The Ambassador. Fall, 2013

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THE AMERICAN SCHOOL IN JAPAN • FALL 2013

robotics engineering design

the science issue 4

contents Head of School’s Message

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A convergence of ideas

Redesigning the Way We Learn

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Elicia Cousins ‘09 takes a look at ASIJ’s new sixth grade Creative Design course and other developments in deisgn technology.

Red Rover

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We talk to Bobak Ferdowsi ‘97 who shot to fame following NASA’s landing of the Mars Curiosity Rover about space exploration and his trademark Mohawk.

Dish Up

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Dr Janet Tomiyama shares some insights based on her work as director of the UCLA DiSH Lab.

Clone Ranger

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Alex Yusha ‘42, whose pioneering work on cloning is used in cancer research, reflects on his career and time at ASIJ.

STEM* Pioneers

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Profiles of alumni who have made significant contributions to the sciences.

Top of His Game

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Sony President and CEO Kaz Hirai ‘77 visits campus.

Lone Star Senator

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An exclusive interview with Texas Senator John Cornyn ‘69 and his State Director David James ‘95.

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Out of the Ruins

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Robin Lewis ‘06 on his disaster relief efforts in Tohoku, Oklahoma and New York.

Turn Up for the Books

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A look at ASIJ’s new high school library.

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features MESSAGE Editor | Director of Communications Matt Wilce Art Director | Photography Francine Flora Head of School Ed Ladd Director, Center for School-Community Partnership Tim Thornton Alumni Relations | Communications Lucy Williams Data Officer Rina Yoshizu

the ambassador is published by the Center for School-Community Partnership, The American School in Japan.

fundraising report 12-13 Supporting Scholarships

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Honor Roll of Donors

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Michiel Brandt ‘99 Umpire Chair

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Matching Your Gift

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ASIJ alumni, families, faculty and friends receive the ambassador.

We solicit your comments and encourage you to submit ideas and articles for consideration.

alumni section ASIJ Memories Book

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Letters and inquiries may be addressed to:

Class Reunions

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the editor, the ambassador, The American School in Japan, 1-1-1 Nomizu, Chofu-shi , Tokyo 182-0031, Japan.

Tel: 81-422-34-5300, ext.700 communications@asij.ac.jp alumni@asij.ac.jp http://community.asij.ac.jp

Cover photograph and design

by Francine Flora

A look at this year’s reunions and events.

Class Agents

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In Memoriam

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A convergence of ideas

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enjoy seeing a convergence of ideas and actions. I think that currently at school, and among our alumni, we are seeing a convergence of events at the same time that we are exploring similar ideas at ASIJ—all of which come together to support our mission of “developing compasisonate, inquisitve learners prepared for global responsibility.” And I would like to think that this is not odd but, instead, is purposeful.

Let me explain.

Last week, I was invited to drop by the new high school library to hear Emmy Harris, a 2002 graduate, speak. Emmy’s energy and passion were apparent as she addressed our students and told the story of her journey from Japan and back again. Emmy has established “Change.org” here in Tokyo to encourage and to allow people to petition for change. Amazing! Emmy and her organization have created a vehicle that gives people a voice and an action for change. Watching Emmy in front of our students and seeing their faces, I knew that here was a young woman who was prepared not only to take on global responsibility, but had also designed a way to help others do so as well.

In this edition of The Ambassador, you will read about Bobak Ferdowsi who helped land the Mars Curiosity rover, Janet Tomiyama who heads the DiSH Lab at UCLA and Senator John Cornyn. These are alumni who are changing the world through their ideas and their leadership. Robin Lewis in his disaster relief work reveals a different face of leadership for global responsibilities. But all four— Bobak, Janet, John and Robin— have two things in common: they are ASIJ grads and they are

changing the world through their ideas and actions.

Far away from these grand landscapes, in a corner of the middle school building, there is a room with four large tables and a wall of tools and materials known as the RED (Robotics, Engineering and Design) Box. Welcome to Design 6! Here students are learning how to solve problems through design thinking. They are being challenged to think collaboratively and out of the box. This class represents the first of many steps to embed design thinking within the ASIJ curriculum. The concept behind this is simple: we want our students to be able to think creatively and to be able to solve problems. Our hope, of course, is that these students will be the alumni that we look to for inspiration in the future.

