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Fall/Winter 2024
2024 ASIJ Alumni Impact Award Recipient
ASIJ Young Alumni Changemaker Award
The American School in Japan
The career of a Broadway clarinetist
JUDY ONGG ’69
Multi-talented artist returns to campus
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08 Telling Stories out of school
Alumni Impact Award
winner Lois Lowry ’54 reflects on her childhood in Japan
14
Young Changemaker Award
Bilingual education Sofía Maria Bosch ’16 17
Strength and Courage Award
Sami Torii ’24 on resilience and the power of positive words
19 Phantom Notes
Matthew Goodman ’73 on his long Broadway career
24 Sunny Side Up
Judy Ongg ’69 returns to campus with a TV crew in tow
39 Mustang Mentor
Remembering coach Bill Jacobsson
Chief Advancement Officer
Anne Cunningham
Director of Communications
Matt Wilce
Director of Giving
Nikki Torchon
Alumni Coordinator
Isabella Rogovin
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Niko Sano ’25
Cover Illustrator
Reina Kato ’25
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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
On October 7th, ASIJ’s music students experienced a memorable master class, hosted by esteemed guest musicians from Taiwan. Dr Vincent Heng-Chen Chao, currently a Professor of Violin at National Chiayi University and National Taiwan Normal University, led the session with a focus on refining students’ violin techniques. Dr Chao, a renowned expert in both chamber music and orchestral performance, holds advanced degrees from The Juilliard School and the University of Maryland-College Park. His impressive career has included performances at iconic venues worldwide, including New York’s Carnegie Hall, Washington DC's Kennedy Center, the Library of Congress, and Tokyo’s Suntory Hall. His extensive background in international performance and education made him an invaluable mentor for the young musicians.
Joining him was celebrated cellist Tsao-Lun Lu, a Juilliard graduate who later earned a graduate degree from Yale. Lu’s distinguished career includes performances with ensembles
such as the Taipei Philharmonic Orchestra, the World Civic Orchestra, the New England Symphonic Ensemble, and the Kaohsiung City Symphony Orchestra. His expertise in ensemble and solo performance brought an additional layer of depth to the master class.
The master class encompassed several core areas of musicianship, including audition preparation, solo performance techniques, and ensemble collaboration. Students practiced these skills under the guidance of the visiting musicians, which not only honed their technical abilities but also deepened their musical understanding and interpretive skills. Students were also treated to solo performances by the visiting artists, which provided a firsthand glimpse into the artistry and skill of the professional musicians. This special opportunity was facilitated by our music teachers Maddie Moll and Cindy Lu and supported by the PTA.
This year’s middle school musical, The Lightning Thief, brought song, dance, thunder and lightning (of course) to the stage. From the cast and crew of talented middle schoolers, to numerous faculty, parent volunteers, and high school mentors managing the sound, lighting and it takes a community to bring Percy Jackson’s world to life. Congratulations to all involved for another magical experience.
Akagumi! Shirogumi! Ganbare! The red and white teams gave their all on the field at elementary undokai sports day in October as they battled it out for the win. The ELC kinder students joined their buddies at Chofu to make the teams even bigger this year. It was so much fun that the parents even got in on the tug of war action. Go Mustangs!
This year’s high school fall play saw a variety of hotel guests comedic struggles in Checking In. The innovative set gave audiences a peek into the lives of the hotel staff and their often unruly customers, leading to laughs throughout.
Imohori, or sweet potato digging, is a favorite fall tradition and this year our ELC students continued their practice of heading down to the farm to ferret for potatoes in the dirt. At the Chofu Campus, the Kindergarteners harvested their imo from our own potato patch. It was hands-on learning at its muddiest!
ASIJ’s new Mustang Market opened in August with a stylish revamp of the old Bookstore space. The new spiritwear designs and additional product lines — including traditional items made by Japanese artisans — have proved to be a big hit. Check it out next time you are on campus.
Schools from around Japan and the region came to campus in October to battle it out in the YUJO Volleyball Tournament. Both our boys and girls teams played hard with roaring support from the home crowds and our girls team finished as tournament champions. See their journeys through the tournament on our YouTube @asij.
Bestselling author Neal Shusterman spent four days talking to our middle and high schoolers about writing. Known for his thought-provoking novels such as Scythe and Unwind, Neal shared his journey as a writer, insights on storytelling, and the inspiration behind his incredible books.
It was a big anniversary year for the Summer Day Camp, which turned fifty this year. Campus was packed during its four one-week sessions despite the blistering Tokyo heat. Thank you to the many generations of camp counselors who have made this enduring program a success.
Edison ’25 and Reina ’25 accept the Future Award on stage in Kyoto (Photo by
Two brothers, masters of Kyogen, sit stage-side in the ASIJ theater. Dressed in the traditional kamishimo, a two-part Edo-period outfit of kataginu (top) and hakama (pants), they wait for students to arrive for after-school practice. As a few high schoolers trickle in, early arrivals, the two look back on a family legacy and a long-standing ASIJ tradition. Yasutaro Yamamoto and his younger brother Noritaka Yamamoto have trained in Kyogen since they were toddlers—the fifth generation of their family to uphold the ancient artform. They also continue a unique collaboration that began with their father and an ASIJ teacher four decades ago.
“Kyogen is an intangible national treasure, and it is an honor to give these students such a deep experience—something they cannot have outside of Japan,” Yasutaro Yamamoto and his younger brother Noritaka Yamamoto told us as they reflected on their family’s long history of teaching the ancient theater form to ASIJ students. The stories told through Kyogen are based on minutia of everyday life and human shortcomings that are given comedic twists, separating it from the more serious Noh Theater from which it developed.
In recognition of the ongoing impact of the program started by their father and former faculty member Don Berger in 1978, ASIJ’s current Kyogen Club members were proud to receive the Future Award from the Classical Japanese Culture Foundation Awards Committee this September.
Fourteen members of the club traveled to Kyoto for the day for the award ceremony presided over by Princess Akiko at the Kyoto Concert Hall. Club leaders Edison Suzuki ’25 and Reina Radnor ’25, dressed in hakama and kimono, took the stage with Japan Center Kyoko Takano for the presentation. After a video presentation of the Kyogen program, they received the award and made their acceptance speeches in Japanese before a short question and answer session with the emcee. Other award winners included NHK for the show 100 Masterpieces of Literature, two groups from Ishikawa prefecture who are preserving local festival traditions and lacquer production following the devastating earthquake there in January, a middle school traditional arts program from Yunomae in Kyushu, the Reizei Family Shigure-tei Library, and young Noh performer Shizuka Mikata.
“Being an ASIJ student, it's easy to lose connection with the local culture, but through Kyogen, I was able to reestablish my connection with my culture. I believe that culture is all about being human, and that having that connection is vital” Edison told us. It is a sentiment shared with former member of the club Sakiko Miyazaki ’20 who told us she hadn't really experienced Japanese culture as much as she would have liked growing up and traditional Japanese culture especially. “It often feels inaccessible, but once I started Kyogen, I realized just how prevalent and modern it could be. It was a way for me to kind of reconnect with Japanese culture.”
In receiving the award, ASIJ recognizes the many performers, teachers, and volunteers who have kept this unique program alive and the impact it has had on generations of our students.
Matt Wilce speaks to Lois Lowry ‘54, recipient of the 2024 ASIJ Alumni Impact Award, about her childhood in Japan and its impact on her writing.
Lois Hammersberg Lowry ‘54, the acclaimed author known for captivating young readers with her thoughtprovoking novels such as The Giver, Number the Stars, and The Messenger, recently added the 2024 ASIJ Alumni Impact Award to her many accolades in recognition of her contribution to the world of literature. She joins previous recipients pioneering spinal surgeon Wise Young ‘68 and ALS campaigner Hiro Fujita ‘98 in accepting this recognition from the alumni community. A two-time winner of the prestigious Newbery Medal, Lowry attended ASIJ from 1948-50, a period when the school, much like Japan itself, was rebuilding after the Second World War. Lowry’s ability to tackle complex themes with grace and sensitivity has earned her a dedicated readership worldwide, solidifying her place as a celebrated figure in children's literature. We spoke with Lois earlier this year, about her experiences of life in post-war Japan and how her time abroad may have shaped her writing career.
You moved to Tokyo as a middle schooler what was that experience like? Were you upset that your family was going to Japan?
I was living at that time in Pennsylvania, the town where my grandparents were, because my father had gone off to the war. He was in the Pacific during the war, and then he was in Japan with the occupation. And so my mother had taken the children back to the little town where she had grown up and where our grandparents were. And I went through elementary school there. And then when I was in sixth grade, we got word from Tokyo that they were going to allow us to come over and join my father. I turned 11 at the end of sixth grade and I was very excited about that — it seemed like an adventure to me, and I was looking forward to new experiences and learning new things. And of course, I assumed, wrongly, that I would immediately be able to speak Japanese and I would be wearing Japanese clothes and eating with chopsticks.
How did reality match that expectation?
We ended up in Washington Heights, which was sort of a fake American village. My sister [Helen Hammersberg ’51] was three years older, she was 14, she had a boyfriend. She didn’t want to leave Pennsylvania, so it was a very different experience for her. It was probably tougher for teenagers to make a move like that, but at 11, I was very open to that experience. One thing that came as a blow to me, being a bookish child, was that I was not going to be able to take my books with me. I had a bookcase in my bedroom filled with my favorite books at that time. But when I got to Tokyo, it wasn't very long before I discovered two libraries, one in Washington Heights was a small library. But the second, and this probably no longer exists, was called the Ernie Pyle Library. Ernie Pyle had been the journalist who was killed the last week of the war and there was a big building in downtown Tokyo and the library that it housed was okay. And there were all the books I had loved back in Pennsylvania. They were still there. I couldn't own them anymore and hug them, but I could read them again. And that meant so much to me and interestingly.
This seems surprising now in retrospect, but … I was allowed as a child of 11 when I arrived, to take a bus into Tokyo, into the city, into the Ernie Pyle Library by myself and that was quite safe at that time — and it may still be … I roamed that city. Of course, it was not the skyscrapers that it is now, much of it was still rubble from the bombing, but it was a very safe and to me, an interesting place to explore. I just remember it very, very fondly.
What was your experience once you started school?
It was 1948, but to me, it feels like yesterday. Unfortunately — and this happened to me a number of times in my life being a military child — I arrived at a new school as a new student after school had already started … I know that my homeroom teacher [Mrs Fullerton] in seventh grade was the daughter of a military general. So she was a military person, too. My science teacher was a woman from New Jersey. Why do I remember that? How did I even know she was from New Jersey? And her name was Gertrud Wettstein. Science was not my thing, I was a good student of English and literature — I was a good student in all my classes, but science wasn't my top interest. And yet she made it interesting for me.
Did you get to connect with Japanese culture at all as a child?
Many of us who were military kids lived at Washington Heights [located where Yoyogi Park is currently] and took the bus each day to school. Other kids, military and otherwise, lived in what we referred to as Japanese houses. And those were very nice homes that had been commandeered by the American military and taken away from their owners, I suppose. And so many of my friends lived in what we called Japanese houses and I would I would visit those houses and have pajama parties at some of them. And I always wished that my parents had chosen to live in a Japanese community instead of Washington Heights, which was such a fake little American community with its little movie theater and its grocery store. I don't know, my parents were not adventurous people, and I suppose they thought that would be familiar and safe. But I always yearned to be out there in the Japanese community.
Did you study Japanese at school?
I believe Mr Hashimoto taught Japanese, but he taught it in high school, and it was not available to me … I would have had it been available because it's the thing I wanted to do. My sister had no interest and so she didn't study Japanese, but I didn't have the opportunity. So, you know, we — my contemporaries — would pick it up, a certain kind of primitive baby Japanese. In fact I was back in Japan not that many years ago, maybe ten years ago with a tour — I had discovered the Smithsonian Museum ran these tours to various places, and one was going to include the Inland Sea of Japan. And I'd always wanted to go back there because I had spent vacation time down on an island in the Inland Sea, and suddenly I saw this tour that was going to be by boat and was going to go to the island where I'd been. So I went back to Japan for that and the tour began. Everybody met in Tokyo and then went by train to get on the boat. We were still in Tokyo and I went out by myself downtown. We stayed at the Imperial Hotel just for a couple of nights and I was out walking around and it began to rain, and I ducked into a coffee shop just to get out of the rain. And it was very easy to go up to the counter and get a cup of coffee. But I looked around and I saw some sugar, but I didn't see any milk. And so I turned to the person behind the counter and asked in Japanese for milk. Suddenly that word came to me. If you had said to me, what's the Japanese word for milk, I would have said, I have no idea. And yet there I stood, and that word deep in my brain came back. So I regret that I did not end up fluent in Japanese.
Did you always know that you wanted to be a writer? Did your time in Japan inspire that?.
I think from the time I was even younger than that, I knew that's what I wanted to do and to be. As I mentioned earlier, English classes and good English teachers were always my favorites.
I've never, with one exception, written about that time as a child in Japan, though. Somebody asked me to contribute a short story to an anthology and I believe the theme of the anthology had to do with displacement or being in a foreign place. I did write a story about me as a child in Japan then, but that's the only time I've ever done that.
About four years ago you published a book On the Horizon that looks at the twin tragedies of Pearl Harbor and Hiroshima. How did that come about?
That book deals with a couple of things and tries to put them together in a way. Let me figure out how to describe it. When a book of mine called The Giver won the Newbery Medal, at the same ceremony, the Caldecott Medal is given
for illustration and that year the Caldecott Medal was given to an illustrator, an artist named Allen Say, for a book called Grandfather's Journey. Allen Says is Japanese and he grew up in Japan and then moved to the United States as a young adult and changed his name. So at at the breakfast the morning of that ceremony, he and I had breakfast together and he gave me a copy of his book. Grandfather's Journey is about his own grandfather going from the United States back into Japan and beginning to feel he didn't know which was his home country. So he gave me a copy of his book, and he drew a little picture and signed his name, and I gave him a copy of my book, and I wasn't going to draw a picture for a guy who's a famous illustrator, but I wrote my name in Japanese and he said, how is it you're able to do that? And I said, oh, I used to live in Japan when I was a kid.
And he asked, where did you live? And I said, Tokyo. I should add that he's exactly my age … and I told him where I lived. He said that's where he lived and blah, blah, blah, we narrowed it down until he said, “Were you the girl on the green bicycle?” And in fact, my father, when I arrived in Japan, told me he had a surprise for me and he had bought me a bicycle. And of course, Washington Heights had a wall around it, but didn't have a lock to the gate. You could come and go and I used to ride that bicycle out all the time around the streets. And Washington Heights was right by Meiji Shrine, which is still there … I used to ride my bike around there, and I used to ride by a Japanese school, and I would stop and look at the kids, and they would look at me. And one of them was Allen Say.
I was born in Honolulu in 1937, and my father was a very good photographer, though that wasn't his profession. He had a movie camera back in the days when not everybody had a cell phone with video function, so we ended up with a lot of home movies. No sound to them, of course. And I've seen those movies a 100 times, because when I was growing up, we didn't have television so on a boring night we'd get dad to get out the movie projector and show the home movies once again. When my father was getting old, I took those reels of movie film and had them transferred onto videotape for him. And before I sent him the videotapes, I put one into my VCR … I had some friends over, and I made them look at the video of baby Lois on the beach at Waikiki. And one of the friends who was there had been a career naval officer, and he knew Honolulu. And he looked at this and he said, "Do you know how to stop the film?" And I figured it out and we stopped it. And he said, “Look on the horizon!” I'd never noticed it before, but kind of shrouded in mist is the outline of a ship. And he said, that's the Arizona. So this was just
before Pearl Harbor was bombed, just before the Arizona sank and killed 1100 men.
