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| Newsletter
No.74 |
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June
2005
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May Evening Gala a Huge Success
ESUJ's annual May Evening Gala was held on Tuesday, May
24 in the verdant setting of the Meiji Keinenkan. Instead
of the usual venue of the Kinkei Lounge, the event took
place in the Suehiro Room, on the other side of the garden,
with around 130 members and guests gathered in the spacious,
beautiful setting. Guests from many countries participated,
including Ambassador Badr of Egypt and Mrs. Toyoko Fry,
wife of the British Ambassador. Entertainment was provided
by soprano Masako Ueno, who is active in many fields,
including with NHK, and composer and pianist Shigeo Suzuki.
Based on the theme of "Music Around the World",
Mr. Suzuki took the guests on a piano medley of 34 songs
to 25 countries while Ms. Ueno sang the lyrics to many
of the tunes, providing a delightful interlude. With ESUJ
Director Shigeru Kato serving as navigator in fluent English
and French, guests completed their Round the World trip
safely and joined together in singing "It's a Small
World" at the end. The Japanese song "Hana no
machi" provided an encore. Despite not being able
to go out in the garden because of the rain, guests were
able to enjoy much pleasant conversation well into the
night while devouring a well-received buffet and excellent
wine.
Directors and Councilors Meeting
On May 24 the 7th Directors and Councilors' meeting was
held at the Meiji Kinenkan prior to the May Evening Gala,
with 14 Directors, 1 Auditor, and 8 Councilors in attendance.
Proposals to be presented at the AGM on June 13 were discussed
along with an exchange of opinions on the organization's
activities, etc.Special
Programme for JETs on June 8
On the occasion of an orientation meeting in Tokyo for
JET ALTs (Japan Exchange & Teaching Program Assistant
Language Teachers: young foreigners who assist teachers
of foreign languages in Japanese schools), ESUJ for the
first time jointly organized with Tokyo National Museum
in Ueno a program for the JETs entitled "The Stream
of Japanese Art", together with the support of CLAIR
(Council of Local Authorities for International Relations).
About 100 ALTs gathered at the Tokyo National Museum,
where they enjoyed drinks, provided by Ajinomoto, and
a light lunch. After that, they heard Mr. Tsunenari Tokugawa
speak to them in English on the topic of "The Tokugawa
Period and the Present." His talk was full of interesting
facts, such as that Edo's human waste was completely "recycled"
and the Sumida River clean and full of fish when London's
River Thames and Paris' River Seine were still smelly
open sewers. Next on the agenda was a visit to the exhibition
"Highlights of Japanese Art' Special volunteers served
as guides and give gallery talks on the exhibits, which
dated from the Jomon through the Edo Period and included
National Treasures and Important Cultural Properties.
ALTs were also enjoyed a full program of Japanese culture
such as a tea ceremony performed by museum volunteers
at the Kujokan, and a performance of koto music. A special
thanks to the many ESUJ members who volunteered to help
with this activity.ESUJ-
TNW Debate 2005〜Debate Competition for Adults
Our 4th Debate Competition for non-students took place,
on Saturday, June 11. Jointly organized by ESUJ and the
Nikkei Weekly, it was held at the Nihon Keizai Shimbun
Main Building, with nine teams engaging in heated debate.
Once again this year there were first-timers among the
participants, as well as the usual strong competitors,
our first husband-and-wife team, former members of student
debating societies, and an Egyptian doing research in
Japan, cheered on by his family! Preliminary round motions
producing lively debate were: 1. This House would end
state ownership of broadcasting; 2. This House would allow
casinos in Japan; 3. This House believes that India offers
better opportunities to Japan than China; and 4. This
House would obligate a husband to take childcare leave.
The semi-final motion was: This House calls for urgent
action on global warming. The Finals motion was a timely
but difficult topic: This House believes that mergers
and acquisitions (M&A) are not beneficial to employees.
All debates were of a high level, thanks to the knowledge
and experience of our adult debaters, and received abundant
applause from the audience. Having failed to take top
place last year, the AMINOS team of Toshiyuki Inoue and
Rumiko Miyamoto vindicated their honor splendidly by winning
the championship this year. Thanks to the cooperation
of our many volunteers, it was a very exciting day.
Note: During the debate, a mistake was made in processing
the judge sheets, which passed unnoticed. We are very
sorry for the annoyance this caused. To prevent this happening
again, we plan to strengthen checking procedures and improve
the judge sheet.
English Club
English Club welcomed to its Tuesday, May 17 (Tuesday)
meeting Mrs Yuri Takahashi, Chief Lecturer at NHK's Bilingual
Center, who spoke on the theme of "Wake Up Your Dormant
English". Mrs. Takahashi, a professional trainer
of simultaneous interpreters, is a proponent of Dynamic
Listening and Speaking Practice (DLS), developed with
the training of simultaneous interpreters in mind. According
to this revolutionary method, to output orally what we
are inputted is the key by memorizing whole sentence or
phases rather than doing words one by one. English Club
members were inducted into the secrets of DSL. The training
was a great success! |
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For
further informaiton contact!
E-MAIL:esuj@esuj.gr.jp
Fujikage-Building
9th Floor, Motoakasaka 1-1-5
MInato-ku, Tokyo 107-0051
TEL: 03-3423-0970 FAX: 03-3423-0971
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