The Ambassador. Fall/Winter, 2018

The Ambassador Fostering a community of inquisitive learners and independent thinkers, inspired to be their best selves, empowered to make a difference.

 DAVID FORSTER ’10

The PekoPeko ramen entrepreneur on his thriving noodle business

Fall/Winter 2018

 ROSEMARY

CAKEBREAD ’75

Interview with the renowned Napa Valley winemaker

The American School in Japan

 BLACK SANDS BREWERY  SOCIAL EMOTIONAL Robert Patterson ’99 and Stefan Roesch ’99 talk craft beer and brewing

LEARNING

How our strategic priority will impact students

In this Issue Features

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PekoPeko Ramen

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David Forster ’10 and his Baltimore noodle shop

A Rare Vintage

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Napa Valley winemaker Rosemary Cakebread ’75

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Black Sands, Gold Beer

Bay area brewers Robert Patterson ’99 and Stefan Roesch ’99

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Alumni Food and Drink

Your favorite listings

Long Reign Rice

ASIJ's favorite fried rice joint

28 32

Secretary Panetta Inspires Students

Leon Panetta's visit to ASIJ

Wired for Social Emotional Learning A look at one of ASIJ's strategic priorities

More 03 \\ Head of School’s Message 37 \\ Fundraising News 49 \\ Golden Cluster Reunion 52 \\ Reunions 57 \\ Upcoming Reunions 58 \\ Class Agents 59 \\ Artifacts 60 \\ Obituaries 64 \\ The Big Short

Editor | Director of Communications Matt Wilce Art Director Ryo Ogawa Photography Jarrad Jinks Ryo Ogawa Yumi Matsuo ’07 Illustration Matt Worsley Head of School Jim Hardin Director of Advancement Erin Nelson Assistant Director of Communications Jarrad Jinks Assistant Director of Development and Alumni Relations Claire Lonergan Database Specialist Jean Ren Editorial Inquiries communications@asij.ac.jp alumni@asij.ac.jp

—

The American School in Japan 1-1-1 Nomizu, Chofu-shi Tokyo 182-0031, Japan The Ambassador is published

by The American School in Japan ASIJ alumni, families, faculty and friends receive The Ambassador

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HEAD OF SCHOOL

Message

Since the publication of our last issue of The Ambassador, we have continued rolling out our Strategic Design Framework (SDF). One of the six strategic priorities identified in our SDF is Social Emotional Learning (SEL).

ASIJ is partnering with the Institute for Social and Emotional Learning (IFSEL) on this initiative and will benefit from three IFSEL visits over the course of this school year. Research shows us the critical impact SEL has on student learning. The article on page 32 provides additional detail on the work IFSEL is doing with ASIJ and why we believe SEL needs to be one of the competencies with which we equip students.

Our high school students were recently given the opportunity to hear former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta speak about his political career. The event was student-run and our high school students were impressive in their organization and thoughtful questioning of our guest speaker. Secretary Panetta challenged our students to aspire to leadership roles, and you can read more about this on page 28. In addition, we provide many PTA-sponsored speakers each year. The Japan Center and student clubs, such as SAGE and Space Club, also regularly organize and fund speakers at ASIJ. Coverage of recent visitors to campus can be found on our social media and ASIJ News.

One of the delights of living in Japan is being in one of the world’s truly great food cultures. Several of our alumni have turned their love of food—and drink—into thriving businesses and in this issue we take a look at some of their endeavors. We hope their stories and the restaurant listing pages will inspire you to go looking for great food wherever you are.

I was excited to meet many of the alumni who returned to campus for Spirit Day for their reunions this fall. In addition to Spirit Day, I was fortunate to attend the Class of ‘68’s Golden Cluster reunion in San Diego last spring. It was a wonderful event and a great opportunity for me to connect names and faces after hearing about the many months of preparation that went into organizing the reunion. For more on both these events, see the reunions round-up on pages 49-55. I also recently had the pleasure of meeting some of our local alums at a dinner hosted by Farida Rahman ‘68. It is always a delight to see our alumni reconnect and reminisce about how meaningful attending ASIJ is for them. I look forward to meeting more new faces at our Community Reception in San Francisco on Saturday, February 2. If you are in the Bay Area, please join us and share your Mustang Spirit!

With warm regards,

Jim Hardin Head of School

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PekoPeko David Forster ’10 dishes how fond memories of nights spent with high school friends at their local Tokyo ramen shop inspired his Baltimore business. Jarrad Jinks digs into the story.

The rich scent of long-stewed broth and fried gyoza drift heavily street-side, through restaurant ventilation and the door as occasional customers step inside, led astray from their path by the tempting smell and cozy, warmly-lit interior.

It’s late, and the surprisingly busy streets are full of hungry people. The picturesque storefront contrasts the surrounding night, the ramen shop is an oasis. It’s a common Tokyo scene—one that would invoke natsukashii memories for any person who has spent an evening downtown—but this shop is in Baltimore.

David Forster's ’10 ramen success story is a savory one.

Aspirations to change the Baltimore restaurant scene began during his time studying applied mathematics at John Hopkins University. He describes the experience as similar to that of anyone who graduates from high school—ASIJ especially, with its proximity to one of the world's largest metropolises—“you quickly realize that the food around any college in America is pretty lacking…And so, I missed the food that I ate in high school.” He found that many of his former classmates shared the same experience and frustrations at their universities. “But on the East Coast, New York started to see a lot of ramen shops opening up and then DC had a big ramen boom and I just thought that a ramen shop near Hopkins would do really well.” David graduated Hopkins

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and, declining a job offer at Microsoft where he interned the summer of his junior year, moved in with his parents in New York. “I knew that when I graduated I wanted to pursue a ramen shop concept.”

Immediately following the move, David began his networking effort, visiting ramen shops around New York, trying the food and meeting the players. Eating around paid off as David soon found himself a very brief position as a stage at Momofuku Noodle Bar, owned by renowned restaurateur David Chang.

Shortly thereafter, David left Momofuku to help open Ramen Lab along with head chef Shigetoshi Nakamura. With David’s help, Chef Nakamura opened his own restaurant six months later and, after nearly two years studying in New York, David moved back to Baltimore in early 2017 to open PekoPeko Ramen with his John Hopkins classmate, Andrew Townson.

Standing at 1,591-square-feet, PekoPeko is a very modest size by US standards and, despite the sub-75 seat footprint, does 200 covers or more on a normal night. Customers are drawn by the lit sign, a beacon in the dark, branded with an owl perched upon chopsticks. The seemingly odd name has many intrigued and offers David opportunities to provide some cultural insight, “the giongo Japanese I think are a really unique and fun piece of the language.” He explains

Photos by Yumi Matsuo Photography

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that peko peko is an onomatopoeia used to describe the sound of hunger. Astute customers will notice additional giongo sprinkled around the restaurant. And the owl is a direct connection to both the restaurant and the nocturnal creature’s late hours. “One thing that I felt was important was engaging a later night crowd. Most ramen shops in Japan are open well past midnight, getting commuters off the last train.” The majority of Baltimore restaurants close at 9 or 10pm, it's a quiet city past 11, but PekoPeko is open until midnight with aspirations for even later hours.

Ginger, chicken, kombu and water all meet and mix in a pot—a simple but delicate balance of just four ingredients simmered for several hours under the watchful eye, and occasional taste-test, of a seasoned chef.

PekoPeko Ramen is somewhat unique state-side. While most ramen shops in the United States prefer to use a pork-based stock, a common choice in Japan as well, PekoPeko makes a chicken-based soup, exclusively. In an interview with a Johns Hopkins reporter, David explains, “There’s two schools of ramen—pork and chicken. Maybe a third of ‘other.’’’ The chicken-based stock accomplishes a somewhat lighter dish that David likes to refer to as “everyday ramen.” That, however, is not at the detriment to depth of flavor. Although PekoPeko’s ramen stock is comprised of four simple ingredients—chicken bones, ginger, kombu and water—the portions and process are carefully considered. David says the kombu is especially important in creating that perfect umami—the “fifth flavor” identified by a Japanese scientist describing savory, full or meaty taste profiles. That umami, chicken stock-based bowl of ramen is also a common choice in Japan and is a flavor to which David has tried to remain faithful since leaving university and the prospects for certain employment.

Thick, umber-hued shoyu tare—a concentrated soy-sauce base—cascades from a small ladle. It tints the bottom of a large, familiar, white ceramic bowl and breaks the fall of the following emerald scallions. The chef carefully incorporates the house-made chicken stock, encouraging the onions to mingle.

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The true start to David’s story began in 1999, when his family first moved to Japan. David attended ASIJ from the middle of first grade, all the way through graduation in 2010. Entering high school in Tokyo and earning more freedom, David and his friends became quite familiar with that nostalgic Tokyo scene of a quaint ramen shop, and the taste of traditional Japanese comfort food. “I ate really well growing up and obviously Japan and Tokyo afford everyone a really great breadth of culinary experiences.” He reminisces on his high school days, “at ASIJ on nights out or before going home or after a basketball game...I just had so many memories, good memories associated with ramen.” When asked about his favorite ramen joint, he stumbles. It’s difficult to pick just one. He fondly remembers Afuri, which saw its start in Ebisu and shares the same penchant for chicken stock as PekoPeko. It’s only a coincidence that the owner is brother to Chef Nakamura. He continues, recommending Ichiran for pork broth ramen and, for a miso base, Gogyo in Nishiazabu, demonstrating a depth of passion cultivated over the course of years. “I like the meals that I shared with friends—I think ramen definitely was the type of food that we ate the most as a group of friends. And so I think for that reason I wanted to do a ramen shop.”

Of course, David did not sustain himself only on a diet of Japanese comfort foods. When asked if he had any culinary experience to back the head-first dive into the competitive restaurant industry, he happily replies, “not really.” Elaborating, David identifies potential roots to his passion, “I think, if you grow up in Japan, food is part of the culture. You have some of the best French food and Italian food in Tokyo and in Japan. So, at least from the dining side or the eating side of things I feel really blessed to have grown up in Japan just because the food is so outstanding.” Beyond the inspiration, David hoped that someone would take a gamble on a college educated kid who decided they wanted to work in a kitchen, saying “it sort of worked out.”

The chef coaxes golden chukamen, perfectly cooked wheat noodles, into the near-boiling broth with a pair of chopsticks.

They begin to absorb the stock-and-tare concoction as the

chef prepares toppings of extra-soft boiled egg, bean sprouts, spinach and charred chashu pork—each laid thoughtfully atop.

Although David had a hand in the opening of two ramen restaurants in New York, he faced a number of unexpected challenges in establishing and growing PekoPeko. He revealed to The Johns Hopkins News-Letter that, as a firsttime restaurateur, simply obtaining a lease near campus required extra effort, “having been a student here, I had become familiar with a number of the staff at Hopkins. It was helpful for me that they knew me so that they could tell the landlord that I’m a legitimate contender.” Continuing the trend of unforeseen roadblocks that first-time restaurant owners often face, David reflects on the greatest obstacle he had to overcome, explaining, “Definitely the most challenging was the emotional stress of staffing.” While prepared for the more apparent difficulties in the road ahead, such as the long hours of a new restaurant owner, David brushes off many of the other stresses, saying “I'm only 26.” He continues, “what is a big stress is not being confident that your staff are going to show up everyday on time...The emotional stress of people not really holding their own is super challenging and something that I wasn't as prepared for.”

Such challenges scaled as David grew PekoPeko, expanding hours and menu items, so he quickly learned to address those past difficulties directly, hiring more people for leadership positions, learning to delegate responsibility and taking special care to ensure that those he hires are capable of maintaining the quality of ramen he would expect of himself. “So now I'm very careful about how we grow because I don't want a problem that we hadn't fully recognized or appreciated to be detrimental to the quality of the food or the experience for the guests.”

Somewhat surprisingly, however, David easily sourced all of the necessary ingredients—even some of the more traditionally Japanese items, such as kombu and katsuobushi, thin fish flakes, that many may assume are hard to find in Baltimore. “I would say that it's definitely more challenging to get that type of product as a normal consumer, but from a restaurant perspective if you have an account with certain vendor the Japanese products are not as challenging to get.”

Since opening, David has also had his eye on some particular sake, Japanese beer and wine, to complement and complete his menu—alcohol, after all, is something no authentic Tokyo ramen bar would do without. Liquor license laws proved another hurdle, the Baltimore Business Journal

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David Forster (right) and his business partner, Andrew Townson (left)

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explains that’s because “PekoPeko's small space doesn't provide enough room for the 75 seats required to request a new liquor license in Baltimore City.”After nearly two years, David has only recently, in October, found a solution with the city approving PekoPeko to take over an old license from a recently closed pub. Though, David did have a novel solution for thirsty guests, from opening day and until their new offerings go into effect, he encourages customers to bring their own beer, an uncommon and often unspoken taboo in the restaurant world. He looks forward to that final step towards authenticity, though, stating “we're a Japanese restaurant with no Japanese sake or beer offerings, so I think it's a value-add experience for our guests."

The chef puts the finishing touches on the steaming bowl of classic torigara shoyu ramen—PekoPeko’s best seller. A slice of akadaikon radish adds a contrasting rose color. The aroma has the customer eager to sit down and immediately dig into the hot noodle dish, foregoing the cultural faux pas of waiting.

When it comes time to pay, no PekoPeko customer digs for dollars. David may be ahead of the times, but PekoPeko is completely cashless. Both David and Andrew say that it’s a smart choice from a business perspective, “you have to pay someone to count the cash, you have to pay someone to reset your till, you have to pay cash hauler or you have

to pay someone to go to the bank to deposit the cash and you have to worry about theft—problems go on and on.”

Their own market research shows that with only 7% percent of their potential transactions being cash-based, the margin that credit card processing takes becomes irrelevant. “We thought that it would be much much easier to just take out that whole logistical problem.” Customers will also find that, just like in Japan, tips are unacceptable as they are factored into the cost of each dish.

When customers sit down with their ramen—only a few minutes from order to table—David encourages them to eat it in typical Japanese fashion—right away and slurping loudly. “As you slurp the noodles up, it helps cool them off.” He also notes that aerating the noodles activates the olfactory sense and brings out more flavor in the ramen. It is also, simply, satisfying.

With PekoPeko, David wants to share not just Japanese food culture, but the memories and nostalgia he has for those Tokyo nights, with his friends at the local ramen bar saying, “ramen is more than just a bowl of noodles. It’s a centerpiece for the kind of friendships, inside jokes and late nights you’ll remember forever. We hope PekoPeko is a space for your own ramen memories.”

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(Courtesy of Rosemary Cakebread) 10

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A Rare Vintage Veteran winemaker Rosemary Cakebread ’75 speaks to Claire Lonergan about her three-decade career in Napa Valley and her winery Gallica.

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“If I were a wine, I would say probably Grenache—it’s one of my favorites. There’s just something about its structure and elegance...and it’s a little bit difficult.” Although she selfidentifies as a Grenache, winemaker Rosemary Cakebread is better known in Napa Valley for her Cabernet Sauvignon. Now known for producing wines for her Gallica label, Cabernet Sauvignon first brought her recognition at Spottswoode Winery and Vineyard in the nine years she was head winemaker from 1997.

Spottswoode has deep roots in Napa and was founded in 1982 by the late Mary Novak who was part of the first wave of female winemakers in the region and one of the first women to run a wine estate in Napa Valley. Rosemary recalls Mary’s “abundant energy, gentle mentoring, sense of humor and sheer class” during her tenure at Spottswoode.

Her time there saw her work with Mary and daughter Beth Novak Milliken, build today’s winery. “It had been part of a long-term goal to bring farming through bottling under our control, at our own pace. In addition to replanting acreage due to the phylloxera epidemic in the late 90s, we took on the building of a permanent home for the winery. Perhaps it was a last-ditch effort to get us out of Mary’s basement where we fermented Sauvignon Blanc, but nevertheless, I always thought it was brave to take on the risk given the youth of our small team,” she writes on the Spottswoode website, where she consulted on the winery’s 3,500 case production until 2012.

Rosemary’s interest in viticulture was fostered after she spent a summer working on the bottling line of a local winery.