The convergence, the coming together here, is that ASIJ aspires to nurture students to become future leaders who will be able to accept global responsibility at the same time that our alumni are already modeling the behaviors we want to create. Creativity and innovation are essential components of learning and leadership, and at ASIJ, we value these concepts more than ever.

Warm regards,

Ed Ladd Head of School

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features DESIGN THINKING

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designing re

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learn Elicia Cousins ‘09 discovers how ASIJ is reimagining the way we teach and learn

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ow would you design a robot that can pick up and throw BuckyBalls and then hold a larger ball while hanging from a bar? If you could create a new app for your iPad, what would it do? What kind of fairground ride would you design and how would you build a prototype from Lego WeDoÂŽ? These are just a few of the questions being tackled by students at ASIJ. When it comes to creative thinking and design, the school is moving at a quickening pace. Students in elementary, middle and high school are engaged in a growing number of activities that challenge them to design, create and build original projects using everything from fabric and rubber bands to gears and 3D printers.

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features DESIGN THINKING

A key directive that originated from the strategic planning process, completed last year, was that the school focus on developing an emphasis on design and the design process in the curriculum. One of the first steps forward in implementing more design-based work took place this year with the launch of a new semester-long Creative Design course in the middle school. All sixth grade students are required to take this introduction to the design process and will use a variety of technologies including robotics, programing, CAD and 3D printing as well as more traditional hands-on building materials and techniques.

The students are then given the opportunity to use these tools to design creative solutions to self-identified problems, a process that exposes them to the fundamental stages of the design cycle.

“At the end of it, they will have gone through iterations of their idea and their solution so that at the end you can almost have a convention—an invention convention—where everybody shows off their problem and the process developed to build a solution. That’s our ultimate goal,” explains Jim Erwin, one of the three instructors.

“One thread that runs through the course is the practice students get at using the design cycle. We don’t want them to just know it, we want them to use it to create, evaluate and repeat and apply it in other situations,” says Taryn Loveman, who along with Glenn Hoskins are the other teachers of the sixth grade course.

To support the development of such new programs and curricular elements, teachers and the leadership team have been working with NoTosh, educational consultants who specialize in integrating “design thinking” concepts into school. In the spring of 2013, their founder and CEO, Ewan McIntosh, visited ASIJ and began assisting faculty who were looking at developing more design-based activities in class. In August, Ewan returned to school with his colleague Peter Ford and together they worked with the entire faculty in two fullday sessions, smaller groups on the third day and again during a return visit in September. NoTosh will continue to guide the school throughout the coming year, providing teachers with support as they look at incorporating the design process into the curriculum.

The newly formed middle school App Jam Club provides a clear example of the design process at work. Students begin by identifying the problem that they want their app to address, brainstorm the solution and how to design the interface and organize the data involved. “When people think of making apps, they think of programming and writing code, which can be part of it, but the more important thing, especially at the middle school level, is the whole process,” says club supervisor Josh Raub. The process, he notes, allows students to develop a sense of agency in their own learning and thinking: “There needs to be a shift from students answering the questions to students asking the questions, and then finding those answers themselves.” According to Erwin, students in Creative Design are likewise encouraged to direct their own learning: “We can coach from the sidelines, but it means a lot more to the kids when they’re the ones that are the active learners and have more control over what they’re doing.”

The hope is that such exercises will equip students with critical

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thinking skills fit for a digital age of increasing technological advancement. “We want the kids to become not just consumers of all this digital stuff, but also creators,” Erwin observes. “They’re going to be in charge of what the computer does. They’re going to be in charge of what the 3D printer does. It’s not just about going online and finding something and using it, but they’re going to be part of the creative process too.”

Students already found a novel way to use the new resource when they decided to “print” a prop for the middle school musical. Seventh grader Kaila Powell designed the magical key that was needed for the show and then with some help from tech integrationist Margaret Kim converted that to a 3D model using CAD software. They printed a miniature test version of the key, made some modifications, and then generated the final version to be used on stage.

Mike Moody, who is spearheading corresponding initiatives in the elementary school, expresses a similar sentiment: “They see the outside of the shiny box, but they don’t understand what’s inside. So having an understanding of the gears, cams, pulleys— all these simple machines that come together to build a complex machine—is really important.” Mr. Moody thus gives his students the opportunity not only to construct things, but also to deconstruct and disassemble them. “We’ll take apart old Kindles and see what’s inside. Some kids have actually taken a broken Kindle with a bad screen, opened up another Kindle with another problem, swapped the screen over, and actually got it working again. It was amazing!