I began to be haunted by that, by that visual portrayal of this child — I was three years old in 1940, laughing on the beach — and behind her this ship full of doomed men moving slowly across the horizon. And I didn't know what to do about that image for many years until I finally put it together for that book. So the first third of that book is about that ship, the Arizona, my childhood playing on the beach there with that in the background, and I did the research on the young men who died on that ship and wrote about several of them.
Then the second third of the book begins in Japan and the bombing of Hiroshima and Allen … He lived in a little town 60 miles away. He saw the sky when the bomb went off. It was after that that his mother took him and his sister to Tokyo to live. And so the second half is about individuals, including Allen, who were there on that day, incidentally, the same time of day I included in the book. One of the men on the Arizona … they found his watch and it had stopped at 8:30 in the morning and in the museum in Hiroshima, there is a watch that stopped at 8:30 in the morning in 1945. The
second third of the book is about them and that set of events. And then the third part is me in Tokyo, looking across the playground at Allen and connecting the events in a way. I don't know what I hope it accomplishes, but hopefully some kind of understanding, putting together, or comprehension if there's ever to be any kind of comprehension for those tragedies.
Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?
You know, I'm so often asked that, and I always feel inadequate because I don't don't really have any good advice. Every kid who loves writing and wants to be a writer is already doing all the things one does, which is being observant and noticing things and writing things down and making up stories. I do notice that kids today, and maybe this is because teachers encourage it, tend to get together with other kids and exchange and discuss writing, which is something that never happened for me. I was very isolated in that particular realm of my interest. Of course, the obvious thing for anybody who wants to write is that they need to read a lot and everything.
We speak with educator Sofía María Bosch ’16 on the work that led to her being recognized as the recipient of ASIJ’s 2024 Young Alumni Impact Award
Sofía María Bosch ’16 currently serves as a bilingual special education department head, teacher, and pilot program lead at J.H.S. 050 John D. Wells in Brooklyn, NY. The pilot in New York City Public Schools (NYCPS) prioritizes experiential, project-based, and small-group learning for students at the intersection of neurodiversity, migration, and emergent bilingualism. She receives ASIJ’s 2024 Young Alumni Impact Award for her efforts in the education world, particularly in the area of multilingualism and education for diverse learners. The award highlights the outstanding and impactful accomplishments of alumni
who graduated high school in the last 15 years, and seeks to recognize and honor young alumni who have brought about a significant positive change to a community or institution through their efforts.
As a Mexican-Spanish-American who attended ten schools in five countries, Sofía had first hand experience navigating a wide variety of cultures and languages growing up. “My mother is American and my father is first-generation American from Barcelona, Spain” she tells us. “My paternal grandmother, however, is part Mexican as she fled Spain during the Franco
dictatorship and was raised entirely there. I was also born in Mexico City. I grew up moving almost every two years as a kid and have lived in five different countries. I attended ASIJ 8th grade through my junior year of high school. I moved to Japan in 2011.”
Sofía found the Japanese language challenging at first but fell in love with the food, culture, and independence she had due to the public transportation system. At school, she credits middle school librarian Marty Swist (FF’97-12, P ’03) for taking her under his wing the first few months and her eighth grade teachers for their support in her transition to yet another new school. Sofía blossomed during her time at ASIJ, jumping at opportunities to perform at middle school dances, at events such as Winterfest, in chorus and vocal jazz, and in three high school musicals. From her swim coaches Lynn Loveman (FF ’06–16, P ’15, ’23), [current swim coach] Hiroto Yamamoto and Dave Swanston (FF ’13–21) to chemistry with Karyn Watt (FF ’11–20), history with Steve Welckle (FF ’03–22, P ’13, ’15, ’21), econ with Beck Gessert (FF ’05-20, P ’18, ’23), theater and music with Brent Huber (FF ’88-17, P ’00, ’05), [current theater manager] David Neale, and Randy Wanless (FF ’08–16), and AP Spanish with Javier Fernandez (FF ’85–21, P ’13), found many academic mentors during her time at ASIJ.
It was no surprise that leaving Japan at the end of her junior year in 2019 was not how Sofía hoped her high school career would culminate. “I definitely was sad to be leaving before my senior year and missed Japan incredibly,” she says. “I did
have some trouble [adjusting] but had moved so many times before (it was my 10th school) that I was used to it. I ended up really loving my senior year in Orlando, Florida and had a wonderful community of friends there.” After graduating, Sofía attended the University of Southern California on scholarship, where she studied journalism and international relations. College also provided an opportunity for Sofía to build on the service opportunities she’d explored at ASIJ and she became an active community organizer, working primarily with Latino families surrounding housing rights and with unaccompanied minors in South Los Angeles.
As a freshman, Sofía began to work with Troy Camp as a counselor, taking students to summer camp and then helping run year-long and afterschool programming. “Troy Camp is a very special organization to me, it is what got me involved with youth and helped me discover my passion for education,” she says. Founded in 1948, the program has taken hundreds of local Los Angeles children on a week-long camp adventure, during which the campers create life-long mentor/mentee relationships with the USC college students who work with them. “I was a part of Troy Camp for more than four years and really fell in love with the organization’s mission and the tangible impact it was having on Latino youth in South LA,” Sofía says. “Two years ago, I was invited to join the organization’s board in charge of supporting advocacy and inclusion efforts and the current leadership. I have just been renewed for a second term of two more years which is exciting to be able to support the amazing work they’re doing.”
Upon graduating from USC, Sofía went on to work with startups in Mexico City for a year through a nonprofit and taught design-thinking to high schoolers. “Next, I got a degree in Education Leadership, Organizations, and Entrepreneurship at Harvard in Cambridge and worked part-time advising education-related startups as a systems and storytelling coach,” she says. “All of that set me up beautifully for my current work in New York City.”
Sofía currently serves as a humanities teacher at J.H.S. 050 John D. Wells in Brooklyn, NY, piloting a bilingual special education program for New York City Public Schools (NYCPS). The pilot prioritizes experiential, project-based, and small-group learning for students at the intersection of neurodiversity, migration, and emergent bilingualism.
“Growing up living in five different countries and in a Spanish-English bilingual household, a passion for language and multilingualism is a part of the fabric of who I am,” Sofía tells us. “In a world that is increasingly connected, I believe it is an asset and superpower that all individuals should have. Speaking more languages gives individuals more words to choose in their linguistic repertoire, deeper stories to be able to tell.”
Sofía tells us that 85% of her job is currently teaching with her remaining time focused on training and leadership
related to building out the BSE program. ”Next year we’re expanding so I’ll be leading a team of five bilingual special education teachers,” she says. “I’m building, designing, and facilitating curricula that best meets our students’ needs in three subject areas: English Language Arts, Home Language Arts (Spanish), and Social Studies. After school, I help run our community for new arrivals and undocumented students called DREAM Team.” In addition Sofía is also a Spanish debate coach and — paying forward her on stage career at ASIJ — the choreographer/assistant director for the middle school musical. Sofía is particularly focused on finding ways to help students thrive while also supporting herself. “That balance is something that took me years to figure out,” she says. “We have to fill our own cup before filling others’ if not we’ll have nothing left to give.”
Sofía is deservedly proud of role as a teacher and mentor and recognizes that the pilot program “is a wonderful adventure” that she’ll remain with for the next few years. Beyond that she is hoping to continue blogging and building resources for teachers related to neurodiveristy, interrupted education, and multilingualism. On learning she’d received ASIJ’s Young Changemaker Award Sofía told us, “I am honored by this recognition from a school that introduced me to teachers who inspired me to dream bigger and opportunities that ignited my creativity and fearless curiosity.”
Sami Torii ’24 received this year’s award for her resilience in battling complex health problems and showing us the positive impact of kotodama , the positive power of words on our wellbeing.
The ninth annual Strength and Courage Award was presented in June of this year to Sami Torii in recognition of her battle with illness and perseverance during her high school career. The award of ¥1 million is presented annually to a senior who has displayed courage and personal strength during their time at ASIJ.
Sami was nominated for the award by several of her high school teachers. She “endured a life-threatening illness for at least half of her HS career, and managed to do so with hugely impressive grace and grit. Despite frequent hospital visits, she managed to maintain her standing as an excellent
student, retained genuine interest in what was going on at school, and was always cooperative, contributing, kind, and positive” Josh Berg (FF ’15–24) wrote in his recommendation that Sami be considered for the award. He dubbed her a “stellar human being." Courtney Carreon, high school English teacher, wrote, “in her sophomore year, Sami faced a daunting challenge when she was struck by a mysterious illness that threatened her life. However, she survived through sheer determination and an indomitable spirit. She emerged from the experience with a renewed sense of purpose and a positive outlook on life that is a gift to all who know her."
Sami’s symptoms began in middle school and progressed as she started high school to include severe fatigue and swollen lymph nodes. By December of her first year of high school, her condition had deteriorated to the point where she was physically unable to attend school and had to switch to online learning. Even calling into her classes and following lessons became a struggle, and throughout this period, Sami faced frequent hospital visits while striving to maintain her academic standing. Despite these adversities, she maintained a positive attitude and remained dedicated to her studies and her community. As someone who had always enjoyed being active, including dancing, surfing, and sports, it was particularly challenging to no longer be able to pursue those. “It is difficult to see positivity, especially in a trough. It is a cycle, but a cycle that you can quickly learn to surf by recognizing the wave. It takes a lot of courage to see the good in the bad,” Sami wrote in her personal statement to the award committee.
On June 8, 2022, Sami's condition took a critical turn, and she was rushed to the hospital, unresponsive. She was diagnosed with a rare, life-threatening immune system disease called Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis (HLH). Sami and her family navigated often conflicting medical opinions and approaches as well as her changing physical condition. “The utmost important thing I learned during my battle with this disease was how much mental strength it takes to live at the lowest times of life. If I had just given up, I have a strong feeling my body would have too,” she told us.
After being hospitalized for an extended period and missing school, Sami returned to campus and had to navigate that transition, ultimately choosing to share her situation through
the ASIJ TEDxYouth event. “When Ted Talk audition season rolled around, I was like this is the perfect opportunity for me to tell everybody because there was just a lot to cover, and there were a lot of people to tell,” she says. “What better way to do that than a Ted Talk? And ... to say something worth a Ted Talk.” Sami connected her experience with the Japanese concept of kotodama, which emphasizes the power of words to shape perspectives and promote healing, speaking about the positive impact people’s messages to her had on her during treatment.
"Sami's resilience, perseverance, and seemingly effortless ability to make a positive difference in the lives of others make Sami a truly exceptional individual who espouses the values of strength and courage in every aspect of her life," Carreon wrote to the award committee in her nomination of Sami. In her personal statement, Sami expressed the “hope that my story serves as a reminder to people at ASIJ that they are so lucky,” adding that “going to school, learning, and having fun with people — it’s a prize in itself.”
After her return to good health in her senior year and her graduation from ASIJ this past spring, Sami headed off to college in the United States to pursue her education at the University of Washington. In September, we unfortunately learned that Sami had been diagnosed with T-cell lymphoma for which she is currently undergoing treatment. Knowing the power of kotodama that Sami highlighted in her presentation, the school community continues to send origami cranes and regular messages of support to Sami as she continues to demonstrate the grit and grace that earned her the Strength and Courage Award.
Matt Wilce talks to musician Matthew Goodman ’73 on his career and long-running stint in Broadway's The Phantom of the Opera
Solo clarinetist in the Broadway production of The Phantom of the Opera from 1988 to 2023, Matthew Goodman has lived a musical career more diverse than his most famous long-running credit might indicate. Praised by The New York Times for his “beautiful range of colors,” Goodman made his solo Carnegie Recital Hall debut as winner of the Artists International Competition. He toured Japan and Hong Kong as a soloist under the auspices of the United States State Department and the Hong Kong government, performed as a soloist with the National Orchestra of El Salvador, and the Israel Sinfonietta, and was a featured soloist at music festivals including the Scotia Festival in Halifax, Canada, the Jerusalem Music Festival in Israel, and at the Teatro Nuovo in Spoleto, Italy.
Early in his career, Goodman performed on stage in costume with the Royal Shakespeare Company in their Broadway productions of Cyrano de Bergerac and Much Ado About Nothing at the Gershwin Theatre, and in All’s Well That Ends
Well at the Martin Beck Theatre, as well as in a performance of Stravinsky’s L’Histore du Soldat at the company’s Fringe in the USA festival in New York and Washington, D.C. He also performed with New York orchestras and chamber ensembles including The New York City Ballet, Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, New York Philomusica, Long Island Philharmonic, Queens Symphony, Bronx Arts Ensemble, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Westchester Philharmonic, Brooklyn Philharmonic, and the Northeast Pennsylvania Philharmonic. Goodman is the recipient of numerous additional awards and prizes, including the Dolan Prize for Music from Columbia University and the Paderewski Foundation’s George Galicia Young Artist’s Award.
Following the end of The Phantom of the Opera on Broadway, we caught up with Goodman to take a look at his career and how his experience in Japan enabled him to keep focus during his decades-long run in the show.
Did you grow up in a musical family? Is a love of music something that you share with your siblings?
Yes, absolutely. My mom was a folk singer. Her name was Ailene Goodman, and she had a radio show in Pittsburgh called Leeny's Hootenanny. She recorded three albums — one of them is called Animals, Funny Folk and Wee People, which was very highly reviewed in Billboard. My mom was quite an active folk singer. I have two siblings, a brother and sister, Craig ‘75 and Amy ‘77. They're both professional musicians. My brother's a flutist and is on the faculty of the Conservatory in Strasbourg, France. My sister is a violinist, and she teaches in Princeton and has a violin studio.
So growing up in a musical household, how did you get your start? How did you come to play the clarinet?
Well, I started piano when I was in second grade and I played that for a couple of years. Then one day somebody came to the music class in school, and she was a flutist, and she walked around. The teacher held her music while she was playing and I happened to glance up and noticed that she was only playing one note at a time. I thought that's for me, because I found the piano quite difficult. You know, you're playing a lot of notes and different fingerings and so on, and the clarinet just seemed more natural for me, so I started clarinet when I was in fourth grade.
When did you realize that you wanted to pursue music professionally? Did you know when you were in high school?
You know, it was a funny thing. I didn't really know I could do it. It was sort of like being an athlete. I really liked sports and playing the clarinet is a kind of sport. So I was drawn to that. But I didn't really know whether I'd be successful as it is highly competitive. I went to college and majored in math, but practiced all the time. I was practicing five hours a day when I was in college, studying the clarinet very seriously, and I began working. And although I thought I might pursue other avenues, I was working right away. And then I got an orchestra job, and I've kept working ever since, so it was just sort of that I began to be successful and so then I knew I could. I never really thought I'd continue to be successful. So I always worried about it.
Matthew in his sophomore year at ASIJ.
Your attention has to be very focused no matter how you feel.
Where did you go to college?