Having trouble keeping busy in the small town of Petaluma, California, friends introduced her to a local winemaking family.

Rosemary claims it was “a little bit by accident in many ways” that she ended up parlaying that summer job at Sebastiani’s of Sonoma into a career. “Winemaking seemed like a very appealing career choice, the agricultural lifestyle suits me, and I was very intrigued,” she says.

That led Rosemary to enroll in the University of California Davis’ pioneering wine program, which was established in 1935 following the end of Prohibition. “I was in school with Heidi Barrett, Doug Shafer, Eileen Crane and Mary Maher,” Rosemary says, listing a number of now highly successful wine industry professionals, including her future husband Bruce Cakebread—more on their meet cute later. Rosemary, who made the Dean’s List her Sophomore year, went on to graduate with a bachelor of science degree in fermentation science in 1979 and it was the technical side of enology that she discovered a passion for.

“The theoretical aspects of winemaking are understandably taught in the university setting but the one thing that surprises many people is how important farming is. It’s not just the physical work of making wine, there is a huge agricultural

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component recognized everyday from practical farming to the weather,” she says. “It is this aspect of our business I am particularly attracted to. I really love growing things, having a garden, so it comes naturally to me,” she adds.

That initial interest in the agricultural side of wine production was bolstered by her organic experience at Spottswoode, which gained its official organic certification in 1990, and has shaped the philosophy for her own winemaking. “I work with an organic vineyard, and our vineyard that we have for Gallica is certified organic so I’m really interested in that and I guess I’ve always been kind of a green thumb at heart,” she explains.

After graduation, Rosemary took her first cellar job in the historic Inglenook Winery, founded in 1879 by a Finnish sea captain, where she stayed for two years. There she did everything from working in their lab and at the sugar stack to learning about bottling and refining her understanding of fermentation. Trips to France, Italy and Germany to learn about wine along with visiting coopers expanded her understanding of barrel making. Her time at Inglenook also introduced Rosemary to Cabernet Sauvignon, which today is one of her signature wines and something she “knows she loves making.”

A further pivotal experience came with Rosemary’s move to G.H. Mumm. The renowned Champagne house had begun its Californian venture in 1976 when Guy Devaux was sent

by G.H. Mumm to search for the ideal wine making area for growing traditional Champagne grapes in the United States.

Devaux went on to found Mumm Napa and produce the first vintage bottled under the name Domaine Mumm in 1983. Rosemary joined the start up—part of the first wave of Champagne houses such as Moët & Chandon and Louis Roederer exploring the possibility of growing in California —and spent seven years at Mumm learning the intricacies of sparkling wine. “Blending is really important in sparkling wine and Champagne production because you’re taking lots and lots of different wines and you’re blending them for one cuvée that eventually is bottled,” Rosemary says.

The art of blending and the science behind aromatics is what Rosemary finds most exciting about winemaking and the name of her own wine, Gallica, is a product of that. Rosemary considers herself “a student of aromatics” and shared that learning about the different aromatics that go into the compounds to make perfume has informed her winemaking. “Gallica is a botanical name for a species of rose—old roses that are used for perfume production,” she says.

In addition to the unique botanical name, Gallica wine has a distinct ink print label which is a nod to Rosemary’s time in Japan. When it came to designing the label, Rosemary says it was a natural process. Having long been a fan of Crown Point Press in San Francisco, she had the opportunity to observe

Rosemary amongst the vines at her St Helena winery (Courtesy of Rosemary Cakebread)

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Rosemary in Mrs Story's sixth-grade class in 1969

some of the printing done by Kathan Brown. In 1982, Brown founded a reciprocal woodblock program with Japanese master printer Tadashi Toda along with several American artists.

It was there that Rosemary fell in love with Japanese technique and its influence on contemporary artwork. Rosemary says, “I knew about the early Japanese master printers such as Hokusai and Yoshida.” She now admires Yayoi Kusama’s famous pumpkin series and says that her appreciation for the “bold yet watercolor feel” came from a combination of Japanese culture and the Crown Point portfolio.

Originally from California, Rosemary’s family relocated to Japan for four years in the late 1960s for her father’s job. A pilot for World Airways, he flew medical and military supplies from Japan to Vietnam during the Vietnam War. While in Japan, Rosemary attended ASIJ for what was then junior high where she was a student from grades five through eight. While her time in Japan may have been relatively short, Rosemary shared that she truly made “life friends” at ASIJ which is one of the things that stands out to her about her experience—that and “the ice cream!” Her former classmate Keiko Rhan ‘75 remembers her as “shy but quite witty” and shared that she and Robin Easton ‘75 took a trip to Gallica to visit Rosemary and taste her wines.

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Like many alumni, Rosemary shared that her time in Japan was really a special part of her childhood and she has “amazingly fond memories of ASIJ and it was really life-changing.” She went on to share that it’s a “wonderful opportunity especially as a kid, to transplant yourself completely to a new culture and experience a country that is vastly different from the United States—I loved every moment of it.” Rosemary’s connection to Japanese culture is still very much a part of who she is today and she has a great appreciation for Japanese food and art.

Her small collection of Japanese ceramics includes work from Makiko Hattori, Chieko Katsumata and Akira Satake.

These days, Rosemary and her husband Bruce “live in St Helena and have a tiny Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard we planted 25 years ago.” Although they were at UC Davis at the same time, it wasn’t until after graduation that a chance encounter brought them together. “I met Bruce at the Oakville Grocery store, a local high-end sandwich store in Oakville, standing in line buying a sandwich,” she recalls. That avocado sandwich (no cream cheese) led to marriage, two children—neither in the wine industry— and Rosemary joining the Cakebread family. Founded in 1973 by Bruce’s parents, Cakebread Cellars is now

 Rosemary and her husband Bruce Cakebread in the 1980s (Napa County Historical Society)  Rosemary's seventh-grade yearbook photo from 1970

a fixture of the Napa scene and Bruce was responsible for all winemaking duties and vineyard operations from 1979 until 2002 when he became president and COO, a position he stepped down from this October. Despite the fact they both run different wine labels, Rosemary shares that there is no rivalry between her and Bruce. “We are each other’s biggest fans probably, but our situation is not completely unique believe it or not,” she says. “I know several winemakers married to one another.”

With a long and varied career, Rosemary’s future plans include continuing to make exciting wines, to keep learning and exploring unique varietals, contributing to her local Napa Valley community and spending time with new

granddaughter Emma. One thing she does admit is that she has yet to try Japanese wine. “I’m familiar with Japanese beer and to some extent sake, but I’m not really familiar with Japanese wine,” Rosemary says. “I had the opportunity to visit Grace Vineyards in Shanxi, China about five years ago with a group from Napa Valley. It was so dramatically different and fascinating. I would enjoy the opportunity to visit some of Japan’s vineyards and hope to do so in the near future.” That opportunity may come soon, as Rosemary says, “I think I’m going to be in Japan this year. I’m not sure exactly when. I have a distributor in Japan and we are working on a date in 2019.”

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Long Reign Rice Miyori Takano ’10 takes a look at Tama’s top lunch spot and student favorite.

Whether it’s a highschooler using their senior privileges to go out for lunch or students grabbing a quick bite to eat before a sports fixture or concert, Sankichi—or as students refer to it, the chahan spot—has been the go-to local restaurant for ASIJers for the past 18 years.

Established some 30 years ago, Sankichi was originally known as a popular bento spot for locals living in the Tama area. However, for ASIJ students, it’s the large, steaming bowls of fragrant fried rice that keep them coming back for more.

The name Sankichi is a play on words based on the kanji used for the name of the name of the original owner, Mitsuyoshi—affectionately known by the current staff as ojisan. Originally located across from the entrance of Tama station, Sankichi moved to a bigger location across the tracks in January 2018. Their new location boasts additional seating that allows customers to eat in instead of either hurriedly scarfing down their meals at rickety outdoor tables or carrying their chahan back to school. The new owner and chef, Kazunori Nishiwaki, continues to dish up all the old chahan favorites to his ASIJ customers. “We changed our offerings when we moved because the original menu was too large, but when people ask for things that we use to serve, we just make it,” he explains when asked if there’s a secret menu for Sankichi regulars.

Prior to Sankichi, ASIJ students used to frequent North River, a burger-and-fries spot that closed down many years ago. With their usual spot no longer available, it seems like Sankichi has done a wonderful job of stepping in and keeping our hungry students satisfied. Having started working there as a high school student, Nishiwaki has now been at Sankichi for over 10 years. He recently became the owner after they switched locations in January. Despite the move, the change in ownership and the revamped

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menu, Sankichi remains an ASIJ community staple after nearly two decades. These days, students are greeted by the warm wood in the front-of-shop bar seating and just four tables in the back, which makes the busier eatin hours quite cozy.

After ordering your chahan dish, it only takes a couple of minutes for Nishiwaki to cook your order. Even in that short time, the sizzle of the oil hitting the wok, the clang of the metal ladle tossing the ingredients and the smell of cooking from the open kitchen cause your mouth to water. Nishiwaki notes that the chicken chahan is one of Sankichi’s most popular dishes for ASIJ students and alumni alike. “They don’t really eat the pork though, I wonder why? Is it a cultural thing? They always order chicken or beef. There’s also a few who don’t eat meat at all.” Nishiwaki himself prefers the beef chahan, laughing as he admits that he’s not a huge fan of chicken. When asked why they served chahan and not other popular dishes like ramen, he chuckles and responds, “Well it’s Chinese cuisine, but ramen is a different type of cooking.

I can make chahan...it’s something I’ve been making for a while.” His secret to delicious fried rice? Lots of practice and experience making this staple dish.

As a local restaurateur, Nishiwaki only speaks Japanese, which can be a bit of a challenge for our students who are still learning the language. The language barrier hasn’t deterred Nishiwaki’s enthusiasm. He has happily made chahan for many ASIJ students throughout the years. In his decade of experience at Sankichi, Nishiwaki notes that while the students change, the patience and friendly demeanor and attitudes of the ASIJ students has not. While he may not remember the students’ names, Nishiwaki remembers ASIJ students by their faces and their orders. He recalls that even when students call in ahead of time to order chahan, he can usually guess who it is based on what they

request. Though this lack of communication may seem to hinder Nishiwaki’s ability to serve his English-speaking customers, he has noted that the students’ laid-back manner and their patience while waiting for their orders has made them pleasant customers to serve in contrast to some customers who ask him to hurry. “They wait, even when we’re busy in the kitchen, and they don’t seem to be in a rush, so it’s a lot easier and I find it helpful,” he explains, mentioning that some customers can become impatient, anxiously waiting by the narrow kitchen counter that runs across the bar seating.

When asked why they go to Sankichi for their lunch-time fried-rice fix, current student Saaya Hori ’19 replies, “I go there because it is a really popular restaurant within the community.”

Her classmate concurs. “The food tastes great, and it's always nice to support local businesses,” says Jason Fujii ’19. “My favorite is the kimchi. It has the perfect, ‘Goldilocks’ amount of spice for me,” he adds. Colette Macarios ’19 says that it is a tradition among her and her friends to head to Sankichi after a concert, recalling “I have been going since freshman year and now that I am a senior it has become one of the highlights of performing at concerts.” Colette looks forward to using her senior privileges for a quick trip off-campus to grab a chahan lunch. But high school students aren’t the only ones enjoying his chahan. Visiting teams at this year’s YUJO Volleyball tournament were sustained by a large order for 100 people and middle school peer helpers also enjoyed a bulk delivery recently.

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While current ASIJ students tend to go to Sankichi from September to June, there are many recent alumni who return to Sankichi for a nostalgic bowl of chahan whenever they come back to Japan. Alumnus David Forster ’10, owner and chef of PekoPeko ramen in Baltimore (see page 4), recalls having gone to Sankichi prior to sports matches at ASIJ. Now, whenever he visits Tokyo and stops by ASIJ, he makes sure to grab a bowl of fried rice. Cleha Kodama ’14, now an assistant teacher in high school, has fond memories of grabbing chahan for lunch when she had senior privileges and has enjoyed the opportunity to grab a natsukashii taste of her student days.

Reflecting on his years at Sankichi, Nishiwaki remembers that chahan isn’t the only thing that he has provided for ASIJ students. Throughout the years, students have asked him almost yearly for interviews or even to be a part of a graduating class’ senior video. “They come and film things here frequently. Every year, students come to interview me,” he jokingly wonders if interviewing local shops and restaurants is a regular assignment at one of the classes at ASIJ. To an extent, he would be correct as Jason Fujii sheds some light on the seemingly odd pattern, “For my Japanese class last year, we were tasked with interviewing a local business and my group chose Sankichi. When we finally interviewed them (they're always busy) they seemed genuinely happy to talk with us and had lots of passion and pride in the food they made.“ It’s clear that this chahan restaurant has quickly become ingrained in ASIJ student life and will continue to be for quite some time.

Black Sands, Gold Beer Two decades on from ASIJ, Robert Patterson ’99 is a successful, serial entrepreneur and Stefan Roesch ’99 is the lead developer for Dialpad.

Together, they have built two successful restaurants. Jarrad Jinks talks to them about Black Sands Brewery and Ken Ken Ramen.

(Courtesy of Black Sands Brewery) THE AMBASSADOR \\ FALL/WINTER 2018

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 Robert and Stefan in the 1996 Roller Hockey Club

How many of your friends have you known since sixth-grade?

Do you talk every day? How often do you meet? Such lasting friendships are rare, especially in communities as transient and international as ASIJ. Class of ‘99 alumni Robert Patterson and Stefan Roesch have not only maintained that shared connection since their days in the elementary school doughnut, but have leveraged their friendship and trust in each other into a number of successful business ventures spanning over a decade.

Although they both attended the same elementary school in Greenwich, Connecticut, for a brief period, Robert and Stefan first met in sixth-grade at ASIJ. Robert recalls that it was around eighth or ninth grade that they started becoming good friends. “We started by roller blading together, and began the ASIJ roller hockey club,” he says. Their common interest in skating led to what could be considered their first business venture. While visiting Arktz, a Shibuya skate shop, Stefan and Robert, surrounded by racks of shirts and shelves of stickers, thought “we can make stickers and T-shirts.”

Stefan described what followed as “our own fake company called ‘World Skate.’”

As they moved through high school, World Skate would take a back seat to their interest in computer science, a growing field at the time. “We started really getting into computers and actually took [one of] the first computer science courses at ASIJ in 11th grade and then the AP course in 12th grade with Mrs Bjornholm.”

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After ASIJ, Robert attended UC Berkeley where he earned his BA in development studies and English literature while Stefan pursued his interests in computer science. He earned his BS at Cornell University for computer science in the School of Engineering. Stefan went on to pursue his Master's in computer graphics, first inspired by those World Skate days using the then-new Adobe application, Photoshop.

The two initially reconnected after university thanks to Stefan’s computer science background. Businesses such as NexChemical, a clean-tech chemical solutions company for the steel industry that Robert co-owns, occasionally required someone with an understanding of computers and development. “Robert would need random technical computer projects or custom software.

So he would would ping me every once in a while and I'd write these random applets and stuff for him,” Stefan says.

In 2009, Stefan took a position as a software engineer in Silicon Valley and moved to San Francisco. “When I moved to YouTube, we started surfing together almost immediately.

Afterwards we’d go eat at different places and we started trying all these different ramen restaurants.” It was one particular post-surf ramen run that prompted their first joint business. “I never really thought of opening a restaurant but we had a ramen experience that was so uniquely un-Japanese that Stefan and I said ‘How hard is it, if this guy can do such an interesting experience that's terrible, maybe we should do something.’"

 Robert Patterson with his daughter

Dissatisfied with the state of ramen in San Francisco at the time—the prevalence of prefab soup stock and MSG—Stefan and Robert took to their own kitchens and began a monthslong process of experimentation. During that time, Robert also opened a retail project called Revolver. “And that's where we met our chef, Taka Hori,” Stefan says. “He came looking for some obscure shoes and, you know, Robert's a very conversational person. They started talking like, ‘Oh, you know how to make Ramen? We're trying to make ramen and opening this shop!’ and Taka's like ‘That's my dream too!’”