They’re actually going beyond this throwaway culture of disposing of that old Kindle once it doesn’t work.”

Moody also offers “Design Dojo” contests in which students engage in creative, hands-on design challenges. In the recent first grade “Three Little Piggies” challenge, students designed houses out of toothpicks, marshmallows, and paper cups to best withstand the efforts of the “big bad wolf” (a fan) to blow them down. Such projects reflect the idea that while digital tools are important, so are physical materials and building techniques, and this idea guides middle and high school activities as well. “We’ve got jigsaws, hand drills, all kinds of hand tools, wood, paper, glue, all kinds of stuff for them to use to design and build projects,” Erwin explains. “There’s a lot of traditional building and melding together of hand tools and electronics and digital tools to get jobs done. We want to foster all kinds of ways for kids to show their creativity.”

The instructors of Creative Design hope that introducing students to such a wide range of tools and technologies will spark particular interests. “We’re hopefully going to leave a lot of room within our program to allow students—when a seed is planted and they’re really interested in something—to pursue their passion about that and learn more about it,” says Erwin. A “badge” system encourages such students to achieve higher levels of knowledge and skill in the area of their choice, for example in robotics. For students who wish to delve even deeper, Explorations (a course on technology applications), Invent and Engineering, and Graphic Design are elective courses offered in the seventh and eighth grades. Robotics and Engineering, Robotics and Programming, and Graphic Design are then offered 8

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in the high school. The middle and high school faculty continue to discuss ways to expand the curriculum to accommodate growing interests among students for technology and design.

Not only do these programs foster creativity, but they also encourage risk-taking and shine a positive light on the experience of failure. “If they get to the end and they failed, and then they failed again, and they had a little bit of success, and they failed more, if all that has happened and at the end and they don’t feel like they’ve been ultimately successful, they actually have been,” Erwin says, “because they’ve learned about that process. It’s okay to try things, it’s okay to be wrong, as long as you evaluate and learn from it. That’s hard! It really is. But that spirit is what makes people successful in life.” Ideally this is a mindset that the students will keep with them. “We definitely want kids to feel empowered. They can feel confident that, given a set of circumstances or a problem, they can figure out what some potential solutions are for the problem.

And these don’t have to be purely mechanical problems or physical problems,” middle school principal Scott Adams observes. “By extension, they could be problems that are associated with humans, or social problems.”

These programs further provide students with opportunities to build valuable skills associated with collaboration and working in groups. In the App Jam Club, students work in teams, using a process modeled after that of actual app designers. “Real apps are not often created by just one person; it’s usually a team, a lot of the time with members who have different strengths. Some people are good at making the graphics and the user interface, and other people are better at the underlying mechanisms,” Raub explains.

The Creative Design class similarly takes on projects in teams of four, arranged by the instructors so as to include varied skill sets, strengths, and personalities in each team.

So far, students are responding to these initiatives with overwhelming enthusiasm. Moody’s open lunch hours are often flooded with students wanting to take on the latest design challenge: “It’s lovely because the kids get so engaged.

They go to the test, evaluate, and redesign stages over and over again. They’re incredibly persistent because they want to make it better and better. They won’t give up!”

In implementing the Creative Design class required for all sixth grade students, the middle school faculty is particularly excited about fostering increased interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) subjects among female students. “Girls certainly don’t lack in capability or engagement when in comes to design and engineering, but it is true that often boys come into the class having had more experience building robots and with 3D design,” says Loveman. “It’s really fun to get not only the boys interested in these areas but also the girls, because they are just as excited or more so than the boys,” says Erwin. In a recent unit on robotics, he told one group of girls, “Ladies, I am really looking forward to seeing the first female robotics team compete in the high school, or even in the middle school.” The girls responded, “Yeah, we’re going to do that! We can do that!”

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rover Lucy Williams interviews NASA’s Bobak Ferdowsi ‘97 on successfuly landing the Mars Curiosity Rover, what he hopes to discover on the surface of the planet, and the origins of his iconic Mohawk

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©getty images

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t 10:32 pm PTD on August 5 when the Mars Curiosity rover successfully touched down on the red planet, there were tears of joy in the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory as nine years of meticulous planning paid off. As the world watched this culmination of the hard work of the scientists and engineers who prepared the rover for this long voyage, we also watched the beginning of the true journey—NASA’s most ambitious exploration ever of another planet.

