Online Content

Broadcast on February 24, 2021 via Zoom Webinar. Thanks to the generous support of the Embassy of Japan and the National Association of Japan-America Societies, attendance for this event was free and open to the public. On Wednesday, February 24 at 3:30pm (HST), JASH hosted experts from the U.S. and Japan to share their country’s experiences, policies, and plans moving forward regarding COVID-19 recovery in the public health and travel sectors. Speaking on public health, we welcomed Lt. Gov. Josh Green, physician and 14th Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii, and Dr. Norio Ohmagari, director of AMR Clinical Reference Center and director of Disease Control and Prevention Center of National Center for Global Health and Medicine (NCGM) in Japan. Presenting the latest information on the resumption of travel, we welcomed Mr. John De Fries, president and chief executive officer of the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority (HTA), and Mr. Eric Takahata, managing director of Hawaiʻi Tourism Japan (HTJ). The program will be moderated by Ms. Barbara Tanabe, owner and founder of Hoʻakea Communications, LLC (a public affairs company) and JASH board director.

Zoom Webinar from 16 February 2021. Published with permission from our guest speakers. The Q&A has been removed from this public release of the recording. Thanks to the generous support of Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA and National Association of Japan-America Societies, this event was free and open to the public. For this year's program, Admiral Philip Davidson, 25th Commander of the United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) and Vice Admiral Yoji Koda, former Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) Commander in Chief, Self-Defense Fleet (Ret.) spoke on "The US-Japan Alliance: History, Current Challenges, and Opportunities." The program was moderated by Barbara Tanabe, owner and founder of Hoʻakea Communications, LLC and JASH Board Director. We are welcomed opening remarks by Dr. Satohiro Akimoto, Chairman and President of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA, and Peter Kelley, President of the National Association of Japan-America Societies. We also welcomed Consul General Yutaka Aoki, Consul General of Japan in Honolulu. The Japan U.S. Military Program (JUMP) connects past and present service members, families, and government civilians who have served in Japan through social networks and grassroots events. JUMP is the only national program to do so, providing a powerful foundation for sustaining the alliance between the U.S. and Japan. To learn more about JUMP, visit https://www.jumprogram.org/.

Guest speakers address questions such as: What is Japanese sentiment in terms of travel to Hawaii and travel as a whole? What has the loss of the Japanese visitors meant in dollars to our economy? What will it take to attract the Japanese visitor back to Hawaii? You don’t want to miss this JASH Japan Travel Webinar as Hawaii begins the process of re-opening our state.

Thank you to all those who attended the Japan-America Society of Hawaii’s Japan Currents Program: Sister State and Sister City Relationship: Exploring Current Possibilities for Collaboration, on March 9, 2020 at the Halekulani Hotel. We were honored to feature two prominent speakers: Mr. Shin Koyamada and Mr. Paul Yonamine. This program was made possible by the generous support of the Embassy of Japan in Washington D.C. and the National Association of Japan America Societies.