Well, my first year I went to MIT and one of the professors there suggested that maybe I wanted to be in New York since I was so interested in music. So I transferred to Columbia and I was studying with a professor who was on the faculty of Juilliard. I graduated from Columbia and then I went to the Manhattan School of Music for a semester. While I was there, there was an audition — I was taking various auditions — for an orchestra in New York. I won the audition and began working with the orchestra. I later left that orchestra because I didn't want to be overseas and I came back to New York. I kept auditioning and kept doing competitions and I won a competition called the Artists International Competition, which gave me a recital at Carnegie Recital Hall in New York. From that I got a New York Times review, which was quite positive and that helped me on my way. But I had already started working on Broadway before these competitions — the first Broadway show that I got was called All's Well That Ends Well
How did you progress from getting that initial break?
Well, the show lasted 12 weeks and so I was back to freelancing and I wondered what to do next. I had a woodwind quintet, Zephyr Woodwind Quintet, that I was playing with and we won the Artists International Competition for chamber music. The conductor for the Broadway show All's Well That Ends Well had written a very nice piece that we'd liked as an encore. And I don't know if that had anything to do with it, but he got another opportunity to conduct Cyrano de Bergerac and Much Ado About Nothing with the Royal Shakespeare Company and he hired me for those.
What lead you to the job with The Phantom of the Opera?
So I was in a music store buying reeds, and Mel Roadman, the person that hires people for Broadway shows, was in the store and saw me there and said, 'Oh, hello, how are you doing?' And I told him I was doing quite well, that I won this competition and that I had a few recitals actually, in Japan and Hong Kong that were scheduled. He was duly impressed and then he clapped me on the back and said, don't worry, something's coming. Well, a year went by, and I believe another year went by, and I began to wonder whether this was going to work out at all. Les Misérables was playing on Broadway and I was asked to come in and substitute for the clarinet player. So I played four shows of Les Misérables and after the fourth show, the contractor called me. And asked, how would you like to play Phantom of the Opera? Well, I thought Phantom of the Opera — maybe it'll run a year.
With a show like Phantom that goes on to have a hugely successful long run, what is that like for you as a performer playing the same show day in and day out?
Well, of course it's very difficult. One thing to know is we do other things as well. So all along I was playing recitals and symphony concerts in addition to doing Phantom of the Opera, but it's difficult because you have to be playing at a very high level every night. Your attention has to be very focused no matter how you feel.
That's where I think Japan comes in — when I lived in Japan, my parents were interested in exposing us to all the culture that Japan offered, and they took us to several Zen temples. At the time, I was quite young, but the monks showed us how to sit in the traditional Zen meditation and I thought, well, what a waste of time that must be. But a few days later, I had three hours of homework assigned, so I thought, well, I'll just try what the monks showed us, you know, so I sat in a Zen meditation for 10 or 15 minutes and thought, what a waste of time that was. And I got up and began my homework. And the homework was done rather faster than three hours — it was done in one hour. And I was quite impressed. And so what I did when I was doing this run was I turned it into a Zen meditation, so that I was always focused and the challenge was to keep the focus, all the time. Even though the show was the same music it really was never the same approaching it that way.
What was your experience at ASIJ like? Are there any things that stand out as memories or faculty who were particularly influential?
Oh, I loved ASIJ, actually. Ray Downs ’50 (FF ’59–91, P ’81, ’84) taught a course called India, China and Japan, I believe. That course was very influential. I presented something on Daoism, I presented something on Zen, and we covered those topics. I enjoyed that course immensely. I was on the swim team. I played in the band, and I played in a musical [Wonderful Town].
What brought your family to Japan in the first place?
My father was was working there. He was an engineer with the International Atomic Energy Agency.
We have a lot of talented musicians at school. What advice would you give to a young person interested in going into music professionally?
It's a terribly competitive field. No matter how talented you are, it's best to know that. It's going to be very hard work. I tell people, it's much like being an athlete. You have to have an incredible drive.
Performer and artist Judy Ongg ‘69 returned to the Chofu campus with TV crew in tow to reflect on her formative years at ASIJ and her recent return to form in the series Sunny.
Judy Ongg ‘ 69 is a Renaissance woman in more senses than one — not only is she a multi-hyphenate artist, she is back on our screens in the Apple TV+ show Sunny. The show has brought Judy’s talents to a new global audience following a long and multifaceted career that has spanned music, film, TV and the fine arts. Judy was also recently the subject of TV show Eiichiro Funakoshi's Showa Revitalization Factory, which profiled the celebrated performer in a retrospective on her early days in the industry. As part of the show, Judy returned to places such as Nikkatsu Film Studio and the Chofu campus — both known for their cafeteria’s curry rice — for the first time in decades to reminisce and remember the impact ASIJ had on her life and career.
Born in Taiwan and raised in Japan, where she is a naturalized citizen, Judy’s multicultural upbringing shaped her artistic vision, allowing her to effortlessly bridge the style and traditions of both cultures. As she toured campus, this was evident from Judy’s easy transition between Japanese, English, and Chinese as she spoke with the crew and people she encountered as she explored her old high school classrooms. Standing at the entrance to campus, the garden at the front of school and sweep of the high school building quickly prompted Judy to reminisce about being picked up by her mother after school to be taken to Columbia Records to work in the recording studio. She recalled the copper color of the building’s roof that has now transitioned to a teal patina. Judy made her singing debut at 16 while she was still a student at ASIJ — going to her first recording session directly from class — juggling her academics with a burgeoning career. The Chochin from her senior year notes her as “always busy” as well as holding the absentee record.
Judy’s music career quickly took off, but it was her 1979 song “Miserarete” that cemented her as one of the stars of the Showa era. The single was a massive breakout hit selling over two million copies and it earned Judy the Japan Record Award at the 21st Japan Record Awards and was used in commercials for a lingerie company. Judy was not only focused on a music career and became a staple in many TV dramas, both contemporary and historical jidaigeki, such as the long running Edo o Kiru. She had made her acting debut as an 11-year-old back in 1961 in the Japan-US production of The Big Wave, based on the Pearl S. Buck novel, and continued to appear in film and TV roles during her teenage years. At school, most have her classmates were unaware of her outside work commitments and growing success.
Now also known as a respected visual artist, Judy’s passion for art began during her time at ASIJ. During her walk through campus, the high school art rooms were a stop that sparked memories of her art teacher Ki Nimori. “We used karatsu clay here, that brown clay” she remembered as we showed her a photo of herself and Nimori-sensei working on one of her sculptural pieces together in the same spot she was standing. Describing her concept for the piece, Judy told us, “I’ve loved challenges since I was little. Life is like a mountain with many bumps and rough patches. Overcoming them is how you seize opportunities. That’s how I see it, and that’s what I created – the idea of a challenge to climb higher and express myself.” She recalled the impact that Nimori-sensei had on her approach to art and the two would remain in
contact for many decades after she graduated. Now an accomplished woodblock print artist in her own right, Judy is known for creating intricate works that reflect her love for nature and traditional Japanese aesthetics. This passion for visual arts has led to numerous exhibitions and accolades including a role as visiting lecturer at the National Taiwan University of Arts, solidifying her as a respected figure in both the art world and popular culture. In August 2022, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs honored Judy with the Foreign Minister's Award in recognition of her contributions to promoting mutual understanding and friendship between Taiwan and Japan.
Judy has found new fans in her recent role in the Apple TV+ show Sunny, which turns out to have multiple Mustang connections. Created by Katie Robbins ( The Affair, The Last Tycoon) who enrolled her daughters at ASIJ while they were filming in Japan, the show stars Rashida Jones and is based on the 2018 novel The Dark Manual by the Japanbased Irish writer Colin O’Sullivan. In addition to Judy, in what the The Chicago-Sun Times called a “scene-stealing” role as the mother-in-law, the show stars current ASIJ fifth grader Farès Belkheir ‘32 as Zen, her grandson. The co-stars were briefly reunited on Judy’s tour, and she commented on how smart Farès was as a performer. In an interview with Nippon.com Judy revealed she had enjoyed exploring the “contrast between grace and silliness” in her own character, saying, “recently, I’ve been playing lots of characters like corporate chairs and politicians, but at heart I’m a comedian.”
Thank you to our current families, alumni families, current and former faculty and staff, and friends who generously gave to The American School in Japan during the 2023-2024 school year.
We are thrilled to share that your donations to ASIJ helped us surpass our fundraising goal for the fifth consecutive year. Your gifts directly and immediately impacted all facets of the ASIJ experience, creating countless opportunities for our students and faculty.
Whether you are one of the 830+ generous donors, one of the 1,000+ PTA volunteers, or one of nearly 150 alumni volunteers who regularly connect Mustangs across the globe, we thank you for the many ways you support ASIJ. Thank you in particular to those volunteers involved in the Advancement Committee, PTA Annual Fund Committee, and the Alumni Giving Committee, for dedicating their time and efforts to share the importance of giving back to ASIJ and contributing to the success of our fundraising program.
We look forward to a joyful 2024-2025 school year and continuing to share the amazing things our students are doing every day at ASIJ with your help.
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Daniel Marsh
Leslie Okada Roberts
Sally Turner (Noll)
Penny Cromwell
Ken Glazier
Virginia Kerr
Marsha Shockley (Hardesty)
Rick Tanaka
Robin Trozpek (Weeks)
Lucia Buchanan Pierce
Glenn Colville
Nancy Dockerty (Stolle)
Lee Marsden
Robert Oshima
Farida Rahman
Tal Vivian ’69
Rick Cohen
Peter Harnik
Tom Manning
Suzi Neff
Thank you to the hundreds of alumni who attended the Classes of ‘64–’69
Catalina Reunion 2023 for donating reunion proceeds to the ASIJ Annual Fund
Stephanie Anderson
Ellen Gadsby
Ernie Higa
Debbie Huskins
’75
Jan Blizzard (Schaale)
George Hayao
Kathy Holloway
Craig Moore
Jim Sanoden
Terry Shorrock
Steve Weiss
Dave Wilson
Karin Flynn (Jagel)
Mark Francischetti
Ann Gleason
Julia Ludlow-Ortner
Paul Manierre
Bruce Morgen
Brad Rainoff
Linda Suzukawa-Tseng
David Boatwright
Julie Clough (Van Wyk)
Connie Kleinjans
Darice Koo (Fong)
Jody Kroehler Magnuson
Sandy Leybold (Colville)
Carolyn Moss
Elisabeth Rubinfien
Lynn Savarese (Ashby)
Tory Thomas
Nancy Tsuchihashi
Thank you to those 120+ alumni who attended the Class of ‘73 50th Cluster Reunion for donating reunion proceeds to the ASIJ Annual Fund
Eiko Gustavson (Fukuda)
Paul Nagata
A-Lan Reynolds (Von Hornlein)
Erik Jagel
Jon Kidder
Rob Schaffer
Nathan Sult
Ernie Wakamatsu
’76
Rusty Anderson
Andy Feldman
Chad Harbour
Kenji Hayao
Liz Horwitz (Yanagihara)
Paul Kidder
Miriam Rich
Sally Schaffer
’77
Andy Honaman
Kim Jacobson
Mitzi Kuroda
Roy Ryu
’78
Korey Halsch (Hutchings)
Kent Matsumoto
Mark Oline
Tara Smith ’79
Chuck Whitehead
’81
Charles Breer
Tom Cavanaugh
Ivar Eimon
Kyoko Kirby (Ono)
Joseph Schmelzeis
Will Walsh
Mary Harada (Che)
Phaedra Ledbetter (Onuma)
Jerry Livingston
Andy Lund
Yuhka Mera
Michitaka Soga
Bob Walsh
’82
Lisa Bastick
Yumi Kuwana (Mera)
Catherine Piez
’83
Sally Burks Schmalz
Sue Duke
Andra Ehrenkranz (Bowman)
Yuki Hirooka
Lungwen Kang
Joe Krisher
Fred Morgenstern
Judith Baumhover (Walsh)
Doug Freeman
Tetsu Nakayama
Rei Suzuki
Yuriko Takahashi Anton
Susie Brennan (Burks)
Buddy Marini
Tina Nishida (Yamano)
Sandra Orton-Tweed
Ethan Berkove
Deanna Elstrom (Ciarlante)
Yoko Hirooka (Endo)
Steve Knode
David Lee
Pascal Meier
Greg Nakamatsu
David Okamoto
Michael Slovin
Kari Kohl (Wilkinson)
Drew Little
Motoko Rich
Mike Sanders
Matthew Sclafani
Robert Sharp
Kentaro Toyama
Minako Abe
Bitsy Cobb (Horn)
Peter Durfee
Nina Marini
David Morgenstern
Chris Munson
Ashley Anderson
Daniel DiCicco
Tokuya Sano
Brett Sparrgrove
Patrick Kaser
Jenni Yoshida
Chris Harvey
Matt Clark
Briney Dillon Burley
Lalaka Fukuma (Ogawa)
Mayumi Nakayama
Crystal Sacca (English)
Jennifer Billian (Bothwell)
Katherine Greig
Jeffrey Huo
Margaret MacCallum
Eiko Narita
Tetsuya Nishimi
Marc Chapman
Anonymous
Eugene Huo
Takeshi Okamoto
Anonymous
Emilie Ewart (Fisher)
Richard Miller
Pamela Pontius
Matthew Romaine
Michelle Watabe (Harrison)
Nathan Watabe
Brooke Whitworth
Sam Jones
Shinobu Morohoshi
Tet Okamoto
Michel Tarna
Masato Yokosuka
Reina Boaz
Koa Fujisaki (Shino)
Ryuzo Ogawa
Beth Pontius
Shiori Sumida
Heather Curnutt
Bapi Ghosh
Ako Krisher (Inatomi)
Yasu Nakayoshi
Andy Ogawa
Jinly Zee
Debbie Wissel 00s
Paul Hastings
Andrew Joslyn
Kaz Kawaguchi
Ryan Kearney
Jon Sack
Sarah Thomas-Polak
Lara Tilley-Bouez
Matt Woods
Anna Delia (Tuttle)
Shino Kido
Nykkol Mozee Okabe
Kelly O’Brien
Brent Keese
Mariko Ohno
Kotoe Shirakawa
Sean Sloan
Ryan Butz
Sonia Livdahl
Jason Mothersill
Erika Sloan
Max Taffel
Zelda Edmunds (Sack)
Shuji Wakutsu
Steve Woods ’06
Yumi Araki
Tai Dirkse
Timmy Jacobsson
Michael Thornton ’07
Noriko Hashimoto (Nakao)
Jaclyn Keese
Patrick O’Hearn
Wayne Spangler
Sayumi Terao
Kohei Wakutsu ’08
Carson Eisenhart
Hiroya Ozaki ’09 Will Bender
Kei Kuwahara
David Lintvelt 10s ’10
Anne Marie Dornoff
David Forster
Justin Marut
Mimi Takano ’11
Enna Hattori
Alexander Heideman ’12
Julie Keese ’13
Takuya Wakayama ’14 Jo Carroll
Erica Nakayama-Cooper ’18 Aishwarya Kumar ’19 Kenichiro Bernier 20s ’20
Alex Kashiwagi
Emma Rekate ’21
Taiga Lewis ’23
Stephen Hagerty
Andrew Kashiwagi
Aaryan Kumar
Ellie Reilly
Jan ‘71 & Craig Blizzard
David Boatwright ‘73
Ned ‘48 & Pauline Burkart
Rick Cohen ‘69 & Barbara Topper-Cohen
Ken Glazier ‘67
Andrew ‘60 & Lisa Haines
Joanna Nicol ‘52
Jeannette Nielsen ‘59
Margaret & Henry Pietraszek
Sally Schaffer ‘76
Nancy & Jim Adams
Peter & Pam Cooper
Leon ‘57 & Suzanne Fattal
Patty Floch & Ken Bruzek
Mark Francischetti ‘72
Peter ‘69 & Yoko Harnik
Jeffrey Huo ‘94
Larry James
Pamela Jones-Morton, PhD
Paul ‘76 & Terry Kidder
Albert ‘42 & Betty Kobayashi
Jody Kroehler Magnuson ‘73 & Clark Magnuson
Jerry ‘81 & Bonnie Livingston
Andy ‘81 & Denise Lund
Dick ‘65 & Gemma Lury
Will ‘59 & Lynne McCoy
Mary Meyer ‘65
Carolyn Moss ‘73 & Daniel Hawkins
John & Mimi Plum
Jeffrey Tunis
Bob Walsh ‘81
Lucia Buchanan Pierce ‘68
Alan Cannon & Fuyumi Kitakado
Tom & Cheryle Coopat
Sue Duke ‘83
Emilie ‘97 & Jake Ewart
Eugene Huo ‘96
Mitzi Kuroda ‘77 & Stephen Elledge
Yuhka Mera ‘81
Fred ‘83 & Kendra Morgenstern
David & Tina Nishida ‘85
Thierry Porté
Mike ‘87 & Jun Sanders
Richard & Fran Snell
Mid & Carol Squier
Sally Turner ‘66
Matt Wilce & Sho Suzuki
Ethan ‘86 & Kyra Berkove
Jeff & Seiko Bernier
Glenn ‘68 & Dianne Colville
Andra ‘83 & John Ehrenkranz
Katherine Greig ‘94
Esther Harte
Hiroyuki & Harumi Kamano
Bill ‘63 & Betsy Martino
Louise Meller ‘63 & Jay Lukowski
Scott & Mary Miller
Toshizumi & Junko Mizuno
David Morgenstern ‘88
Amane & Chizuru Nakashima
Hiroko Nishikawa Fu & Ming-Xia Fu
Catherine Piez ‘82 & Mark Whatford
Richard & Cynthia Schlichting
Susan & Theo Seltzer
Nathan Sult ‘75 & Beth Tarter
Max Taffel ‘04 & Allen Yang
Yuko Takada
Alejo & Lusan Yao
Jinly Zee ‘90 & Kazuya Tsujita
Although I spent only one year at ASIJ, my positive experiences with faculty and fellow students left an impression on me that remains to this day. I am grateful for my time at ASIJ, and give back to help others find their inspiration as well."