Robert and Stefan spent the next year doing pop-ups, meeting people who loved their ramen and, finally, settling on a space to open Ken Ken Ramen with Taka. Before long, Ken Ken would not only prove successful in and of itself, but helped to build a more authentic and thriving ramen culture in San Francisco. After more than seven years of growth, Robert and Stefan parted with Ken Ken in 2018.

Having tasted success in the culinary world, Robert and Stefan kicked-off another venture in 2013, a brewery and restaurant, following many of the same strategies they used in building Ken Ken from the ground up. Robert and Stefan take a moment with Jarrad Jinks to open up about Black Sands Brewery—”beer is for sharing.”

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 Stefan Roesch

JJ

Tell me how Black Sands began.

We actually became friends with the head brewer, Cole Emde, at Ken Ken, our ramen restaurant. He happened to come into Ken Ken and he was so passionate and made such awesome beers. Then there's actually another mutual friend, Andy, that kind of connected everyone. We all met for a beer one day and were like “Yeah, sure let's try a brewery, too. It's going to be just like Ken Ken but without the craziness of ramen.”

RP

So, we became friends and Stefan and I decided to invest and build everything around Cole. He's a world class brewer and that's the same thing we did for the ramen restaurant. Stefan and I aren't cooks, but we found a chef who is really great and we had an idea for a ramen restaurant. We offer the institution for the craft person to execute their practice, and we build everything around them—finding all the other pieces.

But, in the end, it ended up being just as crazy as Ken Ken, because, you know, it takes eight hours or at least a whole day to make a good bowl of ramen but it also takes three weeks to make a good pint of beer. So it was basically the same thing but this time we had a lot of experience.

Japan's craft beer culture is pretty new and it's growing.

I'm wondering if you had a chance to experience that at all. Have you been back? Have you researched or had much Japanese craft beer?

JJ

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Japanese brewers and when we have these beer events in San Francisco a lot of Japanese companies come to those.

The Japanese market is more controlled by distributors so it's harder for direct distribution.

(Courtesy of Black Sands Brewery)

RP

I mean we know some of the guys from Hitachino. They've actually been to our establishment in San Francisco.

Cole's a pretty famous brewer, so a lot of Japanese and Chinese brewers and people from Thailand have come to us specifically to experience our beer culture. And then the last time I was in Japan I had some of the IPAs and they're very influenced by the California style. At the same time it's weird because a lot of beer cultures are kind of influenced by Japan, too.

Our beers are very palatable and I would argue Japanese IPAs are a little more palatable variety than American.

SR

Yeah, there's something more refreshing, exactly.

RP

They go well with Japanese food.

But ultimately when we started getting Black Sands up and going, we started doing some distribution in California. Obviously our first customer, when we put our beer on tap off-site, was Ken Ken, which was cool. We had started to explore maybe even distributing to Japan but the legal nightmare and logistics of it at that scale are just kind of prohibitive right now.

SR

RP

We can barely make enough volume for our own internal needs.

But the main thing is that the beer world is pretty connected in a way, especially the craft scene. Cole, he knows so many

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You mentioned some similarities in palatability and that kind of influence. Have you guys been motivated to bring any elements of Japanese craft beer flavors to Black Sands beers, like yuzu for example?

JJ

Yeah. We've had several beers...Stefan, remember the aged soy sauce beer? We've made over 100 types of beer so we'd have to look at the logs, but there's definitely Japanese inspired ones.

RP

Even our Baja, which is a Mexican kind of KÜlsch, is almost a Japanese beer—it's literally designed it to be a light, crisp, clear beer that's very drinkable, like most of the classic Japanese beers.

SR

And then we've done tea beer and it's interesting.

Oh yeah, so we own part of another company called Boba Guys, a tea restaurant, and we use their tea in our beer, including their oolong. Green tea and other Japanese teas are little stronger to incorporate into beer but we've done a Vietnamese rice beer. Instead of using grain, we used rice to create the malt build.

RP

So there was some overlap between Ken Ken and Black Sands and and you guys owning both at the same time, is that correct? Could you speak to what a typical day or a typical week was like balancing both Black Sands and Ken Ken?

JJ

RP

We're kind of like ship captain and then we have a lot of great lieutenants that we trust to execute according to what we want.

ď„ Stefan and Robert host their first brewing class at Ken Ken Ramen during the construction of Black Sands Brewery

SR

Yeah, I mean it's just in the beginning, we're 100% involved and then by year five we're like 5% involved.

And so and that's why we started Ken Ken and the first year straight is just endless construction and set up and all that.

Then for the first year, you know, we cover shifts and train and deal with all the elements that are involved with the launch but by year three or four it was only five hours a week or so, and then right around that time was when the idea for the next thing, for Black Sands, came up. So we kind of started the whole process again. We basically automated ourselves out of the equation and it's also better for the employees and everyone as that empowers them to become better.

But by year four we had time to take on a new project. So we had repeated the same thing with Black Sands. I would say with Black Sands we're almost reaching that automation again.

Were you ever at any point tempted to bring any cooperation between Black Sands and Ken Ken? Earlier, when you mentioned the Japanese beer culture we talked about the balance between food and beer and even part of your philosophy for Black Sands is "food for beer, and beer for food."

JJ

SR

We had lots of crossover in employees between the two places. We had pop ups of Ken Ken in Black Sands.

So yeah, it was very intermingled.

JJ

And with the new owner at Ken Ken, have you continued any collaboration?

No, because they’re a Chicago-based ramen company.

I mean we sold Ken Ken just because after eight years we needed to reinvent the concept. It seemed like we had a great run with Ken Ken and we were still profitable, and we had a great offer, and it just seemed like the right time.

RP

And we kind of started a huge trend in San Francisco that we were the first from-scratch authentic Japanese ramen and now there's 20 or 30 of them. And so, each passing year the margins went down because of more competition. San Francisco's gotten more expensive. Minimum wage has gone up. They've added more rules and regulations.

Like Robert said, about every seven to eight years I think you gotta do something fresh again. And so that's kind of where we were and unfortunately the people that bought

SR

(Courtesy of Black Sands Brewery)

it, they didn't want to keep running it as Ken Ken. So they bought it, closed down and went through a huge renovation.

I wanted to talk about your philosophy as well. You seem to have a well-developed philosophy supporting Black Sands beer. Part of that is "beer is for sharing, it's not the final product but the entire process of making it." What motivated you guys to put the whole brewing and food prep, start-to-finish process front and center?

JJ

When we built Black Sands we were aiming to make an authentic experience. Part of that storytelling is honesty and transparency and that comes from our experience in Japan and working with Ken Ken.

RP

At Ken Ken we never hid anything. Any customer could come in and know where we are sourcing from, where our meat is from, where our pork's from, our eggs, our noodles, everything's transparent and the same thing happens with Black Sands. So we think there's an honor in being transparent and having pride in small details.

SR

The whole idea was just to be very open, because even part of the original vision was to teach classes monthly and we have an actual homebrew supply shop connected.

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Head brewer Cole Emde closes a valve on the bright tank (Courtesy of Black Sands Brewery)

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RP

If you want to make our beer you can actually get the recipe for it.

JJ

That's not very common, is it?

That's what we mean, most of these beer companies today, they consider their recipes trade secrets and we just felt like it was very elitist and standoffish and not welcoming. We want people to learn and enjoy.

It seems like a major element of your success with Black Sands, Ken Ken and your other ventures, is that you guys really put yourselves into it from start to finish, handling every element, 100%, from curation of ingredients to really knowing the product even though you may not have a background in it.

JJ

SR

It's just not good to hide anything. It's a much better, more collaborative situation if you can come to the bar, have one of our beers and be like “Oh that's cool how do you make that?” Then go next door and look up the recipe and take the class and make that same beer and take it home. It's just a much more pleasant experience and it's open.

JJ

What's been the general public reception to that philosophy? Do you get a lot of takers? Are customers generally pretty surprised that you would do that?

RP

The response is very positive.

We also have a weekly tour that comes in all the time and we show them, at the homebrew shop, this recipe book of every beer that we've ever made and like “Oh here, You want to take a copy?” They're response is like “Huh?! What?” They're just shocked.

SR

RP

We could care less if they have the recipe.

If people have questions and they try to make our Baja or Nightsong, our head brewer is very approachable and he'll help you try to make that as a home brewer or even as a professional brewer.

And that was also part of one of the main concepts as we made these “SMaSH beers”—that's single malt and single hop—is that if you only have one ingredient of each type then you can really start to learn what those flavors are and that just goes hand in hand with learning about beer.

So the way you know more about beer is you make a very simple beer at one hop and then you make another beer with another hop and then you see how they turned out differently and then you can really know how each ingredient affects your beer the same way different spices in a cooking dish affects your dish.

We've kind of put that also into the design of the space as well. The brewery and the kitchen are both completely open kitchen so even when you stand in the center of the entrance you can see entire bar, the entire kitchen and the entire brewery, there's no walls. And that's really kind of that same aesthetic, right?

And with Black Sands you seem to be really dedicated to the culture as well, you hold classes, you give away your recipes, you showcase the process. I'm kind of outside of beer culture in the US so I'm wondering, is that pretty typical of breweries stateside?

You're asking whether it's typical, and I would say no.

I mean, yes, you can go to some of those smaller craft breweries and take a tour but I've never seen something quite as open as we are about it and it's mainly because we don't come from these worlds and we take a fresh look and we don't accept that this is just how it's done. We're going to do it our way, stick to our guns and we think people will like it, and that's it.

SR

It started with us when we would go to some of these restaurants and you look at their menu—this is one of the core developed philosophies even behind Ken Ken—was just simplicity. It's so tempting for these restaurants to have their menu and then someone comes in and suggests “You should do this” or “You should do that” or “You're missing the club sandwich” or “You should make this spicier.” It's interesting, we're open but, at the same time, people spread themselves too thin and don't stick to their core principles.

I think the core thing is the fact that Stefan and I aren't Japanese and we grew up in Japan. We were outsiders in America, too, and that lets us be outsiders in any industry we want. I never knew anything about the steel industry and we invented a product that was used by the steel industry but I think having that outsider, beginners buy-in is pretty useful.

RP

You just don't have to have all the baggage that way of thinking has. But sometimes you make mistakes and we don't know the history and the lineage so a lot of things we have learn. But if we do it in a respectful way, people appreciate it. We're not trying to say something another person is doing is wrong but this is the way we do it and we're going to learn to get better and just be humble.

The main thing is Stefan and I have been friends since ASIJ and I don't know if I speak for him, but I feel like that's very influential in what we're doing.

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Alumni Food and Drink We asked on social media what your favorite alum-run restaurants are and here’s what you served up.

Black Sands Brewery - Robert Patterson ’99 and Stefan Roesch ’99 Black Sands Brewery, located in Lower Haight San Francisco, offers house-brewed beer, cocktails and serves up breakfast, lunch and dinner. Black Sands not only shares the process of how they make their beer, but they also share the recipes and have the equipment available for purchase for patrons to try it themselves at home.

Address: 701 Haight St, San Francisco, CA 94117 www.blacksandsbeer.com

Fatz's The San Franciscan - Jon Levin ’99 Located in Kichijoji, Fatz's is home to one of the best burgers in Tokyo. Jon Levin ’99 makes his customers feel as if they stepped into a true American burger joint. Fatz's is unique in that the burgers can be custom ordered with toppings from traditional bacon to salsa or even meatsauce—the options are just about endless.

But, burgers aren’t the only reason to come to Fatz's, they also serve diner classics such as milkshakes, onion rings, nachos and banana splits, to name a few.

Address: Santa Fe B1-A, 2-25-12 Honmachi, Kichijoji, Tokyo fatzs.lolipop.jp

Gallica - Rosemary Cakebread ’75 Rosemary Cakebread ’75 is the owner and winemaker of the organic wine label Gallica. With more than 30 years of experience in the winemaking industry, Rosemary brings a wealth of knowledge to her wine specifically in her blending techniques.

Address: St Helena, CA 94574 gallicawine.com

Genki - Reid Zeising ’84 Reid Zeising ’84 first opened his restaurant Genki back in 1996 with a desire to share the comforts of the food and culture he grew up with in Tokyo, with the city of Atlanta. Now operating out of three different locations across Atlanta, Genki continues to serve up a range of noodles and sushi to satisfy any Japanese comfort food craving.

Address: 1040 North Highland Avenue Northeast, Atlanta, GA 30306 www.genkiatl.com

Izakaya Minato - Thomas Cooke ’96 Thomas Cooke ’96 brings the traditional Japanese Izakaya to Portland, ME. Specializing in classic izakaya small plates and seasonal dishes local to Portland, Izakaya Minato mimics a true neighborhood favorite you’d frequent with friends afterwork in Tokyo. Walk-ins are welcome and shared carafes of sake are encouraged.

Address: 54 Washington Ave, Portland, ME 04101 www.izakayaminato.com

Mendo Maui - Takuya Toride ’05

Takuya Toride ’05 owns and operates Mendo, a food truck specializing in hand-made ramen and mandoo The Fiddlehead Restaurant dumplings, with his wife Migin Kang Toride in Maui, HI. - Melissa Chaiken ’98 Mendo is a product of the duo’s passion for both ramen Located in downtown Bangor, ME, guests feel at home at The and dough, and together they create traditional Japanese Fiddlehead Restaurant where the food is locally sourced and and Korean cuisine from locally sourced ingredients. craft cocktails are made-to-order with fresh juices and purees.

Address: 1 Piikea Ave, Kihei, HI 96753 Chef Melissa Chaiken ’98 credits her childhood in Japan as www.mendomaui.com/about well as her Malaysian mother and American father for her creations in the kitchen. She specializes in comfort food Oxbow Brewery - Tim Adams ’01 with a fine dining feel, and her dishes range from world cuisine to Maine classics. The cozy dining room Oxbow Blending & Bottling, founded by is known to fill up quickly most nights of the Tim Adams ’01, is located in Portland’s week, so reservations are recommended. vibrant East End neighborhood.

Address: 84 Hammond Street, Bangor, ME 04401 www.thefiddleheadrestaurant.com

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In addition to the hundreds of oak barrels are dozens of stainless steel tanks that hold their mixed-culture and

spontaneously-fermented farmhouse ales, the location is is also home to a large urban bar and event space.

At their rural farmhouse brewery in Newcastle, visitors can sample a rotating selection of Oxbow drafts and bottles in the rustic tasting room.

Address: Oxbow Blending & Bottling, 49 Washington Ave, Portland, ME 04101 Farmhouse Brewery, 274 Jones Woods Rd, Newcastle, ME 04553 oxbowbeer.com

PekoPeko Ramen - David Forster ’10 Specializing in Tokyo-style locally sourced ramen, PekoPeko brings the flavor of Tokyo to Baltimore. With six different types of ramen on the menu, rice bowl varieties and an array of small plates and add-ins, you won’t go hungry after visiting this ramen shop!

Address: 7 East 33rd Street Baltimore, MD 21218 pekopekoramen.com

Roppongi Rogairo - Yonching Sun ’82 The original branch of Rogairo Chinese restaurants can be found in the plush environs of the Daiichi Hotel in Shimbashi. Owned by alum and current ASIJ parent Yonching Sun, the restaurant serves Shanghai cuisine.

Address: Daiichi Hotel, 1 Chome-2-6 Shimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo

Shato Hanten - Helen Ma ’67 Shato Hanten has been serving authentic Chinese cuisine in Tokyo since its opening in 1965. Original Chef Nancy Ma, who wrote over 20 cookbooks, passed down her trade to her daughter, Helen Ma ’67 as well as her granddaughter Ema. The famed family-run restaurant serves the Ma family home-style cooking fused with Beijing cuisine and spicy Sichuan cuisine.

Address: ARK Hills Sengokuyama Mori Tower BF2, 1-9-10 Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo www.shato-hanten.com

The Tasting Room - Daniel Gendron ’78 The Tasting Room in Rhinebeck, NY, is an open kitchen Asian fusion dining experience at Daniel Gendron’s catering company Gendron’s Catering. Gendron ’78 graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in 1981 and has worked in some of the finest restaurants across New York City. His catering business has garnered many plaudits and attracted high profile clients such as Chelsea Clinton. The Tasting Room is Gendron’s latest endeavor where he prepares a set course meal for guests using local ingredients, and strives to “make every table feel like the chef’s table.”