One engineer in particular became a media sensation during the coverage of the Curiosity landing: Bobak Ferdowsi, with his outer space themed hairdo, became the young, cool face of the mission across the internet, affectionately dubbed “NASA Mohawk Guy.” Bobak was rather surprised by the sudden attention but took it as an opportunity to generate interest in the Curiosity mission.

Bobak, who graduated from ASIJ in 1997, spoke to us from the laboratory in Pasadena, CA about what sparked his interest in space exploration, the importance of Mars and even his iconic Mohawk.

Why did you decide to study aerospace engineering in college?

Initially I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, though I always liked the sciences. When I was in high school, I was planning on majoring in physics in college. But just as I was graduating, the Pathfinder was landing on Mars (July 4, 1997) and just seeing a little car-sized rover on that red surface made me want to do something amazing like that. Just thinking that there are people who worked on this machine and now it’s on another planet driving around. That’s how I got excited about the field.

What is the most challenging aspect of the Curiosity Mission?

At this point, we’re lucky to have had this much time to work through any issues—though there are still some growing pains. The most challenging thing prior to landing was, well—landing. Now that we’re on the surface, the biggest challenge is deciding what to do next. The science team is busy coming up with the plot we want to take for the next period and the interesting areas to explore. Is this area worth investigating more or should we continue on and try to get a bigger diversity of areas? These are the kind decisions that are factoring in more and more, and less the engineering choices.

So, before the landing what areas did you have in mind for exploration?

We had a big landing site selection committee made up of members of the science community that used data from previous rovers and orbiters (we have two orbiters at Mars right now and have had more in the past). Taking into account all that data that has been assembled over the years they could tell that there were areas that looked like they might have a presence of historical water. In

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addition to deciding it was an interesting place to visit we also had to make sure that all those places were safe for us to land.

For example we needed enough time for the parachute to slow down, so it couldn’t be very high altitude. We needed to make sure it wasn’t super rocky or full of cliff walls and craters— landing on the side of one of those would topple the rover over.

Was the landing site location a stressful decision?

We had a process that took several years to come to those conclusions. It started out with basically scientists considering everything of possible interest, then looking at it from the feasible engineering perspective, and then narrowing it down to a handful of candidate sites. By the time we narrowed it down to the last few sites we were pretty confident that we had a safe and interesting site to go to.

How long is the Curiosity expected to function for?

We have a sort of “warranty” of two years but of course we’re hoping it will last more like ten to fifteen if we do our job right and make sure everything is safe and stick to the rules and guidelines that we set up for operations. There’s nothing on the rover that should fail before then, hopefully, if we take good care of it.

I imagine that every year the mission can be prolonged the more you can get out of it.

That’s the hope. The Opportunity has been there for almost ten years now and it’s still going and still discovering new things because it can keep driving to different sites. That way we can learn different stories about what went on in Mars’ past.

What is your typical day like at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory?

It really depends. I have days where I’m essentially “on consul” where we evaluate the rover downlink and make sure that what we planned to execute the day before was sent to the rover and executed successfully. On other days, we’re on the planning side of that, deciding what we want to do and how to structure the commands. On some days, I work on longterm projects like investigating a temperature reading that was different from what we expected.

For example, recently we installed new software on the rover which required completing a multiple week process over a month before the installation just to make sure that all the steps were in place so that even if we took a break at a certain point, the installation would still be safe. Working on something like this, which shapes our long-term vision for the rover, is just as fun as the day-to-day operation.

Los Alamos National Laboratory/James Rickman

NASA/Bill Ingalis

Ryan Lash

NASA/Bill Ingalis

Top: Bobak presenting at TEDYouth 2012 in New York. Middle left: Bobak answers questions from Scholastic News young reporter prior to the start of the first-ever State of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Event in Washington in February 2013. Middle right: Celebrating Curiosity’s successful landing with the team at NASA. Bottom: The Chochin writing team from 1997, Wai Kweng Kwok, Anne Berry, Bobak Ferdowsi and Anna Ito.

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What do you think will be significant about the Curiosity Mission? Why Mars and why now?