- Ethan Berkove ’86, Decade Club member
Renowned choral educator and arranger Dr Rollo Dilworth spent three days working with students at ASIJ in October. Vice Dean of the Boyer College of Music at Temple University and Professor of Choral Music Education, Dr Dilworth brought music students and faculty from across divisions together with the highlight of his visit being the performances of one of his pieces by a combined choir of elementary, middle and high school students. He was also a guest on the ASIJ Audio podcast where he discussed music education with two of our teachers.
Anonymous (3)
Tricia Apel
Warren Apel
Rieko Armstrong
Brad Augustine
Meena Beardsley
Mike Bell
Gloria Bell
Miyuki Benning
Josh Berg
Maka Black Elk
Akiko Brigham
Sayako Bryson
Sean Bryson
Ryan Butz ‘04
Amy Carey
Ryan Carey
Christy Carrillo
Milan Claudio
Polly Cline
Shayne Cokerdem
Diane Cokerdem-DePriest
Dwain Confer
Miah Confer
Rigel Crockett
Anne Cunningham
Pip Curtis
Lennie Davis
Tamera Davis
Kristen DePass
Emily de Leon
Roberto de Leon
Jody Fuller
Nadine Dickinson
Tai Dirkse ‘06
Carmen Dolman
Zelda Edmunds ‘05
Ivar Eimon ‘80
Jenn Eng
Cory Evans-Klock
Bart Fabianowicz
Kate Fabianowicz
Andy Faulk
Laura Faulk
Emily Fichardt
Hardi Fichardt
Misael Fisico
Yoshiko Furukawa-Lee
David Gardner
Pia Gardner
Bapi Ghosh ‘90
Miwa Ghosh
Alex Gutierrez
Caroline Haddad
Jim Hardin
Marti Hardin
Joanne Harris-Rolls
Jeff Harrison
Manon Harrison
Nick Heidt
Naoko Hirasawa
Taeko Ito
Catherine Iwata
Ken Iwata
Laurel Janewicz
Saori Kakihara
Iku Kano
Aileen Kanoh
Shunichi Kudo
Rie Kobashi
Mary Koizumi
Ako Krisher ‘90
Miranda Liu
Heidi L’Heureux
Marc L’Heureux
Meenakshi Lahad
Tracie Landry
Kathleen Lewis-Workman
Johnson Lin
Karen List
Leah Llamzon
Craig Macek
Debby Macek
Lydia Mangle
Annie Markovich
Natalia Martinez
Justin Marut ‘10
Timmy Jacobsson ‘06
Gabriela Jiménez
Anneliese Knight
Claire Lonergan
Michael Maloney
Michele Maxson
Angie McCullough
Jake McCullough
Naoko McQueen
Phil Meehan
Eddie Meinhold
Joshua Miles
Yumiko Miyazaki
Maddie Moll
Shinobu Morohoshi ‘98
Carl Murray
Jilene Murray
Tomoko Nakai
Ikuko Nakayoshi
Yasu Nakayoshi ‘90
Becky Naughton
Ryan Naughton
David Neale
Shiho Negoro
Anjali Nirmalan
Bill Novy
Mariko Ohno ‘03
Megan Ortwein
Tanya Pachter
Zoë Paraskevopoulos
Nami Pettit
Jon Pitale
Laura Pitale
Josh Raub
Jamie Richard
Damaris Rivera
Grant Rolls
Hala Rosendaal
Koshika Sachdeva
Jon Sack ‘00
Leila Sakagawa
Marianne Scharf
Joy Sell
Mihoko Shimada
Leah Shy
Kate Sikora
Minako Sugiya
Sarah Sutter
Ryosuke Suzuki
Kyoko Takano
Mimi Takano ‘10
Yue Takigayama
Nicola Takizawa
Andy Thiel
Tia Thiel
Midori Tokoro
Jeff Torchon
Nikki Torchon
Koshiro Tsuji
Miho Vargo
Srilalitha Venkatesh Prasad
Marc Vermeire
Suzanna Voigt
Amy Vriend
Pete Vriend
Kyoko Wakutsu
Russell Walsh
Matt Wilce
Scott Wilcox
Sheila Wilcox
Cory Willey
Dee Willey
Frazer Wilson
Min Wu
Mariko Yokosuka
Hiromi Yoshida
Amy Zuber Meehan
Nancy Adams
Dan Bender
Ruth Bender
Pam Cooper
Peter Cooper
Les Crandall
Thurman Dennis
Brenda Duyan
Scott Duyan
Than Edmunds
Patty Floch
Taeko Fukuda
Irene Gilman
Dan Gogerty
Lana Gogerty
Joe Hoffman
Susan Huber
Pamela Jones-Morton, PhD
Mary Margaret Mallat
Doug McQueen
Leslie Okada Roberts ‘66
Mary Pfeiffer
Margaret Pietraszek
Carol Prewitt
Dave Prewitt
Josh Reckord
Nancy Reckord
Nobuko Relnick
Fran Snell
Richard Snell
Carol Squier
Mid Squier
Margit Umezaki
Polly Phillips Vasché
Deborah Vermeire
Randy Wanless
Renee Williams
Gene Witt
Janet Witt
Mary Gene Woods
Anonymous (18)
Minako Abe ‘88 & Michael Shelton
Jeff & Akiko Acton
Shigeki & Noriko Adachi
Jordi Agud Ruiz & Raquel Vila Viñas
Bryan Aguila
Akshay & Shuchandrima Ahuja
Masahiro & Maki Akaishi
Jin & Satsuki Akanishi
Yoshihiro & Shiho Akiyama
Jeffrey & Miwa Annis
Takashi & Haruka Arikai
Rieko & Ryan Armstrong
Yasu & Izumi Ashikawa
Paul & Shiho Barbir
Andrew & KT Barous
Sean & Madeleine Batson
Jamie Becchetti & Kyoko Okada
Mike & Gloria Bell
Selim Benba & Deniz Aygun Benba
Brian & Ayako Bender
Michael & Noriko Benner
Joshua & Chanda Berk
Jeff & Seiko Bernier
Taro & Sayoko Bhasin
Michael & Keiko Bidinger
John & Antonia Boardman
James & Ayako Boston
Denis Bregeon & Karine Desperques
Sayako & Robin Bryson
James & Ali Buford
Ian Burkheimer & Yoko Inaba
Dale & Megumi Caldwell
Amy & Ryan Carey
Christy Carrillo & Tim Littlefield
Joe & Tricia Cascio
Kieron Cashell & Kotoha Haga
Jack Chang & Cindy Zhong
Wayne Chang & Maie Takahashi
Marc Chapman ‘95 & Yoshiko Matsuhisa
Cram & Anya Chavali
Stephen & Candice Chen
Luyi Chen & Ruby Xu
Changyu Chen & Ai Nakao
Yuan Chen & Tian Zhu
Baldwin Cheng & Fan Cheung
Andy Chew & Tessa Kocourek-Chew
Jinhae Choi & Sooyun Park
Sachin & Chika Chowdhery
Katie & Doug Chuchro
Tiy Chung & Linda Mak
Archie & Yoko Ciganer Albeniz
Shayne Cokerdem &
Diane Cokerdem-DePriest
Dwain & Miah Confer
Andrew & Chitose Conrad
Justin & April Cook
Ross Cooper & Naha Kim
Rigel Crockett & Ariel Janzen
Magnus Damm
Aditya Damodaran & Nita Harwani
Basil & Chieko Dan
Lennie & Tamera Davis
Emily & Roberto de Leon
Ozgur & Ozge Demirkol
Daniel ‘89 & Yuko DiCicco
Mark & Miwako Drabkin
Alan & Lisa Draper
Peter ‘88 & Megumi Durfee
Masato & Yoshiko Edo
Hiroaki & Nao Ehira
Deanna ‘86 & Peter Elstrom
Jonathan & Liu Epstein
Gonzalo Esparza Pedroza &
Martha Esparza Gaucin
Kate & Bart Fabianowicz
Laura & Andy Faulk
Gil & Anat Feldman
Hardi & Emily Fichardt
Jim & Mika Fink
Eric Frost & Erica Finsness
John Fu & Ai Ito
Gene & Amy Fujii
Kenta & Noriko Fujii
Fuyuki & Tomoko Fujiwara
Akihiro & Tomoko Fukikoshi
Lalaka ‘93 & Jin Fukuma
Daisuke & Naomi Fukumoto
Rio & Coco Funayama
Tak & Natsumi Furukawa
Yoshiko Furukawa-Lee & Michael Lee
Jeff & Miki Galvin
Nilay Gami & Monika Sharma-Gami
David & Pia Gardner
Taka & Aiko Go
Renaud Gocsei & Aya Higashio
Hitoshi & Yukari Gohdo
Eric & Ayako Golden
Carlos Alejandro Gonzalez
Gonzalez & Alicia Andrea
Murrieta Fernandez
Samuel Gordon &
Tomoko Katayama Gordon
Fumiko Goto
Seth Graham & Akemi Suzuki
Nick & Surya Grover
Eddie & Chi Guillemette
Wayne Guo & Rachel Zhong
Corey & Yasuko Gustin
Jeff & Sakura Guthrie
Alex Gutierrez & Lydia Mangle
Tarek Habib & Naila Bahgat
Caroline & Scott Haddad
Naoko & Michael Halloran
David & Michiko Hamaty
Jeff & Manon Harrison
Noriko ‘07 & Akinori Hashimoto
Matthew Hassan & Mari Ojima
Keiji & Mayumi Hattori
Dustin Havenar & Inna Caron
Eiji Hayakawa & Paula Tashima
Toru & Miwako Hayasaka
Andrew & Mika Hershon
Dan & Nicole Heur
Dairi & Sachiko Higashi
Hideyuki Hiramoto & Fumiko Shiobara
Pina & Yoko Hirano
Naoko & Taku Hirasawa
Michie Hisada
Hiroaki Hishida & Kyungmi Kim
Ian Ho & Sandra Wong
Christian & Mikiko Hoffman
Goro & Nami Hokari
Mats & Hiroe Holjo
Shinichiro & Suzuko Hori
Jack Huang & Margaret Chen
Koji & Mie Igarashi
Mike & Naoko Ikeda
Eiji & Hiromi Imai
Ken & Yuriko Imai
Yoh & Anna Imoto
Katsuo & Asami Inoue
Yasutaka & Kanako Inoue
Yuko Inoue
Keiko & Masayuki Ishido
Yu & Yoshino Ishihara
Narumi & Yuki Ito
Taeko & Katsuhiro Ito
Ken & Catherine Iwata
Makoto Iyobe & Claire Chen
Takuzo & Hanako Izawa
Yasuhiro & Noriko Izushima
Gaurav & Vibhu Jain
Arek & Izabela Kachel
Yuichi & Mika Kaji
Saori Kakihara & Yongjin Chang
Stephen & Kaori Kampa
Hiroshi & Mariko Kanazawa
Yasuyuki & Aya Kanda
Jun & Akane Kaneko
Tetsuya & Sofia Kaneko
Tohru & Yoko Kanematsu
Youjong Kang & Haejin Kwon
Johannes & Lisa Kaps
Rika & David Jun Kasamatsu
Ryotaro & Junko Kato
Tadashi & Mena Kato
Kaz ‘00 & Maki Kawaguchi
Lawrence & Rieko Kieffer
Hiroyuki & Makiko Kikuiri
Koji & Ai Kikura
So & Haruko Kikuya
Jimin Kim & June Lee
Minsu Kim & Yoonha Lee
Sinbae Kim & Eunjung Lim
Mike King & Makiko Nishimura
Michael Kinstle & Teruko Iida-Kinstle
Kamal & Brinda Kirpalani
Akihito & Alisa Kitakoshi
Mai Kitamura
Toshiki & Masayo Kitao
Hiroki & Yukiko Kiyoto
Manami & Masatoshi Kobayashi
Takashi & Toshiyo Kobayashi
Terumi & Takashi Kobayashi
Shuhei & Sayako Koga
Rinya & Eleanor Kohara
Junji & Aya Koike
Taro & Reiko Kondo
Wei Ku & Mina Utsuki
Yoshiaki & Maya Kudo
Elad & Saori Lachovitzki
Steve & Yuriko Lai
Benjamin & Aki Lang
Balazs & Magdolna Laszlo
Joshua & Kendal Latner
Craig & Jeannine Law-Smith
David Lawton & Viki Selca
Riaan & Wilna le Roux
David ‘86 & Kaori Lee
Kevin & Stephanie Lee
KJ Lee & Monica Won
Joseph & Vanessa Lee
Gary Lee & Catherine Jollymore
Daniel Leuck & Mika Terada
Albert Li & Vivien Yu
Nan Li & Ye (Emily) Bai
Zhibin Li & Yanqi Wang
Jon & Kanae Lilja
John & Iku Liljequist
George & Yayoi Lin
Drew ‘87 & Jennifer Little
Jiongwu Liu & Ruiheng Wang
Aaron & Chiho Lloyd
Marc Luet & Sandra Germay
Akira & Yuko Makita
Buddy ‘85 & Hitomi Marini
Aki Matz Matsudaira
Enrique Mazon & Suheir Nasereddin
Sean & Haruka Mccarthy
Kevin & Nobuko McNeeley
Eddie Meinhold & Kristen DePass
Oleg Menshikov & Irina Menshikova
Spyro Mentzas
Nancy & David Michels
Chad Miller & Cathy Kitahara
Kristen & Richard Miller ‘97
Michael & Jennifer Min
Toshiyuki & NingNing Minamisawa
Ayanori Mitsui & Miriam Au
Shinichi & Ayaka Mizuta
Eelco Modderman & Emily Hengeveld
Chris & Kumiko Moores
Kunihito & Mari Morimura
Sergio & Mayumi Morita
Jim Muir & Miwa Kanai
Jaya Mukherjee & Abhijit Mukhopadhyay
Noriko Murai & Bill Yeskel
Yumiko Murakami & Todd Moses
Kensuke & Maiko Murashima
Yuji Murata & Naoko Kawasaki
Tadao & Ayano Nagasaki
Takafumi & Erika Nakadate
Tomoko Nakai
Ikutaro & Mika Nakajima
Mariko & Hiro Nakamura
Naoya & Hitomi Nakamura
Akinori & Mariko Nakano
Yuji & Mamiko Nakano
Kozo & Minako Nakatani
Ryosuke & Moeko Nakatomi
Tetsu ‘84 & Ayumi Nakayama
Yasu ‘90 & Ikuko Nakayoshi
Norihiko & Keiko Namba
Shogo & Yuki Nishida
Nik Nixon & Choi Choi