Address: 3767 NY-9G, Rhinebeck, NY 12572 www.gendroncatering.com

TruthTeller Winery Christopher Loeliger ’86 Christopher Loeliger ’86 and his wife Dawn own and operate TruthTeller Winery in Woodinville, Washington. Since its founding in 2014, TruthTeller wine has won several awards most notably The Stand Up Chardonnay, which was rated Gold in the 2017 Seattle Wine Awards, “Judges Pick” by Sip NW Magazine, Silver in the 2017 Tri-Cities Wine Festival, and SavorNW Wine Competition. Visit TruthTeller in Woodinville or at their second tasting room in Walla Walla, Washington.

Address: 19510 144th Ave NE Ste C-1, Woodinville, WA 98072

Tanaka of Tokyo - Rick Tanaka ’67

www.truthtellerwinery.com

Voted the “Best Teppanyaki Restaurant in Hawaii” in The Star Advertiser, Tanaka of Tokyo has been grilling Japanese seafood and steak for over 40 years. Familyowned and operated, Tanaka of Tokyo strives to treat everyone as “honored guests,” and offers a traditional atmosphere where skilled teppanyaki chefs prepare everything from Angus beef sirloin, lobster tails, scallops, king salmon and filet mignon. Originally founded by Rick Tanaka ’67, Tanaka of Tokyo now has three locations across Hawaii and is a destination for locals and tourists alike.

Unicorn Bakery - Anjuli Shiobara ’00

Address: 2250 Kalakaua Ave., Honolulu, HI 96815 www.tanakaoftokyo.com

Anjuli Shiobara ’00 specializes in homemade American and British style sweet treats and pastries at Unicorn Bakery in Kunitachi, Tokyo.

Address: 1-1-14 Naka, Kunitachi, Tokyo www.facebook.com/UnicornBakery Illustrations by Matt Worsley

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Secretary Panetta Inspires Students Cristin Merker reports on Former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta’s visit to high school to speak about his long political career and opportunities for student leadership.

“And so my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country,” President John F Kennedy famously challenged his compatriots. Those words had a lasting legacy for a young Leon Panetta who was inspired to pursue a career in public service. On Tuesday, October 30, former Secretary of Defense Panetta made a visit to the Chofu campus to speak to high school students aiming to similarly motivate them.

Panetta’s long career in politics has spanned over half a century, and seen him serve in Congress, as the Chief of Staff for President Clinton, the Director of the CIA and the Secretary of Defense under President Obama. When he spoke to students in the theater, what they saw was not so much a well-regarded, high-ranking official, but a humble, public servant who has dedicated his life to the betterment of his country and fellow citizens.

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Panetta’s visit, facilitated by Roy Ryu ‘77 and the Washington Speaker’s Bureau, was organized and hosted by six student leaders from high school: Rei Lindemann ‘19, Cora Eaton ‘20, Everett Hirano ‘20, Leah Fahy ‘19, Sean McGuire ‘20 and Masao Kawasaki ‘19. These students not only took on the responsibility of coordinating and promoting his visit, they also reached out to the student body beforehand to gather questions from their peers. With the help of their social studies teachers, they selected the questions and prepared their opening and closing remarks.

Despite a long and illustrious career, Secretary Panetta did not just rehash his experience; instead, he focused on the students and their futures as leaders and agents of change.

“I started on my path to public service by getting involved in my high school student government and realized I really liked working with and for others. It’s important that you get

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 US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta with US President Barack Obama and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Martin Dempsey in the Pentagon on January 5, 2012 in Washington, DC. (Alamy Stock Photo)

involved and exercise your leadership capabilities,” Panetta told the audience. “Young people today often just want to rise to the top without working your way up. But if you work through the drivel, like getting coffee or opening mail, and do the best you can no matter how small the task, people will recognize you and provide you opportunities later on.”

In fact, Panetta’s desire to inspire younger generations to aspire to leadership and public service led to his founding of the nonprofit Panetta Institute for Public Policy at UC Santa Clara in 1997, which he and his wife still run today.

“Politics is so polarized today,” noted junior Sean McGuire following the speech. “Personally, as we are in the transition of becoming adults, it seems daunting to go back to the US and face the problems they are facing.” Panetta knows from experience how student government can lead to a broader political career.

Panetta spoke about his own experiences in Congress in the 1970s and ‘80s, comparing them to those of his son Jimmy, who now represents California's 20th congressional district, contrasting the frequent cross-party cooperation he experienced with the current gridlock. “My son is in a different kind of Washington than I was. In my day, I used to work alongside members of both major political parties, but it’s no longer that way. We are seeing less civility in and

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outside of politics. I feel there is a sense of no longer having to respect someone, which has set a tone of violence that we should all be concerned about.” He believes the solution to the current partisan struggles is to look past labels, sides and the desire to win and simply work together and collaborate for the betterment of the country. “Our country has had over 200 years of challenges,” he told students. “We have had a civil war, world wars, recessions and depressions. But the power is and always has been with the people. And great leaders are those people who rise to these challenges. There is no reason to create fear and arouse hate and prejudice—you should be able to speak to your beliefs without creating fear and hateful division.”

Panetta spoke from experience about working alongside politicians and other world leaders who have looked past their own differences to implement public policy that benefits their constituents, and his stories (many of which cannot be found in a history book) served as an example to our own community. “I’ve worked under nine Presidents,” he told the crowd. “I’ve worked over 50 years in public service and have seen Washington at its best and its worst. I have seen Democrats and Republicans put aside their differences and work together.” He reminded our students that true

leadership is about “courage, strength and the willingness to take sacrifices and risks.”

During the Q&A session hosted by our six student leaders, the discussion covered everything from his initial reasons for pursuing the field of politics (his parents wanted him to become a professional piano player, but once he joined student council at his high school he discovered his passion for leadership through public service), to kneeling during the national anthem, and even whether or not he thought the current state of political tactics and rhetoric were appropriate.

As someone who has worked for both major political parties, he had a lot to say about civility and respecting your colleagues.

“I saw Washington work in my time. At the beginning of my career I worked for (Republican) Senator Thomas Kuchel and I saw firsthand how all the senators worked together bipartisanly. Yes, they fought about politics and debates would get heated, but they were always civil and respectful because they were arguing the issues, not each other’s looks or religion. And that is our power: to find consensus and move forward.”

High school principal Dr Jon Herzenberg was impressed with Secretary Panetta—and our ASIJ students. “The world needs more people who can cultivate consensus, collaboration and have the ability to work together with others from different

backgrounds and perspectives. In order to achieve this lofty aspiration, compromise, patience and empathy are required,” Herzenberg said. “In my humble opinion, Secretary Panetta embodied these attributes during his visit, both in his words and in his actions. I can confidently say, that our students modeled these same qualities as well.”

Following Panetta’s speech and the Q&A session, our student leaders toured him around campus. The sincerity of his words became even more evident through his ease with the students, his frank, but humorous, honesty, and his genuine desire for a new generation of young people to be inspired to become leaders who create change—not through drawing a line in the sand, but through respectful dialogue and compromise.

After he left campus, the students were a bit shell-shocked.

Senior Masa Kawasaki best summed up the opportunity they had just had by stating that this opportunity was a rare one indeed—it was a classroom lesson becoming reality. It was history, policy and politics becoming a tangible, living person who was more than another distant sound-bite on their computer. It was, in fact, an all too brief moment that a leader became an inspiration to a new generation.

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Wired for Social Emotional Learning Matt Wilce takes a look at social emotional learning and the work begun to develop this strategic priority at ASIJ.

“My sculpture represents a timeline—the wires are braided into each other to represent our family, entangled in each other on a lazy Sunday morning,” says Melissa Bertling during a parent workshop on social emotional learning (SEL). Holding up her sculpture made out of red, black and white electrical wires she explains, “We decided to adventure out to Kamakura, which got us excited and then of course, there were highs and lows of our trip.” She points out the peaks and troughs in her design that illustrate the train ride there and finding the giant Buddha, the late summer heat and their trip to the beach. “Then my son hurt his foot on a shell, which was a real low but then we found the most amazingly peaceful outdoor spot for dinner which was a high,” she says. “From there we headed home and spiraled down into our bedtime routine, before we woke up again this morning, entangled in each other once again.”

“The purpose of the wire activity is to explore a creative experience for checking in with ourselves and sharing that with others,” explains Nick Haisman-Smith, director and co-founder of the Institute for Social Emotional Learning (IFSEL). “During the experience, the idea is to check in with ourselves and use the wire to sculpt, relay and represent those feelings. These can then be shared or kept to oneself.” This simple exercise was a common thread through a number of workshops for parents and faculty facilitated by IFSEL during their visits to ASIJ at the start of the school year. “The benefits of this kind of check in exercise are increased self awareness, increased social awareness and increased empathy,” adds Janice Tobin, managing director and co-founder of IFSEL. “This leads to better decision-making, stronger relationships with students and between students.”

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Nick Haisman-Smith from IFSEL during a faculty presentation

Founded in 2009, IFSEL works with educators around the world to develop social emotional learning and train teachers and parents on how to incorporate SEL techniques into family life, classrooms and the curriculum. ASIJ is the first school in Japan to engage IFSEL, having identified SEL as one of its Strategic Priorities last year, and one of a handful of international schools worldwide focused on implementing SEL at a high level. “When SEL is alive in a classroom experience students are interacting with each other differently, they are able to understand themselves better, their own anxieties and worries can be quelled by some of these skills, they can use relaxation techniques before experiences that are stressful,” Tobin says. “Students have a vocabulary among them that can help negotiate friendships and in building relationships,” she adds.

“Schools like ASIJ have been doing work around SEL since their foundation. It’s the underpinning of all good pedagogical practices,” Haisman-Smith says. “What the work with IFSEL has brought is a real deepening of the school’s focus on academic excellence but also a strong sense of community and sense of connection between students, faculty and parents. When we look at the reasons why great schools are interested in this, it's because SEL and student emotional well-being are the onramp to all learning and not a detour in their development,” he says. “We also know that it has a profound effect on the whole community and teacher well-being.”

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Last school year, ASIJ developed a new Strategic Design Framework (SDF), which identified social emotional learning as a priority for the school. “Our Strategic Design Framework includes four key elements: our commitment, mission, core values and vision of learning,” explains head of school Dr Jim Hardin. “After we developed our SDF, we analyzed lots of data and asked questions about our existing strengths and weaknesses. Those discussions quickly surfaced a belief that SEL was one of ASIJ's greatest areas for improvement,” he says. “Not everyone called it SEL, of course, but everyone— faculty, students, and parents alike—agreed that ASIJ needed to better support students as they learned to recognize and manage emotions, develop empathy, learn to act ethically and responsibly, and to form healthy relationships,” he adds.

“What we know from recent longitudinal studies is that the most powerful childhood predictor of adult life-satisfaction is a child's emotional health at when they are 16,” HaismanSmith explains. “The least powerful predictor is the child's intellectual development.” He is quick to point out that academics are obviously still important, but that SEL provides students with tools and competencies that actually help them perform better overall. In fact, a research study by Taylor demonstrated that SEL participants demonstrated improved academic performance, reflected in an 11-percentile-point gain in achievement compared to a control group.

 Middle school counselor Steve Bennett and middle school principal Pip Curtis engaged in discussion during SEL training

 An elementary school assembly about character, one of ASIJ's core values

SEL is one of the first of ASIJ’s six Strategic Priorities where change is already noticeable on campus. “There was urgency around SEL, greater than the other five priorities,” notes Hardin. “Our school climate data indicated students did not feel a strong sense of belonging, which really troubled our faculty,” he explains. “I also believe that SEL provides an essential foundation for the other five priorities. Learning is deeper and more durable when we practice metacognitive strategies that consolidate new knowledge.” He goes on to add that he thinks SEL provides an essential foundation for one of the more novel elements of our SDF, which is our Vision of Learning. This states that: “Learning is a personal, lifelong process that leads to change, including the ability and willingness to adapt. It is driven by curiosity and motivation, occurring in a supportive environment rich in engagement, social interaction and feedback. Learning is constructed in authentic contexts and results in the development of new understandings and skills for all.” Hardin adds that, “the importance of SEL resonates loudly in that vision.”

"We know that SEL is essential for students to thrive in school and in life, but until recently we have not had a way to measure growth in this area,” explains learning data and assessment specialist Wes Przybylski. “This past year we have been collecting data to measure our students social and emotional competencies. Ultimately this data will inspire our practices, identify areas of focus and support goal setting as we improve the emotional intelligence in our students." We asked students in grades 3 through 12, as well as parents and teachers, over 70 questions last year that related directly to SEL competencies and environment supports. “Christy, Jon, and the 15 teachers and counselors on their committee are now studying the SEL survey data closely to understand our existing strengths, our weaknesses and our most urgent and sensitive areas for growth,” says Hardin. “They’ll also work with their steering committee to measure the ongoing impact of our initiatives and actions,” he adds.

The current school year kicked off with a series of workshops facilitated by IFSEL for ASIJ’s board of directors, leadership and faculty. Haisman-Smith, Tobin and Rush Sabiston Frank worked closely with the steering committee charged with guiding the SEL Strategic Priority, which is led by high school principal Dr Jon Herzenberg and the director of the Early Learning Center (ELC) Christy Carrillo. The two sessions that IFSEL held for parents proved so popular that a move to a larger venue at Tokyo American Club was needed to accommodate everyone. “Feedback was very positive, and I think it was evident to all who attended that social emotional learning matters—indeed, it provides a critical foundation for effective metacognition,” says Hardin. “Monday night, after the presentation, we had our most productive dinner table conversation in years, using IFSEL tools and best practices.

These are gifts that will keep on giving, no doubt,” reflected parent Vince Ricci afterwards.

While data collection continues, programmatic changes have already begun. In high school a new ninth-grade advisory program designed to support the content of the ninth-grade seminar was introduced this year. “The focus of both the advisory and seminar is to support students in their first year of high school with critical information about what it means to be a teen/high school student and to provide them with pertinent information as well as space for questions, discussions,” says Herzenberg. “In both the ninth-grade seminar and advisory, there are many SEL activities that assist students in deepening their awareness of self and others, expanding their understanding and practice of empathy, as well as developing their ability to manage and articulate their emotions in a safe and supportive space with trained and trusted adults,” he says.

“The advisory program is a place for students to be known, valued and cared for by teachers and their peers,” he adds noting that the aim is to expand the ninth-grade program for tenth-grade students next year. “The details of that expansion are being developed currently as we learn from the ninth-grade

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 A first-grader uses the wall of emotion words for inspiration

program this year,” he says. “Ultimately, the goal is to have a four grade level program that connects the seminar and advisory program around developmental themes.”

In the Middle School, the advisory program has also been revamped to place a greater emphasis on SEL with three different strands labeled Chousen, Nakama and Kokoro. Chousen— meaning challenge—has a more academic focus, with small group and individual work, tiered interventions and independent reading. Nakama—meaning friends—is an opportunity for the Middle School to come together for assemblies, to hear guest speakers and prepare for trips. During Kokoro, which takes its name from the Japanese for heart and spirit, SEL is the focus.

“Supporting middle schoolers as their brains grow and as they filter all their learning and experiences through a social and emotional lens is essential,” says principal Pip Curtis. “Kokoro allows us to plan for meaningful SEL experiences that are developmentally appropriate for middle schoolers—it shows them that we know, value and care for them in all areas of their growth as young people.”

Another important component in delivering SEL is the school’s counseling program and with this in mind ASIJ is planning to add additional counselors in the elementary and high schools from next year. With both these divisions at historic highs in enrollment, counselors have had to serve more students than before. “The impact of having an additional counselor within the elementary school will allow our students to have greater access to our counselors to strengthen their skills and allow for our counselors to truly build the SEL environment within our school,” say principal Marc L’Heureux. Having a third counselor in elementary will also allow for some cross overwork with the Early Learning Center and support for families there as well.