In general Mars is a very fascinating place for us. And as a scientist, you don’t want to just have one data point. We do a lot of scientific exploration of the Earth but it’s just one out of eight planets—just one data point. Mars is so similar to us in some ways. Just look at the pictures, it reminds you of an Arizona desert. Cosmically speaking, the gravity isn’t that different than ours, it had water in the past, and in the summer during the daytime the temperatures can reach Earth-like levels.

So there are all these analogues to Earth and yet obviously it’s a very different place than Earth today. So we’re going there not just to understand Mars but to understand what makes Earth so unique. And if it’s possible that Mars had life in the past, then the possibilities for life in the universe are greater than we thought.

NASA/JPL-Caltech

Do you think that proposed cuts to NASA’s budget will prevent further space exploration?

Yes and no. On the one hand, this is the economic situation we’re in and we are doing our best to live within our means. But on the other hand, I think NASA has a strategic vision and the President has a strategic vision for NASA. We believe we can still do incredible things. We are trying to make use of resources at the time that they are most valuable. It requires some forecasting.

In 2020 when we plan to start manned missions we’ll need more money and the budget is taking that into account. Like anyone in the world, we’d love to have more money and do more things, but I think we’re doing our best with the resources we have.

NASA/JPL-Caltech

What happens if something goes wrong with the rover?

For the most part the rover is designed to take pretty good care of itself. For example, if it hasn’t heard from Earth in a few days it will start searching for Earth in the sky with its antenna and will wake up at very specific times so we know when to send a signal in order to preserve energy. If a computer has an issue it should swap computers (we have a primary and backup computer onboard). If electronics are getting stuck or a switch is stuck it can swap the boards that those switches are on.

In simple cases, the rover will take care of itself and then report to us what problem it encountered and our team can decide to send more commands to investigate further, or if it’s an obvious issue and we know what it is, we can work on a solution.

We had to anticipate as much as possible in advance because, obviously, once it’s on Mars we have no way of physically doing any maintenance.

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NASA/Glenn Benson

There has been a lot of publicity lately around a private manned mission to Mars. Do you think it’s feasible? Would you want to go?

There are a couple. There’s “Inspiration Mars” that wants to do

NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Top left: Curiosity, stretches its robotic arm upward during tests on a tilt table in a clean room at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Labotatory, Pasadena, CA. Test operators in clean room garb monitor the motions simulating maneuvers that the rover might make while on a sloped surface on Mars. The arm has a reach of about 2.3 meters (7.5 feet) from the front of the rover body. Middle left: Test operators monitor how Curiosity handles driving over a ramp during a test inside the Spacecraft Assembly Facility at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena.

Bottom left: In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians work beneath NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission aeroshell, (containing the compact car-sized rover Curiosity), which has been mated to the cruise stage. This page: This Self-portrait of Curiosity combines dozens of exposures taken by the rover’s Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI).

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NASA/Bill Ingalis

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a 500-day mission with a flyby of Mars. Then there’s “Mars One,” which is a Dutch company that wants to start a colony on Mars. I think both are technically feasible but they obviously have different approaches in what the logical first steps are. I’m optimistic; I’d love to see more interest in Mars, even if it’s not coming from NASA. If these companies can prove that the technologies work and, in a way, take the risk for us, that’s awesome. It’s not a competition; all of us want to see Mars succeed as a destination.

I’d love to see that, but I personally wouldn’t want to go right away. I like being around people too much so it would be really difficult to just be with the same four people for the rest of my life.

And I think that’s something people are aware of with the Mars One colony—they’ve made it clear that it’s a one-way trip. I can’t imagine what it would be like to be a pioneer like that. Probably exciting, but also pretty scary.

Were you surprised to get an invitation to the President’s Inauguration in January?

Yes, very surprised. Ever since the landing, it’s been very surreal. No one becomes an engineer thinking that it’ll get them a great deal of attention, let alone invitations from the President and First Lady.

Obviously I’m very proud, and for me it was a great opportunity to represent the team—the incredible people I work with. It also tells me that this administration appreciates the work we’re doing on this mission and what it means. I hope that Curiosity is an inspiration for a lot of people to look into becoming a scientist or an engineer or to go into math and technology fields that maybe they wouldn’t have considered otherwise.

What brought your family to Japan?