Bill Novy & Thi Huong Giang Le
Stephen & Karen O’Neill
Yusuke & Junko Oba
Gen & Yuko Obata
Noritsugu & Tomoko Odaira
Noriyuki & Naho Ogawa
Ryuzo ‘99 & Tomoko Ogawa
Aisa Ogoshi & Sam Baillie
Eugine Oh & Kevin Han
Mariko Ohno ‘03
Hikaru & Yoshiko Okada
Tet ‘98 & Eri Okamoto
Nao & Rie Okuda
Sean & Amanda Opitz
Taro & Tomoko Otsuka
Kerem & Natsuki Over
Arthur & Kaya Ozeki
Tanya & Ben Pachter
Sangpil Park & Jung Hwang
Nami & Isaac Pettit
Albert & Kara Piscopo
Jon & Laura Pitale
Shane & Nao Predeek
Roy Prieb & Miho Walsh
Josh Raub & Mihoko Shimada
Lenore Reese & Joshua Isenberg
Ken & Debbie Reilly
Motoko Rich ‘87 & Mark Topping
Mike & Adrianne Richards
Ed & Betsy Rogers
Grant Rolls & Joanne Harris-Rolls
Rolf & Hala Rosendaal
Philip & Kaho Roskamp
Davide & Haruna Rossi
Alan Roth & Blair Perilman
Leila & Kenichi Sakagawa
Atsuhiko Sakamoto
David Sancho Shimizu & Risako Shima
Kenjiro & Keiko Sano
Ken & Nao Satake
Junichi & Rachel Zhang Sato
Scott & Marianne Scharf
Daniel Scudelari Chu & Alessandra Batalha dos Santos
Ichiran Seki & Iris Wu
Heather & Shuhei Sekiguchi
Susan & Theo Seltzer
Satoru & Tamaki Serizawa
Ken Shimamura & Atsuko Kurata
Keita Shiotani
Shambhu Shrestha & Rachana
Manandhar Shrestha
Leah Shy & Frazer Wilson
Saori & Tom Silecchia
Nick & Yumiko Silver
Dheeraj & Deepali Singhi
Charles & Emi Smith
Derek & Magan Smith
Hisaya & Kinuko Sobajima
Chris & Leslie Sobotka
Darren & Sally Spencer
Yoshitaka & Mizuki Sugihara
Shoko Suto
Erie & Tamami Suzuki
Shunsuke & Saeka Suzuki
Andrey Svininnikov & Yasuko Svininnikova
Mark & Grace Swaine
Kunio & Eriko Tahara
Keiichi & Yuko Tajima
Hal & Tomoko Takahashi
Masaki Takahashi
Satoru Takahashi & Tiantian Qiu
Tomomichi & Yoko Takahashi
Manabu & Miyuki Takami
Toshiro & Shino Takamiya
Yoshiyuki & Mayu Takanashi
Hiro & Yuka Takeda
Yue & Hiroaki Takigayama
Hiroyuki & Yukari Takizawa
Nicola & Takao Takizawa
Sayo & Eiji Takizawa
Kiyotaka Tanaka & Shiho Watabe
Wakana Tanaka
Rei Tanaka & Hiroko Hollie Tanaka
Hideto & Ayaka Tanihara
Michel ‘98 & Chie Tarna
Jonathan Tepper & Michele Maxson
Sayumi Terao ‘07 & Hiroshi Horikoshi
Andy & Tia Thiel
Peter & Vanessa Thomas
Ryan Timms & Aya Yamaura-Timms
Ryan Todd & Yumi Nakamura
Jeff & Nikki Torchon
Shoji & Junko Tsuboyama
Carol Tsuchida
Kosaku & Yurifa Tsuchida
Tom & Sachiko Ueki
Ko & Misato Umeno
Jasper & Juliet van Oudenhoven
Miho & Keith Vargo
Marc & Deborah Vermeire
Pete & Amy Vriend
Robert Wagner & Dagmar
Hausensteiner-Wagner
Jianfeng & Ting Wang
Richard Watanabe & Deni Cheng
Yasushi & Mayumi Watanabe
Hai Wei & Nicole Wang
Neil & Andi Weingarten
Scott & Sheila Wilcox
Robert Wray & Takako Morishima
Roger & Toshimi Wright
Wengang Wu & Mingzhu Jiang
Simon Xiao & Lesley Wang
Satoshi & Erina Yamagata
Takeshi & Marina Yamaguchi
Takeshi & Waka Yamamoto
Shingo & Ann Yamanaka
Atsushi & Akari Yamashita
Yuichiro & Miki Yamazaki
Jack Yan & Natsuko Moriyama
An Yan & Grace Hu
Ayako Yashiro
Chris Yeh & Shino Torigoe-Yeh
Masato ‘98 & Mariko Yokosuka
Tatsuo & Miho Yoshikawa
Yoshi & Nancy Yoshitsugu
Sandra Young
Jinly Zee ‘90 & Kazuya Tsujita
Frank Zhang & Susan Huang
Amy Zuber Meehan & Phil Meehan
We cherish every opportunity to participate in and build this community. And let’s make ASIJ and the PTA even better together."
我们珍惜每一个参与和建设这个社团的机会， 我们一起让ASIJ和PTA越来越好！
- Qi Shuangliu & Shi Shasha, current parents
Anonymous (3)
Nancy & Jim Adams
Jeffrey & Miwa Annis
Louis & Marian Apple
Dennis & Naomi Arai
Sue Barber
Laura & Eric Barboriak
Dan & Ruth Bender
Miyuki Benning
Jeff & Seiko Bernier
Jan ‘71 & Craig Blizzard
John & Antonia Boardman
James & Ayako Boston
Susie ‘85 & Sean Brennan
Catlan & John Brinsley
Ian Burkheimer & Yoko Inaba
Arthur & Elizabeth Butcher
Dale & Megumi Caldwell
Paul Caldwell & Mayumi Sawada
Alan Cannon & Fuyumi Kitakado
Christy Carrillo & Tim Littlefield
Archie & Yoko Ciganer Albeniz
Shayne Cokerdem & Diane Cokerdem-DePriest
Andrew & Chitose Conrad
Justin & April Cook
Tom & Cheryle Coopat
Peter & Pam Cooper
Laurie Del Bene
Daniel ‘89 & Yuko DiCicco
Nadine & Michael Dickinson
Jeff & Deanne Dornoff
Scott & Brenda Duyan
Eric & Misa Edmunds
Scott & Michelle Eisenhart
Deanna ‘86 & Peter Elstrom
Jonathan & Liu Epstein
Jennifer ‘65 & Arthur Farkas
Gil & Anat Feldman
Richard & Stephanie Folsom
Doug ‘84 & Hiroko Freeman
Gene & Amy Fujii
Bapi ‘90 & Miwa Ghosh
Dan & Lana Gogerty
Caroline & Scott Haddad
William & Chrissy Hagerty
Naoko & Michael Halloran
Esther Harte
Matthew Hassan & Mari Ojima
Paul Hastings ‘00 & Debbie Wissel ‘99
Beatrice & Kenneth Hermann
Dan & Nicole Heur
Ernie ‘70 & Aya Higa
Dairi & Sachiko Higashi
Michie Hisada
Mats & Hiroe Holjo
Susan Huber
Jason Hyland & Andrijana Cvetkovikj
Masatoshi & Kumi Ito
Yasuhiro & Noriko Izushima
Larry James
Jay & Adrianne Johnson
Kyoichiro & Yukari Kamibayashi
Blake & Jill Kashiwagi
Hoji & Yoko Kawaguchi
Jack & Pamela Keese
Lawrence & Rieko Kieffer
Jon & Sachiko Kindred
Kyoko ‘80 & Peter Kirby
Steve ‘86 & Sharon Knode
Rie & Yoshinori Kobashi
Taro & Reiko Kondo
Partha & Lia Kumar
Sora & Jason Kwan
Marc & Heidi L’Heureux
Meenakshi & Samir Lahad
Nick & Holly Lane
Joshua & Kendal Latner
Morgan Laughlin & Rumiko Sato-Laughlin
Craig & Jeannine Law-Smith
Joseph & Vanessa Lee
Kathleen & Steve Lewis-Workman
Leah & Larry Llamzon
Hiroko Lockheimer
Craig & Debby Macek
Nasir & Chie Majid
Mary Margaret Mallat & David Deck
Kathy Matsui & Jesper Koll
Toyokazu & Naomi Matsumoto
Angie & Jake McCullough
Jeffrey & Kazuko McNeill
Eli & Chizu Mendoza
Nancy & David Michels
William & Mary Michels
Scott & Mary Miller
Toshizumi & Junko Mizuno
Kathleen Montesanti
Fred ‘83 & Kendra Morgenstern
Jaya Mukherjee & Abhijit Mukhopadhyay
Yumiko Murakami & Todd Moses
Yoichi & Sakiko Nakamura
Amane & Chizuru Nakashima
Mayumi Nakayama ‘93
Yasu ‘90 & Ikuko Nakayoshi
Kirk & Mariko Neureiter
David & Tina Nishida ‘85
Hiroko Nishikawa Fu & Ming-Xia Fu
Hideo & Kazuko Niwa
Bob & Janette Noddin
Erin & Tim O’Donovan
Stephen & Karen O’Neill
Hiromasa & Momoko Ohashi
Marcus & Kazuko Okuno
Arthur & Kaya Ozeki
Margaret & Henry Pietraszek
Kathy Pike
Albert & Kara Piscopo
John & Mimi Plum
Thierry Porté
John & Shoko Possman
Dave & Carol Prewitt
David Proctor
Josh & Nancy Reckord
Lenore Reese & Joshua Isenberg
Ken & Debbie Reilly
Phil & Nobuko Relnick
Motoko Rich ‘87 & Mark Topping
Mike & Adrianne Richards
Damaris Rivera & John Fahy
Ed & Betsy Rogers
Grant Rolls & Joanne Harris-Rolls
Philip & Kaho Roskamp
Jim & Carol Sack
Catherine & Taisuke Sasanuma
Richard & Cynthia Schlichting
Daniel Scudelari Chu &
Alessandra Batalha dos Santos
Susan & Theo Seltzer
David & Masako Semaya
Ronald & Toshiko Slattery
Charles & Emi Smith
Kent & Cathy Smith
Richard & Fran Snell
Darren & Sally Spencer
Mid & Carol Squier
Susan Sullivan
Linda Suzukawa-Tseng ‘72
Rei Suzuki ‘84
Yuko Takada
Kyoko & Hiroyuki Takano
Nicola & Takao Takizawa
Jay & Yuki Talbot
Hiroshi & Michiyo Tanimoto
Andy & Tia Thiel
Peter & Vanessa Thomas
Samuel Tsegaye & Ayako Matsuno
Miki & Jun Tsusaka
Jeffrey Tunis
Kimiko & Shuji Uchida
Margit Umezaki
Srilalitha Venkatesh Prasad & Venkatesh Prasad Sharma
Marc & Deborah Vermeire
Ernie ‘75 & Yuko Wakamatsu
Kyoko & Hiroshi Wakutsu
Linda Wardell
Tom & Misty Whitson
Albert & Ineke Wierman
Scott & Sheila Wilcox
Gene & Janet Witt
Bob & Mary Gene Woods
Simon Xiao & Lesley Wang
Paul & Afifah Yamasaki
Alejo & Lusan Yao
Rusty Yuson & Stuart Sowder
Jon & Sachiko Kindred
Nakao Tawara
Yasuyo Yamada
Friends
Anonymous (1)
Sarah Alexander
Hiroyuki & Harumi Kamano
Andy Liu & Mary Roth
Katie Millican
William Ross
Coca-Cola (Japan) Co., Ltd.
Drew ‘87 & Jennifer Little
William Ross
Alice Kuwahara, in honor of Susan Islascox
Jerry '81 & Bonnie Livingston
Anonymous (1)
Deere & Company
GAP Japan K.K.
Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs Japan Co., Ltd.
Google Cloud Japan
Microsoft
Netflix
T Rowe Price Japan KK
The Vanguard Group
AFLAC International, Inc.
Those who have generously arranged to include ASIJ in their estate plans become members of The Gate Society.
Planned giving is a long-term fundraising option that enables individuals to make charitable donations that consider both the personal and family needs of the donor. Planned gifts are usually made of assets, rather than current income, and are a tax-effective means of giving to our school. While there are tax and other financial benefits associated with planned giving, the most meaningful reward is knowing that your gift will leave a legacy and have an impact on future generations of our students.
See school from a variety of different perspectives in our new Point of View video series and get a look at some of the exciting activities students are engaged in. See the field from a football player’s eyes, experience a dynamic rehearsal for the middle school musical, or what it looks like to try indigo dyeing for the first time. Watch the ongoing series on YouTube @asij.
Irene Anderson ‘74 & James Somes
Dave ‘60 & Jeannine Bergt
Frederick Cohen ‘69
Peter & Pam Cooper
Thurman Dennis ‡
Ray Downs ‘50 ‡
Vicky Downs
Bruce Forgrieve ‘77
Kenneth Glazier ‘67
Mary Harada ‘81
Frederick Harris ‡
Robert Haven ‡
Ann Hesselink ‘71
Abigail Hoffsommer 1927 ‡
Walter Hoffsommer 1929 ‡
James Huddle ‘70
‡ Deceased
Pamela Jones-Morton, PhD
Julia Ludlow-Ortner ‘72 & Robert Ortner
Dick Muhl
Kerry & Lynn Nichols
David Nicodemus 1933 ‡
David Proctor
Hideko Shibata ‘66
Ronald Snyder ‡
John Sullivan ‡
Carl Sundberg ‘77
Chizu Suzuki ‘64
George Ting ‘64
Robin ‘67 & Ludd Trozpek
Jeffrey Tunis
Brent Ware ‘74
Note: 2023-24 figures are not final and unaudited, and as of June 30, 2024.
