which 59th JASCer and 60th JEC Ryusuke 'Hiroryu' Hirota, and 60th JASCers Tomomi Sakamoto and Jon-Michael Durkin (that's me!) delivered speeches pertaining to the the environment. Ryusuke's speech stole the show, dealing with the hidden evils of bio-ethanol while Tomomi spoke on rapid deforestation and Jon-Michael (that's me!) discussed the involvement of the United States Government in the future development of the big 3 auto manufacturers of Detroit. 

(Tomomi Sakamoto, Ryusuke Hirota, Jon-Michael Durkin, and Kayoko Hirata during the panel discussion)

The event was moderated by 59th JASCer and 60th JEC Yukio Iseki who, together with 60th JASCer and 61st JEC Moto Ono and 60th JASCer Ryoko Imaya, made the stunning event possible. In addition to the audience from outside of the JASC spectrum, fellow 60th JASCers Shinichiro Higa, Catherine Simes, Robert Cooper, Kayoko Hirata, and Hideya Matsumoto came to show their support for the second outing of the JASC Presents Series. 

I'd like to personally thank everyone who was involved in making the event a success (with special thanks to my fellow 61st AEC Kayoko Hirata for serving as my personal interpreter when times got tough (and for not laughing at my underwhelming speech)).