My dad is a professor who was working at The University of Tokyo department of foreign studies. I don’t know what prompted him to apply for that position but when the opportunity came for him to teach in Japan he thought it would be a positive opportunity for his son to live in a different country and experience a new culture.

It was meant to be just a two-year stay, but of course I ended up staying seven years and graduating from ASIJ. I’m glad it worked out that way! My chemistry teacher Don Chambers (FF 19892011) is one of the reasons I’m doing what I am today.

Were you a science nerd in school?

I don’t think I was actually that good in science or math—there were definitely students that were smarter and harder working. But I was always interested in science. I think the best thing you can do in high school is just to keep that interest alive. Fostering that desire

to learn and the ability to question why things work the way they do is the most important. I think I was fortunate in that I realized early on that I liked building things and answering questions like ‘why does this work this way?’

According to the yearbook, you had a reputation at ASIJ for “cool hair.” What inspired your legendary Mohawk?

I don’t believe I ever had cool hair at ASIJ but I’m happy if people thought so. The Mohawk started a few years after I began working at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. It started mostly on a whim—my hair was getting longer, it was summer and it was hot, I considered shaving it and somehow stopped halfway. Then during various events while working on the Curiosity project, like the first time we did a big system test or got to test the flight unit, I started shaving something symbolic of the milestone onto the side of my head. It became a fun way of celebrating the big and difficult tests.

Because they are often a one-time opportunity and we spend months going through the procedures before we get the chance.

Sometimes I made T-shirts instead!

What advice would you give to a student who is thinking of going into this field?

Don’t feel constrained to do anything in particular. If you don’t know what you love but you’re fascinated by space exploration or how things work, don’t think that you have to be an aerospace engineer or a physicist.

At the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, we do have aerospace engineers, mechanical engineers and computer scientists. But we also have chemists and geologists working on the same mission, focusing on how we can understand Mars better.

And a big part of the mission is budgeting so we have people in finance and accounting. If you just gave the engineers the money we’d spend it all in a day! We have lawyers to make sure we get patents for new ideas and to make sure we protect any sensitive information.

Another group that’s crucial is the communications team.

One of the biggest challenges we have is how the scientists and engineers working on the mission can convey our discoveries and ideas to a public who are interested but won’t necessarily read the technical paper on the carbon history of some location on Mars. So our communications team is fundamental in figuring out how to tell the story in a way that educates but doesn’t overwhelm. So if you’re excited by space exploration but math isn’t your thing and writing is, there are plenty of options. You could even work with NASA’s film production team or social media team!

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Dr Janet Tomiyama ’97 on how to stay healthy in a world full of stress

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anet, who is an assistant professor of health psychology at UCLA and the director of the DiSH (Dieting, Stress, and Health) Lab answers our burning questions about the link between stress and weight gain and how dieting the wrong way can make us less healthy.

Were there any particular experiences at ASIJ that influenced your career choice?

ASIJ is a wonderful place, because it exposed me not only to US and Japanese culture but also to many cultures throughout the world. This cross-cultural viewpoint was the jumping-off point for my very first research paper studying cross-cultural differences in parenting styles. This segued into a research study looking at the role of parenting/family styles in eating disorder risk. Until that point, researchers thought that “enmeshed” families—those that are characterized by extreme closeness— put individuals at risk for anorexia nervosa. Something about that didn’t seem right to me, since that seemed to describe family relationships in Japanese and many other so-called collectivistic cultures that I had been exposed to, and eating disorder prevalence was lower in those cultures. I gathered some data, and found that among these enmeshed families, individuals from collectivistic cultures seemed to be protected from the risk of eating disorders.

A key component of your research is your multidisciplinary approach.

After majoring in social psychology for your undergraduate studies at Cornell and Masters at UCLA, you began to focus on health psychology for your PhD research. What initially interested you in the intersection of health and psychology?

My research interest in eating disorders quickly gave way to research interests in eating in general. What makes people eat, and what makes people not eat (i.e., diet)? Why do individuals diet, and is dieting really that healthy for you? Dieting is a perfect example of a topic that health psychologists study, because it ties something psychological (wanting to diet) with something biological (health). This kind of work is not easy, because you have to learn and master multiple fields of study, but it’s absolutely thrilling to break down traditional disciplinary boundaries to ask new questions.

Why did you decide to go into teaching? Was it more difficult than you thought to become a professor?