Visiting classrooms this semester, the concepts and language of SEL have already visibly permeated activities and student work. “Social emotional learning is infused in all that we do with children at the Early Learning Center, says Carrillo. “Every

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experience—from collaborative, classroom learning to playing with friends on the playground to participating in circle time—offers an opportunity for young children to develop self awareness, self regulation, executive functioning and interpersonal skills,” she explains. Kindergarten students recently participated in the fall tradition of sweet potato digging. “With their mounds of sweet potatoes, children engaged in collaborative problem solving—how many sweet potatoes did they have and what should be done with them” Carrillo explains.“ Our teachers structured the challenge and supported students as they negotiated, collaborated and resolved their challenges. Experiences such as these build self confidence, social awareness, cooperative and collaborative skills in an authentic way.”

An example of how SEL is incorporated into daily activities such as circle time is students checking in by sharing how they are feeling that morning. “With words, images and colors, each child shares his or her feelings verbally as well as with an image or colored cube,” Carrillo explains. “This practice builds self awareness, empathy and vocabulary as children identify, share and talk about emotions. When all children have checked in, the class may estimate, categorize or count how many students identified with a feeling. This step builds on social emotional awareness to develop foundational numeracy skills as well,” she adds. A similar approach can be found in the Elementary School.

In Lo Woods’ second grade class a list of different words associated with emotions that students brainstormed is posted next to the board. Students are encouraged to use these words in their personal narratives to reflect their emotions as well as in closing circle, when they check-in with a two-word take on their day. “I have the students say two words to describe how they feel without any further explanation and encourage them to check-in with their friends privately if they are concerned by what someone has said,” Woods explains. “We also have SEL and mindfulness journals, which are a resource students can use and go back to,” she says. Students use them at least once a week for journaling, but have the option that they can journal during quiet time if they want.

From early years classrooms to high school, it is clear that SEL is now present schoolwide and it is integral to delivering on the school’s new commitment. “I want our students to be known, valued and cared for, first and foremost,” says Hardin.

“I want our students to have strong, unapologetic senses of themselves. I want our students to develop uncommon selfefficacy, but to temper that with humility and a willingness to learn. I want our students to feel they belong at ASIJ.”

FUNDRAISING REPORT 17–18 Other ¥2,020,067

ASIJ Fund

Strength & Courage Award ¥629,688 Tennis Court Lights ¥6,530,000 Unrestricted ¥37,989,058

Strength & Courage Award ¥629,688

Other ¥2,020,067

Tennis Court Lights ¥6,530,000 Unrestricted ¥37,989,058

0

¥10 mil

0

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¥20 mil

¥20 mil

¥30 mil

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Giving by Constituency PRESENT PARENTS 72

FRIENDS 3 PRESENT PARENTS 72

FRIENDS 3 ALUMNI 179

PARENTS OF ALUMNI 47 COMPANIES 18 PARENTS OF FACULTY/STAFF 29 ALUMNI 47 CURRENT & FORMER COMPANIES 18

FACULTY/STAFF 29

CURRENT & FORMER

ALUMNI 179 THE AMBASSADOR \\ FALL/WINTER 2018

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Thank You For Your Support One of the many strengths of ASIJ is our community of support—the families who offer financial support to help us continue to provide our students an experience that is a defining moment in their lives. We are grateful for your commitment to maintaining and building upon this strength.

Because of your support, today’s students continue to benefit from an environment steeped in ASIJ's commitment to know, value and care for each child.

With your support of the ASIJ Fund we were able to provide a variety of enhancements to our school this past year. Students returned to campus this fall to find a new playground surface at the Early Learning Center, a brand new surface on the main field, lights on the tennis courts, enhancements to the elementary school library maker-space and a newly renovated high school locker room area.

These are just some of the schools enhancements made possible by the generosity of our community.

These pages celebrate the people who made gifts from July 1, 2017- June 30, 2018 and made these enhancements possible. It is our pleasure to recognize your role in helping fulfill ASIJ’s mission.

Thank you for all of the ways you contribute to ASIJ.

Thank you to the following families who made leadership gifts to support the tennis court lights: Fujii, Daniel ’82 & Yuki and Alec ’15 & William ’17 Kobayashi, Masayuki & Wakae and Lili ’16 & Ikuo ’19 Tsusaka, Miki & Jun and Mia ’11, Ken ’13 & Jo ’18 38

THE AMERICAN SCHOOL IN JAPAN

GIFT CLUB MEMBERS 1902 Society

Headmaster’s Circle

Black and Gold League

¥1,000,000—¥4,999,999

¥200,000—¥499,999

¥100,000—¥199,999

Anonymous Caldwell, Dale & Megumi Cannon, Alan & Kitakado, Fuyumi DiCicco, Daniel C. ’89 & Yuko H. Endo, Kristy ’01 & Theil, Jules Fujii, Daniel K. ’82 & Yuki Kobayashi, Masayuki & Wakae Miyamoto, Nobuhide & Yumi Nakamura, Hiroharu and Mariko Noddin, Robert L. & Janette I. Seltzer, Susan & Theodore S. Tahara, Kunio & Eriko Tsusaka, Miki & Jun Zee, Jinly K. ’90

Courtyard Circle ¥500,000—¥999,999

Dennis, Thurman H. Farrell, Tiffany A. & Moorefield, John A. Fu, Ming-Xia & Nishikawa Fu, Hiroko Fujii, Keith T. & Vicky K. Fujishima, Julie K. ’84 Harada, Mary ’81 Hori, Keijiro ’26 & Renzaburo ’28 Imai, Eijiro & Hiromi Kasamatsu, David J. & Rika Koll, Jesper J. W. & Matsui Koll, Kathy M. Ledbetter, Phaedra ’81 & Mark Murakami, Yumiko & Moses, Todd Nakashima, Amane & Chizuru Platek, Nir Z. Rahman, Farida 1968 Sare-Pierce Family Shah, Sachin N. & Rajul Takagi, James M. & Tsukasa Takamiya, Toshiro & Shino Uruma, Fred M. & Ryoko Yamasaki, Arata Paul & Afifah Rahman

Anonymous Anton, Yuriko J. ’84 & Philip J. Bernier, Jeffrey S. & Seiko S. Dan, Basilius & Chieko Daver, Roxana & Massion, Peter P. Downs, Vicky Edmunds, Eric F. & Misa Edo, Masato & Yoshiko Ehrenkranz, Andra K. ’83 & John Epstein, Jonathan S. & Liu G. Gates, Megan N. ’87 Hagerty, William F. & Chrissy L. Hashimoto, Kaname ’30 Hatakeyama, Yasushi & Makiko Kagimoto, Tadahisa H. S. & Eve E. Kamano, Hiroyuki & Harumi Kawada, Susan & Tadahiro Kehoe, James & Garavaglia, Lilia Kushner, Jonathan I. & Takahashi, Miyuki Kwan, Sora & Jason T. Lane, Nicholas & Holly Mizuno, Toshizumi & Junko Morgenstern, Frederick N. ’83 & Kendra Muir, Jim T. & Kanai, Miwa Neureiter, Kirk R. & Mariko Nishimi, Tetsuya ’94 O’Brien, Jeffrey M. & Willcut, Deborah L. O’Donovan, Timothy A. & Erin M. Okada, Hikaru & Yoshiko Okamoto, Tetsuji ’98 & Eri Piez, Catherine A. ’82 Porté, Thierry G. & Tashiro-Porté, Yasko Regent, Cristopher A. & Heidi A. Rekate, Jason W. & Anna C. Sasanuma, Catherine W. & Taisuke Schultz, Mark D. & Hjordis H. Semaya, David J. & Masako W. Sowder-Yuson Family Suzuki, Rei ’84

Abdulla, Mikaal & Rangana Anonymous Araki, Emi Balian, Razmik & Anush Bedolla, Eugenio & Vega, Maria T. Black, Jerry T. & Sayuri Boatwright, David ’73 Chitani, Yinsei ’68 & Yoshio Fukikoshi, Akihiro & Tomoko Hirata, Hideo & Tomoko Ikeno, Atsushi & Rei Ishibashi, Kenzo & Seiko Ishido, Masayuki & Keiko Ito, Masatoshi & Kumi Jones, David G. ’76 & Mayumi Katayama, Mary I. ’70 & Shohachi Kindred, Jonathan B. & Sachiko Kohler, Barbara B. & Skorski, Joseph A. Latimore, Timothy W. & Chieko Majid, Nasir & Chie Matsuo, Taro & Yuki Mentzas, Spyridon Multz, Jeffrey S. & Susan E. Nelson, Brian D. ’85 & Mana Nishida, Tina Y. ’85 & David A. Norris, Margaret ’65 Ogawa, Andrew S. ’90 Oka, Genki & Marie Plum, John E. & Mimi K. Possman, John B. & Shoko Reese, Lenore & Isenberg, Joshua R. Saddington, John L. ’01 Schmelzeis, Joseph P. ’80 Schmidt, Matthew L. & Lisa H. Silecchia, Thomas & Tate, Saori Smith, Charles M. & Emi K. Takada, Yuko Tanaka, Richard E. ’67 Ty, Alfred ’85 Whitson, Tom & Misty Yoshida, Katsuhisa & Kumiko Donations listed here were made between July 1, 2017 and June 30, 2018.

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Mustangs Club ¥50,000—¥99,999

Anderson, William S. & Janice R. Anonymous Bakshi, Pratima R. ’91 Besson, Thomas & Ruri Cheng, Jill ’63 & Hung Cohen, Frederick I. ’69 Corcoran, Michael V. ’94 & Theresa Cromwell, Penny E. ’67 Estrem, Paul & Eileen Fink, James & Mika Hardin, James & Marti Kohl, Kari O. ’87 & David

Kurata, Winfred ’67 Lee, David A. ’86 & Kaori Lury, Richard R. ’65 & Gemma Mallat, Mary Margaret & Deck, David D. Martino, William L. ’63 Matsumoto, Toyokazu & Naomi Mauer, Jennifer A. ’87 Mera, Yuhka ’81 Meyer, Joseph & Minako Moss, Carolyn M. ’73 & Hawkins, Daniel J. Nagata, Paul ’74 & Susan

Nelson, Erin Oline, Mark A. ’78 & Rebecca Parsons, Terry M. ’65 Schlichting, Richard D. & Cynthia M. Sclafani, Matthew C. ’87 Sumida, Shiori ’99 Turner, Sally A. ’66 Wakat, Barbara M. ’88 Walsh, Lisa K. ’80 Yamashita, Atsushi & Akari

We support ASIJ because our son has flourished at ASIJ and we are delighted that he is learning to be a compassionate and inquisitive global citizen.

—Hiroharu and Mariko Nakamura (Trustee), Current parents

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DECADE CLUBS

Quadruple Decade Club Glazier, Kenneth C. ’67

Triple Decade Club Adams, Jim D. & Nancy Boatwright, David ’73 ‡ Brooke, George M. ’63 Burkart, Edward I. ’48 & Pauline A. Carlin, Christopher D. & Donna K. Cohen, Frederick I. ’69 Crandall, Leslie G. & Aiko K. Downs, Vicky Fielding, Raymond E. ’48 Fox, Eugene A. ’50 & Chantal Haines, Andrew L. ’60 & Elizabeth Huskins, Shirley E. James, Larry G. & Sharon Kemmerer, Ruthli Leybold, Sandra L. ’73 & Dennis Livingston, Jerry K. ’81 Magnuson, Jody ’73 Moss, Carolyn M. ’73 & Hawkins, Daniel J. Nicol, Joanna ’52 Nielsen, Jeannette A. ’59 Pariser, Rudolph ’41 & Louise Pietraszek, Henry T. & Margaret Schaffer, Sally ’76 Shimizu, George ’39 Walsh, Robert R. ’81

Double Decade Club

Blizzard, Jan M. ’71 & D. Craig Bruzek, Patricia A. Chitani, Yinsei ’68 & Yoshio Coopat, E. Thomas & Cheryle P. Cooper, Peter R. & Pamela Duke, Susan N. ’83 Durloo, Ruth S. ’34 Ewart, Emilie F. ’97 & Jake Fattal, Leon ’57 & Suzanne Francischetti, Mark P. ’72 Harnik, Peter L. ’69 & Yoko M. Honaman, Andrew M. ’77 Huo, Jeffrey S. ’94 Huo, Eugene J. ’96 Jones-Morton, Pamela Kidder, Paul M. ’76 Kobayashi, Albert S. ’42 & Elizabeth Lund, Andrew E. ’81 & Denise McCoy, William L. ’59 & Lynne V. McVeigh, Thomas R. ’70 & Rebecca B. Mera, Yuhka ’81 Meyer, Mary A. ’65 Morgenstern, Frederick N. ’83 & Kendra Pierce, Lucia Buchanan ’68 Plum, John E. & Mimi K. Pontius, Pamela R. D. ’97 Porté, Thierry G. & Tashiro-Porté, Yasko Sanders, Michael ’87 ‡ Shorrock, Hallam Squier, Middleton P. & Carol L. Stokes, Paul A. & Rose Tunis, Jeffrey S. Vehanen, Martin J. ’61 Wakat, Barbara M. ’88

Decade Club

Bailey, Mark E. ’78 Berkove, Ethan J. ’86 Cannon, Alan & Kitakado, Fuyumi Ehrenkranz, Andra K. ’83 & John Fujishima, Julie K. ’84 Greig, Katherine H. ’94 Hayase, John K. '85 & Allison Jones, David G. ’76 & Mayumi Kamano, Hiroyuki & Harumi Kuroda, Mitzi ’77 Martenstein, Thomas B. ’50 Martino, William L. ’63 Meller, Louise S. ’63 Miller, Scott M. & Mary E. Nagata, Paul ’74 & Susan Nishida, Tina Y. ’85 & David A. Norris, Margaret ’65 Piez, Catherine A. ’82 Schlichting, Richard D. & Cynthia M. Snell, Richard T. & Francine J. S. Sult, Nathan ’75 Turner, Sally A. ’66 Wilce, Matthew D. Yao, Alejo & Lusan ‡ Deceased

Decade Clubs recognize donors who have given for 10, 20, 30 or more consecutive years. Donations of any amount count toward Decade Club status. Decade Club members have a tremendous impact at ASIJ with their sustained support.

If you wish to secure your spot in a Decade Club, please consider enrolling in recurring donations through Give2Asia at www.give2asia. org/asij. Your donation will be automatically charged to your credit card each year and will be taxdeductible in the United States.

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ALUMNI DONORS 30s

’34 Durloo, Ruth (Stirewalt) ’39 Moss, Richard Shimizu, George

60s

’60 Haines, Andrew L.

Lyons, Phyllis I. McKee, Craig L. Peacock, Jeffrey D.

70s

’70 Gadsby, Ellen J.

Huskins, Deborah L. Katayama, Mary I. (Sung) McVeigh, Thomas R.

’61 Harris, Bonita G. (Bongard)

’71 Blizzard, Jan M. (Schaale)

’41 Pariser, Rudolph ’42 Kobayashi, Albert S. ’45 Hinz, Gwenneth (Thede) ’48 Burkart, Edward I.

’62 Meyer, Fredrick C. ’63 ‡ Brooke, George M.

’72 Alger, Ellen (Matthews)

50s

’64 Van Campen, Mariko

’73 Boatwright, David

40s

Fielding, Raymond E.

’50 Fox, Eugene A.

Harkness, Donald R. Lenz, Pamela L. (Alexander) Martenstein, Thomas B. Tucker, Rosemarie H. (Lendenmann)

’51 Fisher, Carl M.

Garges, Daniel T.

’52 Armstrong, Peter H.

Nicol, Joanna (Strother)

’53 Hastings, James E. ’56 Collins, Barbara J. (Leckie)

Harkness, Sarah E. (Wheeler) Matsumoto, Tadashi C.

’57 Bell, Theodore M.

Nitta, George S. Sapala, Elizabeth M. (Danker) Vehanen, Martin J.

Cheng, Jill (Tsui) Martino, William L. Meagher, Martha L. (Mitchell) Meller, Louise S. Wardlaw, Andrew B.

Yamada, Leslie L. (Davis)

’65 Farkas, Jennifer J. (Burkard)

Gorham, Joyce A. Guillot, Frank M. Lury, Richard R. Meyer, Mary A. Norris, Margaret (Tsukahira) Parsons, Terry M. Rubenfeld, Linda (Steele)

’66 Marsh, Daniel W.

