Newsletter No.40

July 2002

Fourth Annual General Meeting

The fourth ESUJ Annual General Meeting was held on Thursday, June 20 at International House, with 71 members in attendance (plus 157 proxies). Following a report of activities for the year 2001, the statement of accounts for 2001 was approved. Mr. Muneo Wakabayashi, ESUJ Secretary-General since its founding, was elected a director. Deputy Secretary-General Ayako Hanabusa was nominated to succeed Mr. Wakabayashi as Secretary-General. Chairman Hanabusa outlined activities planned for 2002 and asked for the assistance of all in increasing the number of supporting members. Continued efforts are requested from everyone in the process of creating an even better ESUJ.

Lecture "English Speakers of Japan: Rise and Shine!"

Mr. Yoshio Terasawa, Chairman of the Tokyo Star Bank and ESUJ director, gave the lecture following the Annual General Meeting. Mr. Terasawa outlined his many and varied experiences as, first, an intense Fulbright Scholar in America, an employee of Nomura Securities in the US, the Chairman of the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) in Washington, and Minister of the Economic Planning Agency, giving his comments on how poor at communication abroad the Japanese are and captivating the full-house audience. He noted that Asian undergraduates at Harvard are mainly Chinese and Korean, with almost no students from Japan. When panelists participate in forums about Asian problems, only Japanese panelists speak in Japanese, through interpreters. If things go on like this, Japan will be left behind in the world. Therefore, it is his fervent hope that young Japanese will improve their ability to express themselves through heightened foreign language ability and education. There was a lively and passionate exchange during the question-and-answer time which followed Mr. Terasawa's true-to-life talk and greatly exceeded the allotted time.

Books as Envoys from ESU US

Once more this year we have received books from the Chattanooga (Tennessee) branch of ESU US. These are some of the best books recently published in the United States, including Pulitzer Prize winners and best sellers, etc. Anyone wishing to borrow one or more of the books should speak to the ESUJ office.
American Poetry (The 20th Century), Volumes 1 and 2 The Angel on the Roof: the Stories of Russell Banks In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex, by Nathaniel Philbrick The Chief: The Life of W.R. Hearst, by David Nasaw A Life in the 20th Century: Innocent Beginnings, 1917-1950, by Arthur Schlesinger Jr. N.C. Wyeth: A Biography, by David Michaelis W.E.B. Du Bois: Biography of a Race, 1868-1919, by David Lewis Thanks to members in Chattanooga for sending these books.

ESUJ Debate 2002 (adults)

ESUJ Debate 2002 for adults took place on Sunday June 23 at the Kokusai Fashion Center in Ryogoku. ESUJ holds an annual University Debate Competition every autumn, but this was the first debate for working persons. The 16 individuals making up the eight teams in the hotly contested match included persons well-known to ESUJ members such as graduates and judges of university debating competitions as well as longtime members of debating groups. The finals match was between the Hidekipyan Team comprised of former university debaters Masaki Miyashita and Hideki Tsuchiya versus the Spidermen pair of debate judge Takashi Ebihara and former university debater Kiyoharu Tsukada, debating the motion "This House believes that Japanese university entrance examinations should exclude English language examinations." Following the debate, the audience acted as judges and voted, with the result that the Spidermen Team were the clear winners of the first adult debate finals. Motions for each round plus a report of the results are available at the ESUJ home page. We are planning future debates for adults.

40th English Club

40th monthly English Club meeting took place under Mr. Muramatsu's chairmanship on 18 June (Tues.) at the Tokyo International Forum. "MM" presented his second installment of Gilbert and Sullivan's classic Savoy Opera, The Mikado. He showed the video of the famous scene of the March of the Mikado.s Troops, taken from an early Meiji song of Nishiki-no Mi-hata, the silk-brocaded banner for the Emperor's expeditionary force, followed by the similar scene from a modern version in the movie Topsy'Turvy, a rare masterpiece set in 1920-30 art deco London.
Don't miss the next Club meeting as MM will share with us the world's finest and latest jokes out of the International Humor Conference he has just attended at Bologna University, Italy: 6:30 pm, Doyu Club, Otemachi, 16 July (Tuesday). (For August, we all take a break: no meeting)