Total ASIJ Annual Fund: ¥150,455,675
ASIJ Endowment: ¥1,227,672,165
ASIJ’s permanently restricted endowment was established in 2022. The expendable income is allocated at the discretion of the Board of Directors for projects and programs of the greatest priority aligned with the mission of ASIJ.
Endowed funds further ASIJ’s legacy of support for faculty and students. Contributions to the endowment give the school flexibility and confidence to grow and improve as strategic developments and initiatives change to reflect the world in which ASIJ is Shaping Tomorrow’s Leaders Today.
William “Bill” Jacobsson (FF ’75–08, P ’05, ’06) passed away on August 30, 2024, at the age of 81. Bill was born on October 17, 1942, in Detroit, Michigan, the second son in an all-boy family. After graduating from Lutheran High School Westland, he went on to earn his bachelor’s degree in education from Concordia College and later a master’s in secondary education with a focus on math from Hofstra University. Bill began his teaching career at Long Island Lutheran in Brookville, New York, teaching middle and high school mathematics for 11 years. There, he refereed basketball where he infamously called a foul on a young player known at the time as Lewis Alcindor. His family remembers, “Kareem Abdul-Jabbar may have been one of the first student athletes to get called out by Coach Jacobsson’s whistle, but he certainly wasn’t the last."
After over a decade at Long Island Lutheran, Bill took a leap of faith and came to ASIJ. He initially taught mathematics for
his first couple of years and told Hanabi reporters in October 1975: “I like the modular system because it provides a lot of free time for teachers to be with students on an informal basis.” Bill did admit to them that adjusting to this new style of teaching and the focus on building relationships with students often left him having to stay late to catch up on grading geometry papers. He told the student newspaper that he also enjoyed chatting with people outside of school, saying that he enjoyed “shopping in the little stores and striking up conversations with people.” In addition to working in the math department, Bill took on the role of assistant Varsity football coach and JV basketball coach his first year — the JV team ended the season at the top of the league with a 12-3 record. It was the first of many successful seasons for the teams Bill coached during his long career at school.
From the start of the school year in 1977, Bill moved over to physical education and remained at ASIJ as a PE teacher
Bill with Landon Budge ’01 (P ’27, ’29, ’31) at the 2014 New York Reception
and basketball, baseball, and football coach until he retired in 2008. When asked why he moved from math to PE, he liked to say “Because PE is fun!” He would often have students hanging out around the gym and popping into impromptu dodgeball games — never did a student want an impromptu math quiz.
During his time in Japan, Bill met his wife Sandra (FF ’72–’77, ’81–’87, ’95–’96, P ’05, ’06), with whom he adopted three beautiful children: Peter ’06, Sarah ’05, and Timmy ’06 (FF’11-’24). Bill is remembered by his family as “an incredible father, brother, uncle, friend, teacher, coach, and all-around mentor to all of us throughout the years.” At his memorial service in Myrtle Beach note was made of his effortlessly groan-inducing dad jokes, memorable catchphrases, and unwavering optimism.
“I was deeply saddened to hear of Bill's passing,” former Elementary School administrative assistant AIleen Kanoh told us. “I knew him more as a devoted father than as a colleague, having had the pleasure of working with his three children—
Timmy, Peter, and Laura—during my time at the elementary school.” She described Bill and Sandy as “genuinely kind people, wholeheartedly supportive of their children.”
After Bill moved departments from math to athletics in 1977, ASIJ was down a math teacher and Gene Witt was hired to replace him in the classroom. Gene and his wife Janet worked alongside Bill and Sandy at ASIJ for almost 30 years, learning from each other, raising their kids together, and coaching together. Gene remembers looking up to Bill and his coaching style, learning a lot from him when he started. Gene says, “over time our girls basketball teams became really quite strong and I have a lot to owe to Bill on that as a mentor, he really guided me.”
Bill coached many teams including basketball, football, and baseball for various periods during his tenure at ASIJ. He was demanding and intense but also loving and supportive, wanting to get the best out of every player. It was important to him that every student who wanted to had a chance to participate. He created Varsity and Junior Varsity B teams that
would play against local Japanese basketball teams rather than the international and base schools on the weekends, always adding extra games to the schedule, beyond the 16 regular season ones. The whole team would take the subway all over Tokyo to play any team that he could find willing to play against ASIJ. Gene remembers how different the game was than the ASIJ students were used to, the players wiping down the court, taking their shoes off before entering the gymnasium and changing out of their street shoes, no heat in the gym, benched players standing and cheering for the entirety of the game. These were great memories for students and staff alike.
Bill “took his role as teacher and mentor seriously. He was tough but fair, he could be stubborn, but supportive” colleague and friend Karen Seevers (FF ‘77-’87 P ‘04 ’06) told us. Bill was a lifelong friend, and mentor, to the Seevers, even serving as the best man at John and Karen’s wedding. Karen remembers preparing to coach the girls’ basketball team, “I must have spent hours in the gym watching Bill coach his team...taking notes, learning drills and plays,” she recalled. The study of Bill’s approach paid off and the team took the
Far East Championship that year. The Seevers and Jacobsson families grew up together and their children now carry on the lifelong friendship forged at ASIJ.
Peter Durfee ‘88 had Bill as his PE teacher and as a “hoops coach” in his Varsity season and tells us that “Coach Jake did [so much] for our generation … he was doing everything he could to get our best out of us, as always.” Tomas Gistren ‘87 shared that sentiment saying, “Coach ‘Jake’ was not only my B-ball coach, but my mentor throughout high school … I will pass on to my son what you taught me, Coach.”
Mentorship is a theme that appears again and again when people remember Bill. “Coach Jake was my football coach from 1984-1987. He coached us linemen in the muddy back field. He was relentless, demanding, intense, loving, hilarious, and supportive. He was one of those mentors you never forget,” Bryan Gibb ‘87 told us. “I learned a lot from that man. How to give a good forearm shiver, how to enjoy the game, how to be a good sport and show respect, and how to win and lose with dignity. I have not seen him since graduation 1987, but think of him often.”
“It was amazing how many alums would come back to campus and want to see him, he had a real passion and dedication to working with student athletes and their individual growth — that was really important to him” Gene Witt said. Paul Kidder ‘76 told us “I find it hard to believe he and I only overlapped one year at ASIJ as he is one of the reasons why today I describe my years at ASIJ as magical. He was the kind of coach who took an interest in his players beyond the field, and he was always one of the first people I would look for each time I returned to Tokyo.” It wasn’t just on campus that Bill reconnected with former students and athletes, he was also a regular attendee of our receptions in the United States following his retirement — the last being our 2020 event in New York.
It was amazing how many alums would come back to campus and want to see him, he had a real passion and dedication to working with student athletes and their individual growth — that was really important to him
In 2011, Bill’s son Timmy followed in his parents’ footsteps and returned to ASIJ to work in the athletics office just three years after his father’s retirement. After several years of teaching, coaching and nine years working as the assistant activities and athletics director, Timmy took over as the activities and athletics director. “I know his parents were very proud when Timmy became the athletic director,” Aileen Kanoh recalled. In a 2019 interview with us, Timmy recalled, “I was actually texting my dad the other day and one of the things that stood out to me was that all the work you’re doing — it’s for the kids in the end. Whatever you can do to make sure they have a good experience.”
Annie Cambell ’66 and Leslie Okada Roberts ’66 share about three days of warm connections and Mustang Spirit at this gathering of the Classes of 1964–1971
Catalina was the perfect setting for our long overdue and eagerly awaited multi-class reunion! In a lifetime of traveling, so many of us had never visited this enchanting island and were very excited to spend time there with fellow “wearers of the black and gold.” It must be said that we adore all the husbands, wives, partners, and children that so faithfully come to our reunions, and they have become part of our ASIJ family. The celebration began well before we arrived in Avalon, greeting each other joyfully as we boarded the ferries and ran into dear friends
while cruising past dolphins toward our destination. Over the many years of wonderful reunions from our thirties to our seventies, there has never been more appreciation of how precious our time together is. And so the theme that ran like a beautiful thread, through every conversation and event, was an expression of gratitude for beloved longtime friendships, for new ones formed and for ASIJ where it all began. Stories told and retold, photos from high school and past reunions shared—such a treasured gift for all of us.
George Ting ’64 and Annie Nichols Campbell ’66
There was so much to celebrate! Eighty of us gathered for the class of 1968’s 55th reunion, the class of 1966’s delayed (thanks to COVID) 55th and the coming together of all the classes that have for four decades joined our multi-class reunions. We carried in our hearts throughout those who couldn’t join us because of health issues and the many we’ve lost too early.
Our evenings were festive and delightful, each one showcasing a different experience of Catalina’s serenity and beauty. Many of us arrived a day early and gathered for a fabulous seafood dinner at Bluewater Grill, overlooking the picture-perfect harbor. Our October 24 Welcome Reception was held outdoors with perfect weather on the lovely lightstrung patio of our hotel, in the hills above town. There was much heartwarming hugging as wave after wave of attendees arrived, and we were “home” again together. On October 25, ASIJ hosted a magical evening at Catherine’s Terrace at Descansco Beach, an elegant and gorgeous venue complete with exquisite food, wine and a breathtaking view of the ocean at sunset. Unending thanks to former ASIJ Alumni Coordinator Miranda Liu, Interim Director of Advancement Claire Lonergan, and Director of Strategic Partnerships Ryosuke Suzuki for this special time of feasting and of an inspiring presentation of ASIJ today and of impressive future plans for our alma mater. These three honored guests worked with us through the years of planning the reunion and their help was invaluable. They stayed throughout the reunion, hiring a photographer to capture every event, and
Jerrie Kydd ’67 and her sister Leslie Okada Roberts ’66 (FF ’71–73, ’75–77, ’07–13)
spent much time getting to know all of us. We are blessed to have them in Tokyo constantly keeping us connected to our school! October 26 was our last evening together, and we enjoyed our outstanding Sayonara Dinner right on the beach, feet in sand, catered by Steve’s Steakhouse.
Our days were equally wonderful, beginning on October 25 with all of us gathered to listen to TED Talks presented by Linda Purl ’73, George Ting ’64, Mara Purl ’68, Billy Picon ’66 (who honored his beloved and recently deceased sister, Louise Picon Shimizu ’64), Toni Dyktor Mullen ’68 and Alex Halpern ’66. The overall theme was the way in which ASIJ and Japan had influenced and even changed the trajectory of their lives. October 26 was devoted to individual class gatherings and leisure time to explore the coastline and hillsides with golf carts, snorkeling, parasailing, zip lining, hiking, shopping, enjoying wonderful food and libations on outdoor patios overlooking stunning waterfront views—and most importantly, just hanging out with each other.
Nick Connor ’68, Leslie Okada Roberts ’66, Annie Nichols Campbell ’66 and Dave Sakamoto ’68 thank everyone who attended for your outpouring of gratitude for time spent organizing this event. So many told us this was the best reunion ever! And witnessing the farewells as our ferries departed, filled with heartfelt connection, appreciation of each other and of the gift of being together again, and the fervent hope we would gather together soon—we agree!
Enjoying dinner on day three of the reunion
Leif Neve ’73 fondly recounts three days of meaningful reminiscences and new connections
Over three fun-filled days last October, the Class of ’73 held its 50th cluster reunion in San Francisco for a record number of attendees from across the globe. Over 120 alumni and family representing almost all the classes from the 1970’s, and traveling from as far away as Japan, Hawaii, Dubai and Germany, descended on the Hotel Kabuki in Japantown for a busy weekend of socializing, dining, and dancing. Friendships were renewed, old stories were retold, and the decades which had kept us apart melted away.
The event included San Francisco sightseeing, various breakout gatherings of classes and other groups (including a large ICU one), visits to local Japanese restaurants and a morning of spirited roundtable discussions led by internationally acclaimed author and educator Mary Yoko Brannen Mughan ’74 on the topic of Third Culture Kids. A wildly popular slideshow set to the music of the era and encapsulating our ASIJ experience was produced by the organizing committee and shown repeatedly to smiles, tears and hugs from all.
ASIJ Director of Giving Nikki Torchon and former Alumni Coordinator Miranda Liu joined us on Saturday evening to host a cocktail hour to help us celebrate this milestone event. Prior to the gathering, attendees were asked to write brief accounts of how they came to be at ASIJ, and what they did after, to get to know one another better. This turned out to be a highlight of the reunion for many. To those folks who wanted to attend but could not, we missed you and hope to see you next time!
More photos, including all class pictures:
’00s and beyond group photo
We hosted over 100 alumni across seven decades, alumni parents, and former faculty and staff at Meiji Kinenkan for our annual alumni community reception. There were alumni who are transitioning into a well deserved retirement and folks who are just starting burgeoning careers, it was a great space to learn from each other and connect with friends new and old.
After a welcome from our Chief Advancement Officer, Anne Cunningham, Minako Abe ‘88, a member of our Alumni Council, spoke about the strength of the community at ASIJ. She said, “what makes [ASIJ] so special are the human connections, the collective experience and unique community that it fosters. To this day, many of my closest friends are the ones I made all the way back in grade school and high school.” Abe says her connection has come “full circle” now having two children who attend the school. Jim Hardin, Head of School shared some closing remarks as this was his final Tokyo Alumni Community Reception before he retires, saying it has been “the honor of his career” to work alongside the ASIJ community.
Back to back with Spirit Day (previously Homecoming), the Alumni Reception was a place for reminiscing on all things ASIJ. Two lucky winners also got to take home some highly coveted swag from our newly launched Mustang Market, select items will soon be available for purchase in the US.
ASIJ virtually hosted renowned investors Crystal English Sacca ’93 and Chris Sacca. Joined by moderator Deanna Elstrom ’86 (P ’23, ‘24). Crystal and Chris shared their fascinating career journeys and answered questions about the realms of investing and sustainability. Crystal spoke as to how her roots at ASIJ influenced her career—in fact, one alum participant shared, “I liked the way Crystal tied everything back to her time at ASIJ. It was like listening to a superhero origin story.” Of particular interest were Crystal and Chris’s insights as to the traits that make founders successful and why supporting environmentally sustainable projects is the most profitable thing to do.
Sandra Orton Tweed '85 hosted a potluck for Vancouver Mustangs. Sandra shares, “We had alumni from the Class of '74 all the way to 2021! We also had 4 former faculty members! It was so nice to see everyone and chat about what brought them to the Vancouver, BC area. Can't wait till the next one!” From left to right: Haruka Higo '15, John Smith (FS '05–11), Shelley Smith (FS '05–11), Joe Vogt '91, Sandra Orton Tweed '85, Isabella Ouellette '21, Ummy Chaivaivid '20, Edward Staples (FS '98–08), Nienke Klaver (FS '98–08), Bill Manuel '74, Marie Orton (P '85), and George Redlinger '78
Alumni from around Tokyo gathered for a hanami cherry blossom-viewing picnic in Meguro on Mar 30. “Our picnic on Saturday was great, despite there being very few sakura,” Deanna Elstrom ’86 (P ’23, ‘24) commented. “We had perfect weather, and a great crew came!”