Turner, Sally A. (Noll)

’67 Cromwell, Penny E.

Glazier, Kenneth C. Kerr, Virginia M. Kurata, Winfred Shockley, Marsha F. (Hardesty) Tanaka, Richard E. Yokokawa, Mary M. (Muro)

Fattal, Leon Thompson, Heather M. (McCune) Uramatsu, Haruko

’68 Chitani, Yinsei (Chang)

Nielsen, Jeannette A. (Elsener) Zimmerman, Suzanne (Long)

’69 Cohen, Frederick

’59 McCoy, William L.

Colville, Glenn L. Pierce, Lucia (Buchanan) Rahman, Farida

Harnik, Peter L.

Hayao, George Moore, Craig K. Weiss, Stephen E.

Flynn, Karin (Jagel) Ford, Gregory R. Francischetti, Mark P. Gleason, Ann N. Ludlow-Ortner, Julia C. Rainoff, Brandon Kleinjans, Constance Leybold, Sandra L. (Colville) Magnuson, Jody (Kroehler) Moss, Carolyn M. Tsuchihashi, Noriko

’74 Nagata, Paul

Reynolds, A-Lan (Von Hornlein)

’75 Kidder, Jonathan E.

Niimi, Reiko E. Snook, Susan (Kistler) Sult, Nathan Wakamatsu, Ernest T.

’76 Anderson, Russell D.

Hayao, Kenji Horwitz, Elizabeth M. (Yanagihara) Jones, David G. Kidder, Paul M. Rich, Miriam S. Schaffer, Sally

’77 Honaman, Andrew M.

Jacobson, Kimberley A. Kuroda, Mitzi

’78 Bailey, Mark E.

Oline, Mark A. Struebing, Joel

’79 Ursin, Elizabeth M. (Laun) ‡ Deceased

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80s

’80 Breer, Charles

Eagan, Carol L. (Ford) Schmelzeis, Joseph P. Walsh, William A. Walsh, Lisa K. (Featherstone)

’81 Harada, Mary (Che)

Ledbetter, Phaedra (Onuma) Livingston, Jerry K. Lund, Andrew E. Mera, Yuhka Walsh, Robert R.

’82 Chrysler, Shannon

Fujii, Daniel K. Jenkins, Richard H. Piez, Catherine A.

’83 Duke, Susan N.

Ehrenkranz, Andra K. (Bowman) Hattori, Hitomi (Wakita) Morgenstern, Frederick N.

’84 Anton, Yuriko J. (Takahashi)

Appeldoorn, Caspar Baumhover, Judith L. (Walsh) Fujishima, Julie K. Suzuki, Rei

’85 Hayase, John K.

Little, John Nishida, Tina (Yamano) Ty, Alfred

’86 Berkove, Ethan J. Lee, David A.

’87 Beitchman, Gregory H.

Clough, Joseph S. Gates, Megan N. Girard, Michelle L. (McMullen) Gistren, Tomas P. Kohl, Kari O. (Wilkinson) Mauer, Jenn A. (Fron) Sanders, Michael Sclafani, Matthew C. Sharp, Robert L. Simon, Hali R. (Greenberg)

’88 Durfee, Peter R.

Marini, Nina M. Morgenstern, David H. Wakat, Barbara M.

’89 DiCicco, Daniel C.

90s

’90 Ogawa, Andrew S. Zee, Jinly K.

’91 Bakshi, Pratima R. Kaser, Patrick S.

’92 Harvey, Chris

Current Students Hashimoto, Kaname ’30 Hori, Keijiro ’26 & Renzaburo ’28

Tanaka, Moichi

’93 Nakayama, Mayumi ’94 Cooper, Brendan E.

Corcoran, Michael V. Greig, Katherine H. Huo, Jeffrey S. Johansson, Fredrik J. Nishimi, Tetsuya

’95 Kirk, Philip J.

Sundquist, Alexander Suzuki, Sarah M.

’96 Huo, Eugene J.

Sullivan, Heidi S. (Redell)

’97 Ewart, Emilie (Fisher)

Pontius, Pamela R. D.

’98 Okamoto, Tetsuji ’99 Pontius, Elizabeth P. D. Sumida, Shiori Woods, Bob

00s

’01 Endo, Kristy

Saddington, John L.

’04 Taffel, Max W. ’05 Woods, Steven T.

10s

’11 Hattori, Enna K. ’13 Wakayama, Takuya ’14 Nakayama-Cooper, Erica ’15 Hattori, Mina F.

Hasegawa, Linnea M. THE AMBASSADOR \\ FALL/WINTER 2018

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PARENT DONORS Parents & Alumni Parents Abdulla, Mikaal & Rangana *Adams, Jim D. & Nancy *Anderson, William S. & Janice R. Anonymous Anonymous Anonymous *Araki, Emi Balian, Razmik & Anush *Barber, John F. & Susan C. *Barrett, James H. & Sue C. *Barry, James J. & Martha G. *Bedolla, Eugenio & Vega, Maria T. Bennett, Stephen A. & Carrie A. Benning, Miyuki Bernier, Jeffrey S. & Seiko S. Besson, Thomas & Ruri Betsuyaku, Tetsuo & Tomoko Black, Jerry T. & Sayuri *Blizzard, Jan M. ’71 & D. Craig *Butcher, Arthur C. & Elizabeth B. Caldwell, Dale & Megumi Cannon, Alan & Kitakado, Fuyumi *Carlin, Christopher D. & Donna K. *Chitani, Yinsei ’68 & Yoshio *Coopat, E. Thomas & Cheryle P. *Cooper, Peter R. & Pamela *Cosby, Jeannette Dan, Basilius & Chieko Daver, Roxana & Massion, Peter P. *DiCicco, Daniel C. ’89 & Yuko H. *Downs, Vicky Durfee, Peter R. ’88 & Megumi Edmunds, Eric F. & Misa Edo, Masato & Yoshiko Epstein, Jonathan S. & Liu G. *Estrem, Paul & Eileen *Farkas, Jennifer J. ’65 & Arthur J. Farrell, Tiffany A. & Moorefield, John A. *Feldman, Joan Fink, James & Mika *Fu, Ming-Xia & Nishikawa Fu, Hiroko *Fujii, Daniel K. ’82 & Yuki Fujii, Keith T. & Vicky K.

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Fujishima, Julie K. ’84 *Fujita, Kenji & Tamaki Fukikoshi, Akihiro & Tomoko *Gogerty, Daniel J. & Lana J. Hagerty, William F. & Chrissy L. *Harte, Esther L. *Hatakeyama, Yasushi & Makiko *Hattori, Hitomi ’83 & Seikou *Higa, Ernest M. ’70 & Aya *Hirata, Hideo & Tomoko *Huskins, Shirley E. Ikeno, Atsushi & Rei Imai, Eijiro & Hiromi *Ishibashi, Kenzo & Seiko Ishido, Masayuki & Keiko Ito, Masatoshi & Kumi *James, Larry G. & Sharon *Jones, David G. ’76 & Mayumi Kagimoto, Tadahisa H. S. & Eve E. Kasamatsu, David J. & Rika *Katayama, Mary I. ’70 & Shohachi *Kawada, Susan & Tadahiro *Kehoe, James & Garavaglia, Lilia *Kindred, Jonathan B. & Sachiko *Kistler, Luther D. & Dorothy Kobayashi, Masayuki & Wakae Kohler, Barbara B. & Skorski, Joseph A. Koike, Junji & Aya *Koll, Jesper J. W. & Matsui Koll, Kathy M. Kushner, Jonathan I. & Takahashi, Miyuki *Kwan, Sora & Jason T. *L’Heureux, Marc & Heidi H. Lane, Nicholas & Holly *Latimore, Timothy W. & Chieko *Majid, Nasir & Chie *Mallat, Mary Margaret & Deck, David D. *Matsumoto, Toyokazu & Naomi *Matsuo, Taro & Yuki *Mendoza, Elias & Chizu Mentzas, Spyridon *Meyer, Joseph & Minako *Michels, William C. & Mary S.

*Miller, Scott M. & Mary E. Mizuno, Toshizumi & Junko Morgenstern, Frederick N. ’83 & Kendra *Mori, Yasuaki & Mariko Muir, Jim T. & Kanai, Miwa Multz, Jeffrey S. & Susan E. Murakami, Yumiko & Moses, Todd Nakamura, Hiroharu & Mariko Nakashima, Amane & Chizuru *Nakayama, Mayumi ’93 *Nelson, Brian D. ’85 & Mana Neureiter, Kirk R. & Mariko Nishida, Tina Y. ’85 & David A. Noddin, Robert L. & Janette I. *O’Brien, Jeffrey M. & Willcut, Deborah L. O’Donovan, Timothy A. & Erin M. Ochi, Masato Oka, Genki & Marie Okada, Hikaru & Yoshiko Okamoto, Tetsuji ’98 & Eri *Pietraszek, Henry T. & Margaret Platek, Nir Z. *Plum, John E. & Mimi K. *Porté, Thierry G. & Tashiro-Porté, Yasko *Possman, John B. & Shoko *Prewitt, David & Carol S. *Reckord, Josh G. & Nancy Reese, Lenore & Isenberg, Joshua R. Regent, Cristopher A. & Heidi A. Reilly, Kenneth & Debbie Rekate, Jason W. & Anna C. *Relnick, Philip R. & Nobuko Sare-Pierce Family Sasanuma, Catherine W. & Taisuke *Schlichting, Richard D. & Cynthia M. Schmidt, Matthew L. & Lisa H. Schultz, Mark D. & Hjordis H. Seltzer, Susan & Theodore S. Semaya, David J. & Masako W. Shah, Sachin N. & Rajul * ‡ Shorrock, Hallam

*Silecchia, Thomas & Tate, Saori Smith, Charles M. & Emi K. *Snell, Richard T. & Francine J. S. Sowder-Yuson Family *Squier, Middleton P. & Carol L. *Stokes, Paul A. & Rose Suzuki, Erimitsu & KawasakiSuzuki, Tamami Suzuki, Rei ’84 Tahara, Kunio & Eriko

*Takada, Yuko *Takagi, James M. & Tsukasa Takamiya, Toshiro & Shino *Tsusaka, Miki & Jun *Tunis, Jeffrey S. Uruma, Fred M. & Ryoko *Wakamatsu, Ernest T. ’75 & Yuko *Wakutsu, Kyoko E. & Hiroshi *Whitson, Tom & Misty

*Witt, Eugene W. & Janet M. *Yamasaki, Arata Paul & Afifah Rahman Yamashita, Atsushi & Akari *Yanagihara, Kaworu *Yao, Alejo & Lusan *Yoshida, James A. & Sumiko Yoshida, Katsuhisa & Kumiko *Alumni Parent ‡ Deceased

We make ASIJ a priority in our annual giving because we know that our donation is being put to good use improving the educational experience for our children and for future ASIJ students!

—Steven Sare and Peter Pierce (Trustee), Current ASIJ parents

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DONORS

Faculty & Staff Tribute Gifts Bennett, Stephen A. & Carrie A. Benning, Miyuki Branstetter, Genta & Gow, Chris +Bruzek, Patricia A. +Chitani, Yinsei ’68 & Yoshio +Cooper, Peter R. & Pamela +Crandall, Leslie G. & Aiko K. Curtis, Philippa & Darrin +Dennis, Thurman H. +Downs, Vicky +Gogerty, Daniel J. & Lana J. Hardin, James & Marti Jinks, Jarrad H. & Colosimo, Anna +Jones-Morton, Pamela +Kemmerer, Ruthli L’Heureux, Marc & Heidi H. Mallat, Mary Margaret & Deck, David D. Nelson, Erin Nickle, Carole +O’Brien, Jeffrey M. & Willcut, Deborah L. Ogawa, Ryo +Prewitt, David & Carol S. +Reckord, Josh G. & Nancy Ren, Jean +Snell, Richard T. & Francine J. S. +Squier, Middleton P. & Carol L. +Vasché, Pauline Phillips Wakutsu, Kyoko E. & Hiroshi Wilce, Matthew D. +Witt, Eugene W. & Janet M. +Former Faculty/Staff

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In memory of Deepak Bakshi Bakshi, Pratima R. ’91

In memory of Fred Hirata Hirata, Hideo & Tomoko

Friends Kamano, Hiroyuki & Harumi

Gift-in-Kind Coca-Cola DiCicco, Daniel C. ’89 & Yuko H. Epstein, Jonathan S. & Liu G. Higa, Ernest M. ’70 & Aya Ochi, Masato

Corporate Aflac

PTA

Donors of ¥100,000 or more in cash or in-kind gifts Aflac Canyons Japan Club Med Coca-Cola Dominos Pizza Gap Japan K.K. Hafele Japan K.K. Hotel Management Japan Hyatt Regency Kyoto Journeys Within Living Motif (AXIS Inc.) Nihon Harmony Resorts K.K. OtterBox Hong Kong Ltd. Pembroke Star Enterprise Co., Ltd. Sumitomo Realty & Development Co., Ltd. Tokyo American Club Unilever Japan

STRENGTH & COURAGE Donors JULY 1, 2017–JUNE 30, 2018 Beitchman, Gregory H. ’87 Clough, Joseph S. ’87 Gates, Megan N. ’87 Girard, Michelle L. ’87 Gistren, Tomas P. ’87

Kohl, Kari O. ’87 & David Lund, Andrew E. ’81 & Denise Mauer, Jennifer A. ’87 Miller, Scott M. & Mary E. Nelson, Erin

Sclafani, Matthew C. ’87 Sharp, Robert L. ’87 Simon, Hali R. ’87 Ursin, Elizabeth M. ’79 Walsh, William A. ’80 & Marion

THE GATE SOCIETY Members

The Gate Society recognizes members of the ASIJ community who have provided for ASIJ through their estate plan, trust or other financial instrument. Bequests and other planned gifts help ensure that ASIJ can continue to provide a rigorous and innovative education to a diverse student body.

Community members may name “Gakko Hojin The American School in Japan” in their plans. Please contact donate@asij.ac.jp for more information.

If you have included ASIJ in your estate plans, please let us know at donate@asij.ac.jp so that we can recognize your commitment as a member of the Gate Society.

Anderson, Irene ’74 & Somes, James Bergt, David E. ’60 & Jeannine C. Cohen, Frederick I. ’69 Cooper, Peter R. & Pamela Downs, Vicky Glazier, Kenneth C. ’67 ‡ Harris, Frederick P. ‡ Haven, Robert D. Hesselink, Ann P. ’71 ‡ Hoffsommer, Abigail ’27 ‡ Hoffsommer, Walter A. ’29 Huddle, James R. ’70 Jones-Morton, Pamela Ludlow-Ortner, Julia C. ’72 Muhl, Richard R. Nelson, Erin ‡ Nicodemus, David B. ’33 Proctor, David M. Shibata, Hideko Y. ’66 ‡ Snyder, Ronald J. ‡ Sullivan, John J. Sundberg, Carl E. ’77 Suzuki, Chizu ’64 Tunis, Jeffrey S. Ware, Brent J. ’74 ‡ Deceased

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WELCOME NEW ALUMNI

Class of 2018 College Matriculation USA

Angelo State University Bard College Barnard College Boston University Brigham Young University Brown University California State University, Northridge Carleton College Carnegie Mellon University Chapman University Colby College Colgate University Colorado College Colorado State University Columbia University Cornell University Duke University Evergreen State College Fashion Institute of Technology Georgetown University Georgia Institute of Technology Harvard University Loyola Marymount University Loyola University Chicago Loyola University Maryland Michigan Technological University Middlebury College The New School New York University New York University Abu Dhabi New York University Shanghai 48

THE AMERICAN SCHOOL IN JAPAN

North Carolina State University Northeastern University Occidental College Pacific Lutheran University Rutgers University-New Brunswick San Diego State University Santa Clara University Skidmore College Smith College St Olaf College Stanford University Stevens Institute of Technology Suffolk University Suffolk University – Madrid Campus Tufts University Tulane University University of Arizona University of California, Berkeley University of California, Santa Barbara University of Chicago University of Colorado at Boulder University of Connecticut University of Georgia University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign University of Michigan University of Minnesota, Twin Cities University of Oregon University of Pennsylvania University of Southern California University of Texas, Austin University of Virginia University of Washington

Vassar College Washington University in St Louis Wesleyan Univesity

APAC

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

CANADA McGill University University of British Columbia University of Toronto

EUROPE

The American University of Paris Amsterdam University College Jacobs University (Germany) Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti Milano

JAPAN

Keio University Osaka University Sophia University Waseda University

UNITED KINGDOM

Brunel University London Durham University Goldsmiths, University of London University College London The University of Edinburgh The London School of Economics and Political Science

ALUMNI

Reunions

Golden Reunion San Diego 2018

CLASS OF ’68 50 REUNION TH

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ALUMNI

’68

50th Reunion San Diego, California April 27–May 1, 2018

The Class of 1968 sponsored a "Golden Reunion" celebration in San Diego during Golden Week which was a strong reminder that ASIJ forges friendships that last a lifetime. A reunion which began as a celebration of the Class of ’68’s 50th anniversary evolved into a multi-class alumni festival of fun and good old fashioned socializing among many who had not seen each other for decades.