Teaching is one of the joys in my life. And to be honest, teaching a course in psychology is much easier than teaching fitness classes—something I did for close to a decade. In a fitness class, you have to do one move with the class while calling out the next one, all the while monitoring the room for

correct form and safety…and while you’re out of breath. After that, sharing exciting theoretical and research findings with students felt like a breeze. As I reflect on my teaching style, I realize that I have tried to carry with me the very best qualities of many of my teachers at ASIJ: the humor of Mr Chambers and Mr O’Donnell, the passion of Mr Huber and Mr Swanson, the warmth and openness of Mr Ingebritson and Mrs Roen, the list goes on and on and on.

What is it like running the DiSH (Dieting, Stress, and Health) Lab? Hectic—but a whirlwind of fun. The graduate students in my lab are spilling over with exciting, insightful research ideas, and at any given time we are simultaneously designing studies, collecting data in other studies, and writing manuscripts for still other studies. For a taste of what research has come out of the lab, check out the publications page of <www.dishlab.org.> Some of your research challenges popular “fad” diets. How can the results of such research make it out of the lab and begin to influence people’s daily lifestyle?

Hopefully it will be easy, because I don’t know a single person who’s been on a fad diet and enjoyed the experience.

Restrictive diets are no fun, and my research shows that they actually cause psychological stress and increases in the stress hormone cortisol (which itself promotes weight gain). My work has been covered in the popular press, which is one good way to get research out of the lab (I knew I’d made it when The Onion covered one of my dieting papers!). It’s interesting

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Janet worked with UCLA psychology professor Dr. Traci Mann on a study analyzing 31 long-term studies of dieting

– when I say diets don’t work and that they’re stressful, many people say, “Duh!” and yet many scientists find that to be shocking. That just underscores the gap between academia and the public.

Japan is known for having a healthier population than many other developed countries and popular media often points to the Japanese diet as a major factor. Is there any truth in this?

Yes! Japanese women in particular are the most longlived humans on earth. There is so much to praise about the (traditional) Japanese diet. Lots of vegetables and lean proteins, huge variety in the kinds of foods people eat, low fat, small portions, tons of green tea. Beyond this, however, as a psychologist I think there is something to be said about Japanese food culture. Food is an art form in Japan, and it’s something to be celebrated. I think in American culture, oftentimes food and eating are very stressful or experiences that are filled with guilt. And research shows that eating food when your body is in a state of “stress soup” leads to weight gain – in fact, it leads to the most dangerous kind of fat called visceral obesity.

You’ve done a lot of groundbreaking research on stress. Have any of your discoveries changed the way that you deal with your own stress?

The work that I’ve incorporated most into my daily life is actually that of my dear friend and colleague Dr Eli Puterman.

He finds that exercise can buffer the negative effects of stress

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on health. This effect appears to be very powerful—in some cases, it completely wipes out the negative effects of stress! I prioritize exercise and work out at least six times a week.

What advice do you have for ASIJ students on how to maintain a healthy lifestyle?

As my work with dieting and stress shows, feeling like you have to deprive yourself of something can feel terrible and that on its own can lead to maladaptive changes in your biology. I think a better approach is to think of adding things to your lifestyle. For example, eating more veggies instead of cutting out sugar. Also, it’s really important to know that you can be healthy regardless of what you weigh as long as you’re exercising and eating right and minimizing stress. Weight loss shouldn’t be the goal; becoming healthy should be.

What topics are you interested in researching in the future?

My new research passion is understanding weight stigma.

This is an issue in both US and Japanese cultures—overweight individuals are stigmatized and treated like second-class citizens. Some of my most recent work shows that experiencing weight stigma, no matter what you actually weigh, is linked to higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol and accelerated cellular aging. That’s important, because virtually no research has linked weight stigma to a biological health outcome.

Cortisol, as I mentioned, promotes weight gain, so our societal stigma might actually be a vicious cycle that causes even more weight gain, therefore more stigma, and so on.

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ranger Alex Yusha ‘42, a scientist whose discoveries contributed to cancer research, on how WWII tore apart the multicultural harmony that had blossomed at ASIJ

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was born in Tokyo, Japan, in 1922, and grew up there, speaking Russian and Japanese as my first languages. My father was assigned to Tokyo as the Russian attaché. He and my mother had emigrated from Russia before I was born. I did not begin to learn English until I entered the first grade at The American School in Japan. My sister, Natalya, was nine years ahead of me. She and I both attended and graduated from ASIJ, though I missed my graduation ceremony in 1942 because of the war.