Deanna and husband Peter (P ’23, ‘24) were joined by Rob Jordan ’87, David Lee ’86, Buddy Marini ’85 (P ’27) and family, Tai Okuno ’15, Rida Sadler ’86 (P ‘19, ‘19) with husband Deane (P ‘19, ’19) and son Zenon ’19, Ruka Sakurai ’02, and Robert Sharp ’87 and partner Anne Trinca.
Honolulu, HI June 28-29,
The Class of 1999 had a great time at their Hawaii reunion on June 28 and 29! Naomi Hayase writes: "ASIJ Class of ‘99 enjoyed a weekend of catching up with classmates and family and friends in Honolulu, HI. On Friday, we got to check out George Quaiver '99 ’s taco truck, Tacos de Cacheton. On Saturday, we celebrated at the beautiful Outrigger Canoe Club.”
ASIJ alumni pictured from left to right: (Front rows) Shoko (Watanabe) Basso '99, Claire Goldberg '99, Beth (Dyba) Ogbahon '99, Suzy (Hull) Birkeland '99, Jennifer Paulson '99, Julie Watt '99, Naomi Hayase '99, Abby Yew '99, Coral (Snell) Balubar '99, Chris Seta '99, George Quaiver '99 (Back row) Mike Artiss '01, Stefan Roesch '99.
Tokyo June, 2024
1994 alumni and their family members spent a weekend together in June in celebration of their 30th reunion. Among their activities together was a tour back to campus, which many alumni had not visited since their graduation. Special thanks to Mimi Kano ’94 and Margaret MacCallum ’94 for organizing.
New York City June 8, 2024
The Class of 2014 gathered in New York City on June 8 to celebrate their 10th Reunion. Over 50 classmates and family members attended, and three classmates served as DJs for the event! They enjoyed reminiscing about their Tokyo days and catching up with one another, along with food, drink, and plenty of ASIJ swag. “Overall, it was an incredibly successful night!” shared Class Agent Akira Camargo ’14
Tokyo / Dallas, TX 2024
The Class of 2004 recently celebrated their 20th reunion across the globe! Alumni in Asia hosted a celebratory dinner in Tokyo while alumni in North America gathered in Dallas for a weekend together. 2004’s Student Body President Casey Christianson lived up to his role and even attended both events on subsequent weekends!
Special thanks to organizers Jason, Arisa, Casey, Aya, Karin, Ken, Ruri, Lindsay, Mary, David, and Phil. Everyone enjoyed the opportunity to reconnect and is looking forward to an even bigger reunion in five years.
We are EXCITED to announce the dates of our 50th Class Reunion in Chicago: May 16–18, 2025!
After tabulating our survey results and checking venue availability, we arrived at the conclusion that a weekend reunion in the spring of 2025 was a much more viable option for most of our classmates than would be possible during what remains of 2024.
Keeping in mind that there are those of us who live on fixed incomes now and are budget-conscious, it is our intention to keep our reunion costs "modest". And given that there are also classmates living in the Midwest who can make a day-trip of it to Chicagoland by car, who might not want to or be able to participate in all three days of organized gatherings, we are also exploring the possibility of offering a Saturday-only a la carte option. Pricing and details coming soon!
We're looking to expand our core team to organize the nitty-gritty reunion details. (Several classmates — you know who you are — have already expressed an interest.) If you have a background or experience in finance, hospitality, event planning, etc. and are interested in volunteering some of your time over the next few months, please email us at reunion@asij74.com.
おきづかいありがとうございました!
See you in Chicago!
Steve, Yen, Dayne and Mirja
Please join us for the Class of 2005 Cluster Reunion in Tokyo! We are excited to welcome ASIJ alumni from the Classes of 2003 through 2007.
After tabulating initial survey results, it was determined that a summertime, one-day event, was most favored. There was also an interest in incorporating familyfriendly activities. As most of our survey responses were based in Tokyo, it seemed like the most logical location, and we are so excited for the event to take place at ASIJ, given its significance to us all!
While we want to hear from you (yes, you!) regarding specific activities, here is our current plan: daytime activities will be held on ASIJ’s Chofu campus, and the fun will resume later in downtown Tokyo during the evening.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to any of the reunion committee members below. We hope to see you there!
Nick Harris ’05 (nickharrisjapan@gmail.com) and Tatsu Izumi ’05 (izumtat@gmail.com), reunion chairs
1955
1956
William L. Cryderman wcryderman@comcast.net
Mei Sun Li meisunli@comcast.net
Sandra L. Maclver Thompson sandra.thompson3@ comcast.net
1957 Charles C. Wu wucc57@gmail.com
1958 Class Agent Required
1959 Class Agent Required
1960 David E. Bergt dbergt@comcast.net
1961 Isao Okada Herring jayokada@gmail.com
Kiki Skagen Munshi kiki@skagenranch.com
1962 Katherine C. Bauernschmidt Clarke kcbclarke@gmail.com
1963 William L. Martino txmartino@yahoo.com
Nancy Wu naninvan@me.com
1964 David Bonner dbonner@regenevita.com
1965 Scott Hutchinson jshutch47@gmail.com
Susan Broe Parmelee Sparmelee2@gmail.com
1966 Annie Nichols Campbell campbell.annie@gmail.com
1967 Grenda F. Penhollow Moss grendamoss@yahoo.com
1968 Nicholas D. Connor ndconnor@yahoo.com
David T. Sakamoto dave.sakamoto@ infoontheweb.com
1974 Class Agent Required
1975 Reiko E. Niimi rniimi@gmail.com
1976 Elizabeth M. Yanagihara Horwitz liz@lizhorwitz.com
1977
Carl E. Sundberg carl_sundberg_ja@yahoo.com
1978 Deanna Adams Smith deannasmith1959@gmail.com
1979 Cheryl Wise shareallwise@gmail.com
1980 Margaret Meiers margaretmeiers@yahoo.com
1981 Sherry L. Davis Tighe tighezoo@sbcglobal.net
1982 Lisa Bastick omalasq@mac.com
1983 George Mimura georgemimura@yahoo.com
1984 Class Agent Required
1985 Sandra L. Orton Tweed sandra@prestonmatthews.com
1986 Diane E. Stewart Wack diwack@msn.com
1987 Robert L. Sharp robert@robertsharp.com
1988 Sergei P. Hasegawa sergei@purekitchen.com
Kathrine L. Schmitt Simon schm0495@gold.tc.umn.edu
1989
Linnea M. Hasegawa tamagomeshi@yahoo.com
Samantha Fritz Hurd samf@austin.rr.com
1990 Kentaro K. Relnick krelnick@me.com
1995 Yuki P. Maddox Vos pearlvos@hotmail.com
1996 Sunny Shimizu sunny_shimizu@hotmail.com
1997 Vicky Carter Chen vickycarter@hotmail.com
Sarah Godfrey sgodfrey617@gmail.com
1998
Rose E. Hastings rosehastings@gmail.com
Kacie E. Rosenberg Leviton kacie_r@hotmail.com
1999 Naomi D. Hayase naomidhayase@gmail.com
Tamina M. Plum taminaplum@gmail.com
2000 Gary T. Yamada asijagent2000@gmail.com
Paulene Kawasjee paulene.kawasjee@gmail. com
Aimee Singer aimeefrancine@gmail.com
2001 Kyoko Minegishi kyoko.minegishi@gmail.com
2002 Anna L. Tuttle Delia annalynnosu@gmail.com
2003 Tyler Beesley tyler_beesley@hotmail.com
2004 Jason Mothersill jasonmothersill@gmail. com
2005 Tatsuya Izumi izumtat@gmail.com
Nick Harris nickharrisjapan@gmail. com
2006 Tai Dirkse tdirkse@asij.ac.jp
Mana Sasaki Kalohelani mkalohelani@gmail.com
2010 Janet H. Kanzawa janet.kanzawa@gmail.com
Kana Maeji kanamaeji12@gmail.com
2011 Hannah T. Siegel hannahtsiegel@gmail.com
Philip T. Tseng philtseng7@gmail.com
2012 Seung Joon Sung sjsung94@gmail.com
2013 Lia Camargo lollia1108@gmail.com
Andrew Deck andrewdeck227@gmail.com
2014 Akira Camargo akiracamargo01@gmail.com
Sayuri Sekimitsu sayurisekimitsu@gmail.com
2015 Mina F. Hattori minahattori@me.com
Haruka Higo jjriko4@gmail.com
2016 Ray M. Hotta ray.hotta@yahoo.com
2017 Allessandra Rogers rogeal01@luther.edu
Andy Takagi andy.takagi@gmail.com
2018 Hikari Shumsky hikarishumsky@gmail.com
2019 Kenichiro Bernier b.kenichiro@gmail.com
2020 Arman Balian armanbalian@me.com
Celine MaedaTarumoto celinemaedatarumoto@ gmail.com
2021 Karen Fukuda karenfukuda16@gmail.com
Joshua Inahara inaharaj3@gmail.com
1969
Laura B. Hertenstein Swanson laura@iswanson.com
1970 Daniel Garnitz dangar46@yahoo.com
1971 Kathy K. Kobata kkobata21@gmail.com
1972
Linda Suzukawa-Tseng sutseng@wonder.ocn. ne.jp
1973 Leif Neve leifneve@gmail.com
1991 Maiko Galles maikomizutani@hotmail.com
1992 Jeff Kelsch jeff@kelsch.com
1993 Briney Burley Briney@gmail.com
Mayumi Nakayama mayumi.kathi@gmail.com
1994 Midori Kano mkano128@gmail.com
Margaret R. MacCallum margaretreiko@gmail.com
2007 Carly Baird baird.carly@gmail.com
Rosalind E. Onions rosalind.onions@gmail.com
2008 Miles Bird miles.t.bird@gmail.com
Jemil Satterfield jemilsatt05@gmail.com
2009 Caitlin E. McHose caitlin.mchose@gmail.com
Ashley Teslik ashleyteslik@gmail.com
2022 Nio Kwan niokwan@me.com
Ellie Reidenbach ellie.reidenbach@gmail.com
2023
Ryan Haddad ryanhaddad23@gmail.com
Tomo Ishikawa tomokinyc215@gmail.com
2024 Anna Ito annaito110@gmail.com
Campbell Little camredlittle@gmail.com
Shaan Shah shaanshah831@gmail.com
Want to volunteer as a class agent? alumni@asij.ac.jp
Robert “Bob” Neff ’65 passed away in his home in Hayama, Japan, on July 31, 2024, after a long illness. Born in Missouri to missionaries, he moved to Japan with his parents in his early teens and enrolled in ASIJ in eighth grade. As a student, Bob was involved in student council. He earned a BA in political science from the University of Michigan, where he continued to be active in student government, and ended up back at ASIJ in 1969 where he taught Problems of Democracy and ran the high school guided studies center. Returning to the states with a low draft number, Bob was a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War and spent two years doing janitorial work at a hospital as his form of national service. It was then he felt a desire to become a journalist, and, after earning a masters from the University of Missouri School of Journalism, he started his career at Pacific Business News in Honolulu before moving to the Los Angeles bureau of Businessweek in 1977, where he met his wife, Fumiko.
Bob transferred to McGraw-Hill News in Tokyo in 1979, and continued rising in his career in London and New York before returning back to Tokyo as Businessweek ’s bureau chief. After leaving the magazine, he became executive director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan.
Having developed a native fluency of Japanese, Bob also enjoyed exploring Japan, and was well known for his famous onsen guide, Japan’s Hidden Hot Springs, as well as his love of karaoke and knowledge of Tokyo’s nightlife. Bob was also well known for his Businessweek cover story, “Rethinking Japan,” taking a remarkably bold approach at the time about Japan economics and politics. He is remembered as “a great journalist, a wonderful man.” He is survived by his wife, Fumiko Sekizawa, his sisters Nancy '67 and Suzi '69, and their families. He was predeceased by his parents and his brother, John ’72.
Martin Swist FS (‘97-’12, P ’03) beloved member of the ASIJ community, passed away on July 9, 2024. He was a beloved librarian, advisor, and friend to many in the ASIJ community. He will be deeply missed by all who knew him. During his time in Tokyo, Marty taught at The American School in Japan, where he found immense joy and fulfillment as a middle school librarian. His dedication to the school was evident in his enthusiastic involvement in the academic and personal development of his students. Marty played a special role to students in his advisory, where he provided not only educational guidance but also emotional support and mentorship. He was cherished by his students and colleagues for his kindness, passion for teaching, with his past students noting the library as “a sanctuary” because of him, and his quick wit, always ready with a smile and a joke.
More than anything, Marty loved being a member of the ASIJ community, as well as a grandfather, father, and husband. He enjoyed spending time with his students, friends, and family, sharing stories, telling jokes, and cherishing the moments together. He was always there to offer guidance, support, and encouragement.
Marty was a graduate of Andrew Warde High School, Sacred Heart University, and Fairfield University. Marty loved his career as a librarian, working around the world in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Manila, Philippines, and most notably, Tokyo, Japan. Marty is survived by his wife Jessica and his son Jason and family.
“Mr Swist was one of those teachers you hear about as a kid that will stay with you forever..[he] always knew the right quirky book to point you towards. [I] will never forget his penchant for the Mad series. Fly High.” - Alexander Paul
John Bush ’72, recipient of two Emmy awards for his work on The Simpsons and Jane Austen's Emma , passed away on Nov 23, 2023. Born in Albert Lea, MN, John attended ASIJ for 12 years through graduation. He was known by friends and classmates at the time for his signature long hair, and remembered for his sarcasm and good jokes in the 1972 Chochin. After ASIJ, John majored in theater arts at San Francisco State College before going on to work in animation.
John spent several years acting in stage productions, including a multi-year run on the hit musical Beach Blanket Babylon in San Francisco from 1980 to 1981. He eventually moved to Los Angeles, and in 1985, appeared on the game show Super Password, where he won over $23,000. It was while trying to establish himself as an actor in LA that Bush picked up a job at Vestron Productions, where he began working in production for the first time.
John’s production career spanned over three decades, during which he worked on a wide range of projects. He served as a producer on early episodes of Family Guy, animation executive producer on King of the Hill, and was a line producer on some of Warner Bros. Animation’s early forays into CG animation. His longest consecutive tenure at any studio was at Hyperion Pictures, where he worked for six years in the 90s. His producer credits at Hyperion include well-loved 90s children’s hits such as The Brave Little Toaster films and The Oz Kids series.
John worked for many of the most well-known animation studios in the United States, including Disney, Warner Bros. Animation, and Film Roman, the studio famous for adult cartoons such as The Simpsons, King of the Hill, and Family Guy. He won the Emmy for outstanding animated program for his work on The Simpsons in 2001, and was also Emmynominated for the next season. He spent three seasons on
the show as an animation executive producer. John’s other credits include X-Men: Evolution, The Oblongs, and Clerks, among a vast range of children’s and adult animation films, shorts, and series. He won an Emmy for the outstanding art direction on Jane Austen's Emma in 1997.
Outside of the industry, John was active in the San Francisco and Los Angeles gay rights communities and would frequently attend protests and marches. A huge fan of the cinema, John especially loved musicals and campy comedies.
John is survived by his sister Mary Bush ’68, brother Richard Bush ’70, sister-in-law Geralyn Watts Bush ’72, and niece Taylyn Bush ’07.
BILL ABBATE ‘81, passed away on August 9, 2024. Bill and his brother Paul ‘84 attended ASIJ, where Bill discovered his passion for on air radio announcing. He later worked as a rock DJ at WFNX-FM and other Boston radio stations. He was a talented musicologist who interviewed many national musical artists, helped local musicians gain exposure, and curated a large personal music library. He is survived by his brother, Paul, his wife Alive, his sons, and his parents. He will be remembered as a brilliant, gregarious, kind, hard-working and loyal man of good humor.