Nick Connor ’68 and Dave Sakamoto ’68 planned over two full days of activities for the 112-strong contingent from the classes of ’66 to ’69, who were joined by additional alums from the ’70s and family members. They chose San Diego’s Bahia Resort Hotel for the reunion, and organized swag bags, hired live music for all nighttime activities, juggled song lists and menus, enlisted classmates to help organize alumni speakers, and recruited classmates to emcee the various reunion events.

They also made some pretty amazing name tags that looked like backstage passes for a rock concert—they were in fact passes to special memories on the California coast.

Nick Connor officially kicked off the reunion the morning of Sunday, April 29, 2018 in the Del Mar room at the Bahia Resort. Peter Tsukahira ‘68 then gave the convocation address, thanking the organizers saying that he hoped “we all can realize how special and formative [our time at ASIJ] was.

There was something pure and genuine about us...” Peter recalled the Almond Cafe in Roppongi as being a venue for “approved fun and unapproved fun.” And with an exchange rate of ¥360 to US$1, he reminded the crowd “we were all rich. If you missed the bus, you took a cab.”

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THE AMERICAN SCHOOL IN JAPAN

Head of School Dr Jim Hardin spoke after Peter, generating laughs from the audience when he said, “I was born in 1966.” He congratulated the reunion guests on their tight connections, saying “very few international schools retain this magic—your relationships are truly unique.” Jim talked about his background and journey to ASIJ. He updated the reunion guests on ASIJ’s new strategic design framework, which was in the final stages of revision, and provided an update on student safeguarding at ASIJ. Many reunion attendees then boarded the Bahia Belle for a luncheon cruise in Mission Bay. Other guests made their way to Liberty Station’s Stone Brewing Bistro and World Garden, where alumni from classes ranging from the ’60s through to 2017 gathered with former faculty and former ASIJ parents for an outdoor reception with head of school Jim Hardin and his wife Marti on a perfect sunny San Diego day.

As the sun set, the party was just getting started as alumni and former teacher Greg Flanders (FF ’63-’64 and ’65-’67) gathered on the beach for an amazing buffet and music provided by the live band the Mar Dels. It wasn’t long before the line-dancing aficionados started busting some moves on the beach, and those who wanted solid ground ventured out with Dave Sakamoto to dance the night away after the music stopped on Mission Bay. Laer Pearce ’68 kicked off day two of the reunion with opening remarks, noting that his two years at ASIJ were a “huge blessing.” He introduced world-renowned neuroscientist Wise Young ’68 who talked about how ASIJ “contributed to

ALUMNI

Reunions

everything I did afterwards. ASIJ gave us an understanding of different cultures.” Wise recounted various endeavors he has undertaken in countries such as Japan, India, China and Norway to further spinal cord injury research, and he underscored the role played by lessons learned at ASIJ in working with people from different countries and cultures.

He concluded by saying, “My family is so grateful for the lessons we learned about Japan.”

Jackie Connor ’69 spoke about her career as a judge, and now as a mediator. “There was such an innocence to our experiences,” she said. And although many ASIJ alumni experience challenges adjusting to life after ASIJ, Jackie noted that “We might not belong, but we can fit in anywhere.”

Gary Held ’68 had tales to tell from his varied career, having finished both college and law school in five years, he then embarked upon decades of both successful and unsuccessful business ventures. Of his time at ASIJ, where he was student council president ’67-’68, he said “Everyone meshed so wonderfully together. I never felt so welcome as I did there.” He remembered meeting Wise Young his first year at ASIJ and Wise convinced Gary to run as class vice president when Wise ran for president. Of Wise, Gary said, “He taught me you just need to partner with the right people.” Speaking of which, Gary is partnering with Dave Sakamoto and the Golden Reunion team on the next ’60s reunion in 2021, the planning for which has already begun.

Mara Purl shared that she doesn’t tell a lot of people that she grew up in Japan, because they would not understand.

She said it’s a “joy and relief to spend time with people like us.” At ASIJ, Mara learned that “some things in life you do collectively, not individually,” and remarked that it was at ASIJ where she learned to sing and dance at the same time. Mara shared a remarkable audio clip of her speaking in Japanese, British English and French for a commercial.

She also talked about the importance of racial equality, something she addresses in the book Equality.

Annie Sung Bernstein ’68, Liz Yamada Murray ’68, Scott Hutchinson ’65 and Bonnie Broe ’64

Reunion attendees boogie on the beach

Nick Connor ’68, Sandra Carter, Jacque Connor and William (Chip) Connor II ’67

The group then walked to Mission Beach for lunch at a Japanese restaurant. The evening concluded aboard the beautiful William D. Evans sternwheeler, with drinks at the bar on the lower deck. The group then moved upstairs for dinner where Scott and Debbie Hutchinson and Miriam Gullatt Parkerson ’67 entertained the crowd before “Republic of Music” took over for the post-dinner dance party.

Frank Terschan ’68 spearheaded an emotional finale on the final morning that involved an outpouring of gratitude to all and a collective plea for greater efforts to collectively preserve the rekindling of friendships and to set the stage for a follow-up event in the not-so-distant future.

Alumni gather at the community reception hosted by ASIJ

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ALUMNI

Reunions

ASIJ Chofu Campus

CLASS OF ’88 & ’98 REUNION: SPIRIT DAY 2018

There is one week each fall where ASIJ buzzes with excitement and there are countless activities on campus building school spirit. The festivities of Spirit Week lead up to Spirit Day, formerly known as homecoming, which is a day that brings together the ASIJ community to cheer on our sports teams, gather with both new and old friends, and enjoy delicious food cooked up by our parent volunteers. This year, Spirit Day was even more special as we welcomed alumni from the classes of ’88 and ’98 and their families back to Tokyo for their 30th and 20th reunions.

Alumni came from all over to be part of the special celebration organized by Anna Sasaki Saito ’88, Minako Abe ’88, Sherry Yu Hoshi ’88 and Kacie Rosenberg Leviton ’98. A few of our alumni even made the trip all the way to Tokyo from various parts of the United States just for the weekend, as it was too special to miss.

On the morning of September 29, the group boarded a school bus and took the nostalgic ride to campus, which they all thoroughly enjoyed. Upon arriving at campus, the group of alums were full of excitement. For many, this was their first trip back to ASIJ since graduation—a lot had changed and they couldn't wait to see the school. Twelve alumni from the reunion classes supported ASIJ through

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donations to the ASIJ Fund, including alumni who weren't able to attend the reunion.

The group was greeted by head of school Jim Hardin, who shared a brief update on the new Strategic Design Framework as well as our school’s other new initiatives for this year.

Following Jim’s remarks, the classes enjoyed a school tour, after first stopping at the iconic gate for a group shot, and were overjoyed at what they remembered from walking down the high school hallways. The Classes of ’88 and ’98 continued the day by joining in on the community-run activities. They had the opportunity to watch the volleyball, cheer and football teams, and they also had a visit from two professional sumo wrestlers. One alum’s spouse even challenged the sumo, but despite a valiant effort the pro prevailed.

The reunion was capped off with an evening reception where there group gathered for dinner and drinks at Tokyo American Club. Beloved former social studies teacher Daniel Swanson (FF ’81-’02) was the guest of honor, and the group enjoyed sharing stories of their time at ASIJ as well as getting to hear from Daniel Swanson himself. Finally, the group remembered their three former classmates who passed away and honored them with framed photos of them present at the dinner.

ALUMNI

Michael Fisher ’88, Yuka Fukuie ’98, Lisa Wardell White ’88, Maya Moore ’78, Ba Hulbert Watson ’88 and Minako Abe ’88

Reunions

Kacie Rosenberg Leviton ’98

Classes of ’88 & ’98 with Daniel Swanson (FF ’81-’02)

Chika Akera Dow ’88, Michael Donnelly ’88 and Kira Donnelly ’87

Sherry Yu Hoshi ’88, Taichu Jiang ’88, Daniel Swanson (FF ’81-’02) and Minako Abe ’88 THE AMBASSADOR \\ FALL/WINTER 2018

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ALUMNI

’83

Reunions

35th Reunion Nashville, Tennessee September 7–9, 2018

A fitting 35 alumni from the Class of ’83 came together to celebrate their 35th class reunion in Nashville, TN, September 7–9 along with seven guests and one service dog. The group came from 17 different states as well as Canada, and the weekend was coordinated by Maria Mraz and local Nashville alum, Sara Carty Anderson.

The weekend kicked off a day early with a dinner at Rock Bottom Brewery on Thursday, Sep 6. Friday consisted of the Famous Footsteps Walking Tour, a welcome reception at the Cambria Hotel, and then a fun night out enjoying Nashville’s honky tonks.

On Saturday the group indulged in sightseeing and various tours including the Ryman Tour and the Pedal Tavern Tour, and small groups broke off for exploring the Gulch District.

The group gathered for dinner at the Flying Saucer Draught house and continued into the evening at lively Nashville bars and honky tonks. The weekend came to a close on Sunday with brunch at the Cambria Hotel.

’93

25th Reunion Los Angeles, CA August 24–26, 2018

Over twenty alumni and spouses/friends converged in Los Angeles over the weekend of August 24–26 for the Class of ’93 25th reunion. People traveled from near and far to attend the event arriving from Japan, Costa Rica, Colorado, the D.C area, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and different parts of California. The reunion kicked off on Friday with a happy hour where guests were awed by how much everyone looked the same. Some of the group have been to all the reunions

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The class of ’83 has a core group that meets every five years and stays in touch regularly through social media channels. They love getting together and celebrating their shared experiences of living in Japan during high school.

Their weekend in Nashville was so much fun that they are already discussing mini-reunions so that they don’t have to wait another five years to get together.

THE AMERICAN SCHOOL IN JAPAN

and stayed in touch throughout the years and some hadn't seen each other since middle school! It was wonderful for the former classmates to reminisce about their experiences in Japan and also catch up on where people are now.

The main event on Saturday included dinner on a rooftop patio with a view of the Hollywood sign in the distance and a gorgeous full moon. The group enjoyed Thai food and towers of beer. The after-party landed the class of ’93 at a karaoke bar where they sang (and beatboxed) their hearts out with renditions of songs ranging from Guns N' Roses to Les Misérables to Dionne Warwick—because That's What Friends Are For. Event organizer Katie Moore ’93 shared that “the special bond we share from ASIJ allowed us to easily slip back into old friendships. Old memories were refreshed and new memories were created. Hopefully, the buzz and energy from this weekend will carry us through to the next time we gather together.”

ALUMNI

Reunions

’08

10th Reunion New York, New York August 4, 2018

The Class of 2008 celebrated their 10-year reunion in New York this summer. Over 70 ASIJ alumni and friends gathered from five continents, for a three-day event which consisted of karaoke, a Central Park picnic, and a celebration at the Jane Hotel. The group had a blast reconnecting with old friends, meeting significant others, and making new memories.

’13

5th Reunion New York, NY & Tokyo, Japan August 25, 2018 Andrew Deck ’13 and Lia Camargo ’13 organized their five-year reunion with celebrations in both Tokyo and NYC on August 25. The Tokyo reunion had dinner at a rooftop in Kamiyamacho, followed by a night out in Shibuya complete with Tokyo’s favorite pastime, karaoke. The New York City reunion brought together alumni from all over and was made up of former students who traveled from Chicago, DC, Toronto, Boston and South Carolina.

The group rented our a bar in Manhattan’s East Village and they too found their way to a late night karaoke spot.

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ALUMNI

Upcoming Reunions

San Francisco, California

COMMUNITY RECEPTION Contact: Claire Lonergan (alumni@asij.ac.jp) San Francisco, California Saturday Feb 2, 2019 Registration details to be sent out soon.

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THE AMERICAN SCHOOL IN JAPAN

We are thrilled to announce our upcoming community reception this February in San Francisco, CA. All ASIJ alumni, alumni parents and former faculty are invited to attend. Head of school Jim Hardin will be in attendance to share updates from the ASIJ campus. Please save the date for an evening of fun with the ASIJ community.

More details will be shared shortly via email.

ALUMNI

Upcoming Reunions

Classes of 70s & 80s Reunion The Grove Resort , Orlando, Florida July 2–July 5, 2019 Cheryl Wise (shareallwise@gmail.com)

’99

20th Reunion Tokyo, Japan Fall 2019, Details soon Naomi Hayase (naomidhayase@gmail.com)

Alumni Council Bonenkai ELC Roppongi Hills, Tokyo, Japan Friday Dec 14, 2018 Kacie Leviton (kacie_r@hotmail.com)

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ALUMNI

Class Agents

Classes pre-1955 and those noted below need class agents. Please contact alumni@asij.ac.jp if you are interested.

L. Cryderman 1955 William wcryderman@comcast.net Sun Li 1956 Mei meisunli@comcast.net

Sandra L. Maclver Thompson sandra.thompson3@comcast.net

C. Wu 1957 Charles wucc57@gmail.com

1958 Class Agent Required 1959 Class Agent Required E. Bergt 1960 David dbergt@comcast.net Bennett 1961 Stu stu.bennettCEO@

SanFranciscoSeamaster.com

C. Bauernschmidt Clarke 1962 Katherine kcbclarke@gmail.com Nancy Wu 1963 naninvan@me.com

William L. Martino txmartino@yahoo.com

Bonner 1964 David dbonner@regenevita.com

1965 Class Agent Required Nichols Campbell 1966 Annie campbell.annie@gmail.com F. Penhollow Moss 1967 Grenda grendamoss@yahoo.com

T. Sakamoto 1968 David dave.sakamoto@infoontheweb.com Nicholas D. Connor ndconnor@yahoo.com

B. Hertenstein Swanson 1969 Laura laura@swanson.com Garnitz 1970 Daniel dangar46@yahoo.com

K. Kobata 1971 Kathy kkobata21@gmail.com

Suzukawa-Tseng 1972 Linda sutseng@wonder.ocn.ne.jp

1973 Class Agent Required 1974 Class Agent Required Reiko E. Niimi 1975 rniimi@gmail.com

M. Yanagihara Horwitz 1976 Elizabeth liz@lizhorwitz.com Carl E. Sundberg 1977 carl_sundberg_ja@yahoo.com Adams Smith 1978 Deanna deannasmith1959@gmail.com Kistler 1979 Dean skierdean1@aol.com

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1980 Class Agent Required L. Davis Tighe 1981 Sherry tighezoo@sbcglobal.net Bastick 1982 Lisa omalasq@mac.com

Mimura 1983 George georgemimura@yahoo.com Judith Walsh Baumhover 1984 baumhover@earthlink.net

L. Orton Tweed 1985 Sandra sandra@prestonmatthews.com E. Stewart Wack 1986 Diane diwack@msn.com L. Sharp 1987 Robert robert@redgiant.com

L. Schmitt Simon 1988 Kathrine schm0495@gold.tc.umn.edu Sergei P. Hasegawa sergei@purekitchen.com

1989 Linnea M. Hasegawa

tamagomeshi@yahoo.com Samantha Fritz Hurd samf@austin.rr.com

K. Relnick 1990 Kentaro krelnick@me.com

Galles 1991 Maiko maikomizutani@hotmail.com Daniel Brandt 1992 dbrandttennis@gmail.com