MELISSA “MISSY” BRINKMANN ‘93 passed away on June 8, 2024. After graduating from ASIJ, Missy earned her degree from University of Virginia and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the US Air Force. She quickly gained the respect of troops under her command, her leadership being an incredible blend of grit, confidence, and personality. Missy was honored with an Air Force Achievement Medal, Air Force Commendation Medal and many more. Later in her career she became a senior Vice President (VP) at Bank of America, VP of Strategy and Consulting at Anthem, and finally Managing Director and Account Executive at Accenture. Melissa believed in service, empowering others and giving back. Melissa is survived by her three beautiful children, Jackson, Colton, and Gage, and her sisters, Jessica ‘94, Vanessa ’97, and Samantha ’06.
FRANK CLARKE ’61, of Vancouver, WA, passed away on Feb 1, 2024 at the age of 80. Born in Portland, OR, Frank and his family moved to Tokyo due to his father’s job, where Frank spent his high school years and graduated from ASIJ. He then obtained his bachelors at Oregon State University. Following graduation, he was immediately induced into the Army to serve in Vietnam. Returning in 1967, he then moved to the Seattle area where he eventually became director of the Port of Seattle. During this time, Frank earned his master’s degree at Harvard Business School. After retiring from the Port in 1993, Frank had his own consulting firm until 1996 while also working for the SSA until 2007. He is survived by his wife Jane, his daughter Heather Main, stepchildren Julles and John Alt, and many grandchildren and step-grandchildren.
HELEN L. DELANEY ’75 passed away on October 7, 2024. Helen attended ASIJ for the final three years of high school after transferring from Nishimachi International School. She graduated from Cornell University with a BA and then Berkeley School of Law with a Juris Doctor at the top of her class. She was a litigation attorney and entertainment lawyer in Los Angeles before opening her own private law practice. Helen and her husband Steve Sundberg ’74 tied the knot in Dec of 2011, almost 40 years after their first date in 1972 at ASIJ, after which they lived happily in Minnesota. She will be remembered for her kindness, smile, and intellect.
SHIRLEY MITCHELL FARMER ’40, of Hudson, MA, passed away on Nov 26, 2023, at the age of 99. Born in Melrose, MA, Shirley moved with her family to Tokyo from 1927-33, where she attended ASIJ and her father, Charles Mitchell (FF 1927–33, P ’40, ‘44) served as headmaster. She later on returned to MA, where she graduated high school. In 1943, she received a degree in psychology from Radcliffe College, now Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, and her Masters at the University of Hartford. Working as a research assistant at the Psycho-Acoustic Laboratory at Harvard University during WWII, she then completed the Harvard-Radcliffe Management Training Program in 1946. With commitment and passion, Shirely continued to serve her community, including as president of the local PTA, president of the League of Women Voters, and secretary of the local school board. For her good work, she received the Volunteer of the Year Award in 1976 from the Mental Health Association of Los Angeles. In her later years of work, Shirley obtained a counseling license, and co-founded New Beginnings Counseling in Camarillo, CA. She found these to be the most rewarding ten years of her life, providing mental health services to the Ventura County community. She was predeceased by her father, her brother Charles Mitchell ’44, and is survived by her sister, Mary Jane Miranda, daughters Martha Wyant, Barbra Olson, and Miriam Kligerman.
CARL FISHER ’51, born in Lexington, NC, passed away at the age of 90 on Nov 17, 2023. After graduating from ASIJ, Carl finished his undergraduate studies at Sophia University in Tokyo, and earned a bachelor's degree at Lenoir-Rhyne College, in Hickory, NC. By 1973, Carl received a Master of Divinity degree from the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, a Master of Sacred Theology degree from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, and an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree conferred on him by Lenoir-Rhyne College. Carl served for 40 years in ministry at four different churches located throughout North Carolina,, Georgia, and Malaysia, and served 15 years as a missionary in Malaysia and Singapore. Active in many community organizations, Carl had multiple titles: Bishop of the Lutheran Church, director for service and development of Lutheran World
Ministries, Pastor Emeritus of Trinity Lutheran Church, Pastor Emeritus of Cross and Crown, and Honorary Mayor of Cusco, Peru. Carl led an adventurous and devoted life and visited over 140 countries and all seven continents, and received multiple accolades and awards. He is survived by his wife, Miriam Fisher, sons Carl, Janthi, Jeremy, and William, and grandchildren.
WARREN ‘TOD’ FITZPATRICK ’63 passed away surrounded by family on July 20, 2024. Born in Queens, NY, Tod spent his youth in Tokyo at ASIJ, and is part of the last class to graduate from the Meguro Campus, a fond memory that his close friends Matt Campbell ’63 and Edward Story ’63 hold dear. He later graduated from Georgetown University, Tufts Dental School, and the University of Washington, Seattle. He served as a Major in the US Air Force. After his service, Tod opened a periodontal practice in Rhode Island and retired after over 30 years. Tod is survived by his wife, Christine Kelly, and his three children, Justin, Cara, and Evan. Tod was an avid sailor and enjoyed golf and tennis.
SHANE JENKINS (FS ’99-’03), passed away on September 20, 2024 in Tokyo, Japan. Shane was a graduate of South Point High School and Ohio University. He had a rich career in both the US and Tokyo. He was the public relations director for the Ohio State Fair and Expositions Center and a reporter for the Ironton Tribune. At ASIJ he served as the Advancement Officer and Director of Communications and managed ASIJ’s Centennial Celebrations in Tokyo and San Francisco. He is survived by his wife of 34 years, Virginia.
HELEN HOPPER (FF ’65-67) passed away on Nov 14, 2022, at 84. Born in San Diego, CA, Helen spent her undergraduate years at Occidental College and the University of Hawaii. After college, she taught history at ASIJ for two years. Helen studied Japanese language at the University of Washington and Stanford University and Japanese history and literature at the University of California, Berkeley. She was admitted to the doctoral program in Japanese at Berkeley, however, as that program was only open to men at that time, she was required to be in the literature division. Instead of enrolling there, Helen left Berkeley with a masters and teaching certificate, and completed her PhD in the Department of History at Washington University in 1976. Using her degree, she taught Japanese history at universities and was the author of articles, reviews, and three books. One of her books, a biography of Japanese politician Kato Shidzue, A New Woman of Japan, was described as “a major contribution to the field of Japanese studies.” Her other books included Kato Shidzue: A Japanese Feminist and Fukuzawa Yukichi: From Samurai to Capitalist. She is survived by her husband Paul and son Justin and his family.
CHUCK LEWIS (FF ’58–60) passed away at 90 years old on Feb 3, 2024. Born in Keokuk, Iowa, Chuck was valedictorian of the 1951 class of Peoria Manual High School, and graduated from Bradley University with both a bachelors and masters. After graduation, Chuck taught mathematics for one year and then was drafted into the army, serving as a mathematician mostly in Japan. Due to his love of Asia, Chuck stayed in Japan, teaching math at ASIJ, where he also served as the freshman class advisor. Chuck continued to teach in the United States during the 60s, and did research work at Bradley University with the Gifted Children’s Program, earning a PhD in counseling psychology at the University of Wisconsin. During the 70s, he continued teaching and during summers began helping counseling missionaries and expatriates in Asia, later receiving the Putnam Award for excellence in teaching in 1975. In 1980, Chuck began his position as Director of Counseling at Wheaton College, and stayed heavily involved with counseling students who had grown up overseas and other overseas counseling opportunities. After retirement, he continued to serve a wide variety of mission agencies and NGOs around the world. He is survived by his wife, Susan, and their two children, Danny and Linda.
DON LITTLE (P ’85, ’87, ’92, GP ’24) of Griffin, GA, passed away on April 22, 2024. Born in Detroit, MI, in 1941, he was proud to start with a $5,500 starting salary at Alcoa and climb the corporate ladder until 1981 when he moved with his family to Tokyo as the Vice President of Alcoa Japan. His children, John ’85, Drew ’87, and Adam ’92 and later his grandson, Campbell ’24, attended ASIJ. Don enjoyed raising many animals including Saint Bernards, cats, fish, and pythons, as well as dabbling in woodworking, boating, gardening, and snowmobiling.Upon retiring, he and his wife Penny moved to Lake Keowee, SC, and enjoyed 23 years of lake life.
MUTSUKO (MUTS) OKADA (P ’66, ‘67, ‘72, ‘76, ‘77, GP ’01, ‘03, ‘06) passed away on June 14, 2024 at the age of 98. She was the beloved mother of Leslie ‘66, Jerrie ‘67, Peter ‘72, Mark ‘76 and Andy ’77 and caring grandmother of 11 grandchildren including Stephen ‘01, Remy ‘03, and Luke ‘06, and an avid supporter of ASIJ. She is survived by her five children, daughter-in-law Hideko ’72, 11 grandchildren and 20 great grandchildren. An avid supporter of ASIJ, Muts was also a third degree black belt holder in Aikido, and taught seniors how to live active lives by using their “Ki.” She will truly be missed by many.
TERRY PARSONS ‘65 passed away on June 2, 2023, in his home in Pittsboro, NC. He is survived by his husband Richard Chase and his twin brother, Berry Ed Parsons ’65. He graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts with an emphasis on interior design. He was an accomplished designer for cultural centers and the US embassies around the world. After retiring from the US State Department, he opened his own design company. He was a witty man who greatly enjoyed the arts.
JOHN RONCA (FF ’63–65) passed away on July 19, 2024 at 101 years of age. John had a very full life. He served in the US Marine Corps during WWII, attended Yale University, worked for Western Electric and General Electric and later changed careers to become a math teacher. His career as a math teacher took him all over the world — including North Carolina, Japan (to ASIJ), and Ecuador. A dedicated teacher, many students stayed in touch with him until his passing. He was a loyal Red Sox fan and golf enthusiast, proud of his 5 handicap at the Yale Golf Course.
RUI SASAKI ’95 of Honolulu, HI, passed away on February 17, 2024. During her time at ASIJ, she served as the sports team manager for football and men’s basketball. After graduation, she went on to study at Skidmore College and Tufts University. She is missed by many friends and family.
DIANE MARIE (HAMPTON) SCHOLZ ’54 passed away at 88 on January 26, 2024, in Williamsburg, VA. She is survived by her loving husband of 66 years, John Scholz, three daughters, seven grandchildren, and her loving sister. Diane traveled the world with her parents and husband who served as army officers. She loved to crochet and knit and played tennis and golf.
ANNA SHAY ’79 passed away at 62 years old in June 2023. A star of Netflix’s reality television show Bling Empire, she was known for her wit, charms, and generosity
With great ambition, Anna learned Spanish to manage a Cuban Salsa band, renovated her own estate, learned to pilot a helicopter, served as a board member for the George Lopez Foundation, and gave back to her community and those around her. Anna was seen as one to look up to and made a great impact on the ones around her. She is survived by her son, Kenny Kemp.
MARTHA SHIBATA ’66 passed away May 28, 2024, after a long illness. Martha was a dedicated foodie and one of the original four chocolatiers of Chocolate By The Bay. She was a humble, caring friend and regularly kept up with her Tai Chi practice. Martha, her five brothers George ‘65, Paul ‘69, Tim ‘72, Mark ‘73, John ‘83, and sister Mary ‘68 all attended ASIJ.
GEORGE SHIMIZU ’39 passed away on May 4, 2024. After graduating from ASIJ, he graduated from Dartmouth College and then joined the US Army, serving in Australia and the Philippines with the Military Intelligence Service. George was a special person with an amazing memory, interested in everything other people had to say. He is predeceased by his beloved wife, Mary. George lived a full and adventurous life, was an excellent storyteller and will be remembered for his wit, generosity, and kindness.
HELGE STAVONHAGEN ’58 of Dessau, Germany, passed away on March 27, 2024. Helge and his family moved to Tokyo in 1952, where he and his brother, Uve Stavonhagen ’58, briefly attended the German school, and later ASIJ. After graduation, Helge attended Sophia University, but returned to Germany before graduating. He began a long career with the airline company, Lufthansa, which brought him back to Tokyo, where he met his wife, Mary Ma ’61. Helge along with Mary lived around the world, including New Delhi, Osaka, London, Khartoum, and finally Beijing. After 60 years with Lufthansa, Helge retired as CEO China and settled down in Berlin. Helge is survived by his wife, Mary, their three sons and six grandchildren.
MARCIA TROPP ’68 passed away on November 5, 2023. She is survived by her siblings, Dale Tropp-Weprin ’61 and Bobbie Tropp ’63, and her brother in law, Stephan Hoeller.
MARGIE (MARJORIE) VANVLEET
(INGRAM) (FS ’84–86) passed away on September 27, 2024. Margie’s vast accomplishments include starting hospice services in the Southern Tier, teaching at Elmira College, educating with the Choice Theory Institute, and serving as a school counselor at many institutions including ASIJ. She enjoyed traveling and making friends. She is survived by her three children, Bill ’87, Tracy ’91, and David ’95. She wholly embraced her values of love, compassion, mercy, humility, peace, and righteousness.
NANCY WILSON ’65 of Tokyo, Japan, passed away on January 20, 2024. Born in Port Hueneme, CA, Nancy and her family moved to Japan in 1951 due to her father's deployment. In 1953, they departed Japan and Nancy continued her primary and secondary schooling in both the United States and Brazil, then going on to receive her associates degree from Colby Jr College. After college, Nancy served as a secretary in the Economics Department at Harvard University. She then returned to Japan in 1970, serving as a secretary at HQ, U.S. Forces, IBM World Trade Asia, Amoco Chemicals Far East and Rohm and Haas Asia until 1985. She volunteered with scholarship and lecture series programs with the College Women’s Association of Japan and was Treasurer, Secretary and Publicity Chairman of the Yokohama International Women’s Club. Nancy is survived by her husband, Charles.
JANICE WRIGHT (FF ’73–74, P ’79, ’84) passed away on December 22, 2023. She was 86 years old. Janice taught elementary school music, alongside her husband, John (FF ’72–74, P ’79, ‘84), who served as the ES Band Director. She is predeceased John and survived by her children Rhonda ’79 and Laura ’84.
TOMOSHIGE "WILL " REED YOSHII '03 passed away on September 22, 2024. He is survived by his loving mother and former ASIJ staff Kirby Yoshii FS '01–18 P'01, '03, '05 and his two brothers Yasu '01 and Shige '05.
REMY JOSEPH ZABEL ’72 passed away on October 20, 2023. Remy served as the editor of Daruma in her senior year, and was known fondly as the “Daruma boss.” She is missed by her sister Maria Joseph ’75, and her husband and two sons.
ASIJ’s first Holiday Happening took place in December 1975 and began a tradition that has now reached its half century. While the name of the event change to Winterfest in 2007, many things have remained the same over the years. Santa Claus still makes an appearance — although he no longer arrives by helicopter — American candy is still a favorite booth, and everyone still loves the international food area. This issue of the Hanabi student newspaper, shown above, noted that in addition to Santa, the guest of honor was US Ambassador James D Hodgson. They also reported that Nathan Jastram ‘76 and Kenji Hoffman ‘76 held a sale of their handmade pottery and the Tropical Fish Club sold homemade yakitori
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