S. Sakuma Moore 1993 Katherine ktsakuma@yahoo.com McMahon T. Reid homereid@mit.edu

R. MacCallum 1994 Margaret margaretreiko@gmail.com Midori Kano mkano128@gmail.com

P. Maddox Vos 1995 Yuki pearlvos@hotmail.com

A. Shimizu 1996 Hisashi sunny_shimizu@hotmail.com Godfrey 1997 Sarah sgodfrey617@gmail.com

2001 Class Agent Required nna L. Tuttle Delia 2002 Aannalynnosu@gmail.com Mitsuhiko Tsukimoto moonbook@gmail.com

2003 Class Agent Required Mothersill 2004 Jason jasonmothersill@gmail.com Izumi 2005 Tatsuya izumtat@gmail.com Dirkse 2006 Tai tdirkse@asij.ac.jp

Mana Sasaki Kalohelani mkalohelani@gmail.com

E. Onions 2007 Rosalind rosalind.onions@gmail.com Carly Baird baird.carly@gmail.com

2008 Jemil Satterfield

jemilsatt05@gmail.com Miles Bird miles.t.bird@gmail.com

Teslik 2009 Ashley ashleyteslik@gmail.com Caitlin E. McHose caitlin.mchose@gmail.com

H. Kanzawa 2010 Janet janet.kanzawa@gmail.com Kana Maeji kanamaeji12@gmail.com

T. Siegel 2011 Hannah hannahtsiegel@gmail.com Philip T. Tseng philtseng7@gmail.com

Joon Sung 2012 Seung sjsung94@gmail.com

Deck 2013 Andrew andrewdeck227@gmail.com Lia Camargo lollia1108@gmail.com

Camargo 2014 Akira akinicamargo0125@gmail.com Sayuri Sekimitsu sayuris@stanford.edu

Vicky (Carter) Chen vickycarter@hotmail.com

F. Hattori 2015 Mina minahattori@me.com

Rose E. Hastings rosehastings@gmail.com

Ray M. Hotta ray.hotta@yahoo.com

E. Rosenberg Leviton 1998 Kacie kacie_r@hotmail.com

D. Hayase 1999 Naomi naomidhayase@gmail.com Tamina M. Plum taminaplum@gmail.com

ary T. Yamada 2000 Ggtyamada@gmail.com

K. Harris 2016 Jayne 16jkharris@gmail.com

Takagi 2017 Andy andy.takagi@gmail.com Allessandra Rogers rogeal01@luther.edu

Shumsky 2018 Hikari hikarishumsky@gmail.com

Artifacts Made by the International Time Recording Company (a forerunner to IBM) in New York, this timepiece served as the main school clock at ASIJ’s Meguro campus between 1927 and 1963. The clock was purchased from Teijiro Kurosawa’s office supply company in Ginza sometime after 1912, when Kurosawa—a pioneer in typewriter manufacturing technology in Japan—opened his flagship store. Below the clock face there is an additional movement—a wheel with pins that are set to trigger the school bell. There are also additional components that were added to the clock body to electrify the mechanism, although the clock can still be manually wound and still keeps time. Today, the clock resides in the entrance to the Advancement Office.

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COMMUNITY

Obituaries

Sayonara LILE CRUSE (FF ’66–’68) longtime music educator and musical theater producer, passed away on August, 23, 2018, following a short illness. Lile was born on March 30, 1934 in Modesto, CA. At age 11 Lile’s parents gave him an alto saxophone and he played throughout high school and went on to major in music education at Chico State University where he earned a BA and MA. Lile is said to have called himself a B-flat (average) student until senior year, when he began student-teaching which is where he fell in love with conducting.

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Lile taught choir and band at various high schools throughout Northern California before accepting a position at ASIJ. He was remembered by ASIJ administrators as an excellent musician and teacher and he was responsible for initiating the instrumental program in 1966. Former head of school Melville J. Homfeld wrote in a letter of reference on December 11, 1967 “Mr. Lile O. Cruse is an outstanding music educator” and following his first year at ASIJ “he as more than one-fourth of the eligible elementary school students playing or learning to play an instrument. In the high school he has three performing bands.”

COMMUNITY

Obituaries COLONEL GEORGE “CHIP” MERCER BROOKE III ’63 passed away on Tuesday, March 27, 2018 after a brief illness. He is survived by his mother, Frances Bailey Brooke; his wife of 50 years Jane Leech Brooke; his daughter Catherine Brooke Hylton; his son George Mercer Brooke IV; and his sister Marion Brooke Carson ’65. Col. Brooke is also survived by his six grandchildren Emily Jackson, Grace Hylton and Elise, Emma, John and Philip Brooke.

In 1970, Lile accepted a position overseeing both jazz and classical music at Cabrillo College. He was res p onsible for founding the jazz program at Cabrillo College and also for creating Cabrillo Stage, a professional musical theater company on the Cabrillo campus in 1981.

Lile retired from the Cabrillo College Music Department in 1993, and moved his attention to producing Cabrillo Stage, which he did through 2003. Of all the shows he produced in his 22 years at Cabrillo Stage, Evita, Sweeney Todd, Honk! and West Side Story were his favorites. He always said that while Michele was his beloved wife, musical theater was his mistress.

Lile leaves behind his wife of 33 years, Michele Rivard. In his memory a musical celebration took place on October 28, 2018 at Rio Theatre in Santa Cruz, CA.

Col. Brooke attended ASIJ from 1962–63 and from there he went on to attend Virginia Military Institute (VMI). After graduation he was commissioned in the United States Marine Corps and went on to have a long and distinguished career. Col. Brooke retired from the Marine Corps in 1994 and his personal decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart, Meritorious Service Medal, two Navy Commendation Medals with combat (V), Navy Achievement Medal and the Combat Action Ribbon.

After leaving the Marine Corps, Col. Brooke earned a PhD in history from Georgetown University where he taught as an adjunct professor at VMI until 2012.

DWIGHT KIYONO ’74 is remembered as an amazing cartoonist, illustrator, photographer and artist. While at ASIJ, Dwight was an active member of the Singers during his high school years, and also participated in stage band and many school musicals. After leaving ASIJ Dwight went on to attend the California College of the Arts in Oakland, CA. A memorial celebrating his life took place on November 11, 2018 in Oakland, CA.

REWA RAYKAR ’16 passed away on August 6, 2018 after a period of ill health. Rewa moved from Mumbai to attend ASIJ for high school, where she was a member of the speech club. She went on to attend Rice University.

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COMMUNITY DORCIE SAKUMA (AP ’88–’93) passed away in Honolulu, HI on September 25, 2018. While living in Tokyo, she was deeply involved in the ASIJ community serving as PTA President and supporting the Booster Club. She maintained her connection with ASIJ through frequent reunions with alumni and parents. Dorcie is survived by husband, Paul; two children, Craig ’91 and Katie ’93; and two grandsons.

KATHERINE “KATHY” BERGT SANDOR ’58 passed away on December 28, 2017, after a year-long battle with cancer.

She is survived by her husband Don, daughters Julie, Jill and Laurel, four grandchildren, her sister Nancy Bergt Goehring ’64 and her brother David Bergt ’60. Kathy was born in Tampa, FL, and grew up in Tokyo and Yokohama, where her father was a Lutheran missionary. Upon leaving ASIJ, she graduated from Lutheran High School (central), St. Louis, MO, then later from Concordia Teachers College in Seward, NE, and began her teaching career in Cincinnati, OH. There she met her husband, Donald Sandor, and they enjoyed just over 51 wonderful years together. Kathy was predeceased by her sister Florence Bergt Schick ’61.

MAUREEN ELIZABETH THIELEN (FF ’86–’88) of Lakeville, MN passed away May 8, 2018 from kidney cancer. Maureen grew up in Brooklyn Center and attended the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, where she swam four years and was voted team captain her senior year. She taught PE at ASIJ for two years from 1986–1988 and then at Apple Valley Middle School in Minnesota for 22 years. In addition to teaching, Maureen enjoyed biking, running, gardening, scrapbooking and entertaining at her home on Lake Marion. She completed 34 marathons, including Boston, and three Hawaiian Ironman Triathlons and traveled to Europe, Asia, Australia/New Zealand extensively. Maureen is survived by her husband, Charles, her children, Alexandra, Martin and Grant; siblings, Robert Thielen, Jenny (Gary) Axberg, and Sandi (Keith) Maile; brother-in-

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Obituaries law, Keith (Nancy) Markwardt; also by other relatives and friends. A memorial service was held on May 18 in Lakeville, MN.

REV. ALBERT BERTON WINGFIELD (FF ’65–’68, AP ’64–’68), passed away on May 16, 2018, surrounded by loved ones. He was 84 years old.

Albert served at ASIJ as a PE teacher and Dean of Students before moving to Hong Kong International School and returning to the states to become the founding principal of Lutheran High School North in Mt. Clemens, MI. Albert went on to earn his pastoral ministry colloquy at Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, IN, in 1983 and served as headmaster of St Paul Lutheran High School in Concordia, Missouri. From there he went on to serve as vice president of business affairs at Concordia Theological Seminary until he retired in 2015.

Albert was recognized with an honorary doctorate for his lifetime dedication to “growing the church and expanding Christian education at home and abroad”,

by Concordia University Nebraska in May 2012. Al is survived by his wife of 65 years, Marjorie; their children, Robert (Jeri), Phil (Jeanne), Linda (Kevin) Krohn, Judy (Tim) Thoms, Carol (Dan) Oetting, and Rebecca (Anthony) Marquart; 19 grandchildren and 11 greatgrandchildren; brother Keith (Kathy); nieces and nephews.

STUART WESTON (WES) COLE (’78) was born in Long Beach, CA on October 20, 1959 and passed away on July 25, 2018 in Anaheim, CA. A natural athlete, Wes excelled in all sports, in particular soccer, baseball, lacrosse and ice hockey. Wes also had a great love of music which he shared freely with anyone within earshot, sometimes to the chagrin of Mrs Downs in the library or Tsurumi-san in the bookstore.

After graduating from ASIJ in 1978, Wes moved to the US where he split his time between California and Hawaii.

Prior to his passing, Wes worked at California State University, Fullerton in the landscaping department.

Wes is predeceased by his parents Stuart (FF 74–86) and Pamela (FF 77–86) and survived by his brother Tom (’79, FF 85–91), sister Amy (’82), daughter Alyssa, granddaughter Alohi, nephew Andy and nieces Karla, Katelyn and Emily.

COMMUNITY

Obituaries

HALLAM SHORROCK JR. A former missionary to Japan and South Korea with a long career in international education, passed away in Claremont, CA, on August 8, 2018. He was 94.

Hal and his first wife, Helen were among the first American missionaries allowed into Japan during the US occupation after World War II, and together they spent over two decades in Tokyo and Seoul doing relief work to help rebuild the country.

Hal graduated from the University of Washington, in Seattle, WA, and following Pearl Harbor he enlisted in the US Navy and served as an ensign until 1945.

During that time, he studied Japanese at the Navy’s School of Oriental Languages in Colorado. After the war, Hal studied theology at Yale Divinity School.

In 1947 Hal and his wife Helen moved to Japan to assist in post war reconstruction work, and they were required to have one ton of food with them upon arrival.

Their work involved high school teaching in a Christian secondary school in Tokyo, nationwide youth work, as well as international student work camps, and from there Hal went on to direct Church World Service’s extensive relief programs throughout Japan and Korea.

Hal was the director for 16 years and then served as the Asia Secretary of the World Council of Churches’ Inter-church Aid & Refugee Program for two years.

Hal’s service in postwar Japan was recognized in 1954 by the Emperor of Japan. In 1961, he was awarded a Public Welfare Medal by the President of South Korea.

From 1963 to 1969, Hal was vice-president for financial affairs at Tokyo's International Christian University. In 1969, he became an associate director of the University of California's Education Abroad Program in Santa Barbara, CA, where he lived for over 20 years.

In the late 1960s Hal was known in the American expatriate community in Tokyo as an outspoken critic of the US war in Vietnam. In 1968, he helped organize a peace demonstration of about 250 American missionaries, educators and students in front of the US Embassy in Japan.

 Hal and his second wife Yasuko.

 Hal and Helen Shorrock and three of their children when they lived in Shibuya-ku near the old ASIJ in Meguro. Terry ’73 is in the high chair, Karen ’66 and Tim ’69 are at the table.

 Hal Shorrock in his Japan Church World Service uniform, distributing medicine after massive flooding in Kyushu in 1955.

Two years after Hal’s first wife Helen died in 2001, he married Yasuko Fukada (FF ’63–87), the daughter of a Japanese pastor in Tokyo and at that time a teacher at The American School in Japan. She passed away in 2016.

Hal is survived by his five children and their families—Karen Hayes ’66 of Davis, CA; Tim Shorrock ’69 of Washington, DC; Terry Shorrock ’73 of Cranford, NJ; Michael Shorrock of San Anselmo, CA; and Judy Fletcher, of Davis, CA; and 12 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

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The Big Short Big questions, Short answers High school art and design teacher SARAH SUTTER joined ASIJ in 2011. When she’s not in the classroom or taking photos for the yearbook, she can be found on the dancefloor pursuing her passion for the tango.

Where are you from?

I grew up in Wiscasset, Maine, population 3,300, where my dad and grandfather also grew up.

It’s nice to have deep roots in an age where that’s a rare thing.

What kind of student were you in school?

As a high school student I was overcommitted, overinvolved, top 10% of my class, playing varsity sports, in theatrical productions, pep band, math team, speech club, Latin club, NHS, choir, yearbook and a bunch of other things I’m sure I’m forgetting.

ASIJ kids, I have empathy with your struggle. It’s worth all you put into it.

Why did you choose to go into education?

After managing a temporary placement agency, and working in accounting and management for an architecture firm, I was given an opportunity to be a photography artist-in-residence at my old high school. It turned into an opportunity for a faculty position, and my initial, “Oh this might be fun for five years or so” has turned into 24 rewarding years in the classroom and still going strong.

If you weren’t a teacher, what would you do?

Who are your favorite writers?

As an institution, I appreciate the interest in continuing to be better, to be the best ASIJ that we can be. My favorite part on a daily basis—that’s the kids; they are the best part of any school.

Daniel Pink, Malcolm Gladwell, Ursula K. Le Guin, Toni Morrison, Barbara Kingsolver, Donna Tartt are but a few of the writers I’ve enjoyed for their ideas and their ability to craft a phrase, create an engaging narrative or build a world.

What advice do you give your students?

Which historical figure do you most identify with?

Say yes if it interests you, and figure out the how later—it will all work out in the end. Don’t let self doubt stand in your way of doing, joining or trying something positive.

Which talent would you most like to have?

Talent is a word that is used too often as an excuse for something you haven’t taken the time to learn yet. You can do anything you put your mind, time and energy into, even if it’s not something that comes quickly or easily.

I’ll go with the ultimate Renaissance man, Leonardo da Vinci, for his interest in creating things and understanding how they work. If social structures were different, I might have a woman equivalent to reference.

Which living person do you most admire?

While I don’t have a particular individual in mind, I admire those willing to take risks for a vision of what’s possible, take action for what they believe in.

When and where were you happiest?

I’m happiest at a dance event like a tango festival with days and nights of dancing and workshops with others who share the passion for it.

Who are your heroes in real life?

Something else that is never the same day twice, makes a difference in the world, is mentally and physically engaging, and fun. I have no idea what that would be.

Those who are willing to take action to make the world a better place. It might be a first responder, someone willing to march to bring visibility to a cause, serve on the local school board, or volunteer at a shelter. Civilization only works if we all contribute where we can.

What is your favorite thing about Japan?

What is your most treasured possession?

Everything… which sounds trite but is the closest I can come without writing a litany of praises. If I had to choose one thing, it might be the way the minutiae matters in the way things are made, presented and cared for.

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What is your favorite thing about ASIJ?

THE AMERICAN SCHOOL IN JAPAN

Things are fleeting. While my current camera at any given moment is high on the list of favorite things, I treasure an open mind and a sense of curiosity.

Illustration by Matt Worsley

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