Among my classmates, I remember scientists such as Rudy Pariser ’41 who contributed to the research of avian disease; David Nicodemus ’33 who worked on the Manhattan Project with Oppenheimer at Los Alamos; and Albert Kobayashi ‘42 whose ceramic research was used to keep the floor of spaceships from burning. I have exchanged postcards with Amy Toda ‘40 “talk- talk- talk” who lives in Hawaii. My classmates had several nicknames for me, including “Lizard,” because I could slither to the front of the line for the slide on the playground or to get into the classroom.

My mother called me “Shalun” which was Russian for prankster. My sister and I were both very shy and neither of us ever married, but I did find ways to express myself!

From a photo of my school chums in the early grades (see page 22), I see Bruce Brown ’42 whose dad sold Morinaga Chocolate and Wrigley’s gum; I see Claude Raymond ‘43, a Frenchman whose dad was an architect for the Imperial Hotel; I see Charles Mitchell Jr ‘44, the son of Mr. Charles Mitchell (FF 1927-33), the principal; Jerry Downs ‘42 is there and also the pilot, William Yamamoto ‘33; also, Mrs. Persis Gladieux (FF 1930-34), Marie Louise Alonzo-Romero ’42—an Hispanic

student. In my class there was a student from Ukraine; one was Jewish, Russian, and Japanese which was really hard during the war; one was British and Japanese and died in a plane crash before the war, thank goodness; and one who later jumped out of a window to his death because he couldn’t handle the chaos of war. This mix of cultures and races was all fine until the war broke out; then it was really awful.

During the Occupation, I worked as an interpreter and translator (Russian, Japanese, English, and German) for what became the military hospital. As there was not much demand for my services, I began to help out in the lab. I was fortunate because I could go home at the end of the day, though it was a grueling four years for all of us.

After the war, when I was about twenty-four, I traveled to the United States and immediately pursued citizenship. I remember meeting two immigration officers on the ship who would continue to pop up for visits to check up on me, always as a pair. Also, I didn’t know how to drive as it was not called for in Tokyo. So I took a driver’s education class and practiced with a friend named Hays. His wife was named Helen, but this was not the Helen Hayes—she had an ‘e’ in her name.

Afterwards, with help from my father who was still in Japan, I enrolled at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon. (He and

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Left: From the 1940 Chochin: The Sophmore class. Back row: Alexander KaganKans, Robert Brown, Hugh Hannaford, Mr Misner. Middle row: Pensri Kridakara, Katherine Gatrell, Audrey Moss, Miriam Foote. Front row: Alex Yusha, Mary McCorkle, Jerry Downs, Edith Ninomiya, Bruce Brown Right: Alex Yusha in a photo taken circa 1936

The second and third grade class learn about flying from Pilot William Yamamoto ‘33 (with hand on propeller) and their teacher Mrs Persis Gadieux. Alex Yusha is third from the right in front of the wing and classmate Jerry Downs is sat on the wing behind him. Standing on the wing is Marie Louise Alonozo-Romero.

my mother would come later.) I studied pre-med, including Bacteriology, and got a taste of a doctor’s life working an on-call night shift at the hospital. It never failed that just as I was nodding off at about midnight, a baby would be born and I would have to dash to draw blood from the mother and newborn. I told my advisor, Dr. Springer, that maybe I wouldn’t be a doctor after all…

Meanwhile, I lived in a house on Chemeketa Street with three other students. We started our own hiking club and called ourselves the Chemeketans, meeting every Sunday to share the pictures from our expeditions all over the state. Bruce Richardson, Mary Pierce, and Ann Moissanen were my stalwart companions.

I still talk to Bruce now and then and we exchange Christmas cards. I didn’t know it then, but photography and hiking in

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wilderness areas would become part of my professional life.

When I was referred to Oregon State University, Ellicher, a milk scientist, was president. His parties always included lots of cheese. My new advisor was a man named Hoffman who was affectionately called B.U.N. Hoffman because he was all about Blood, Urea, and Nitrogen. He was head of the Microbiology Department and in charge of all the lab work. I studied for my masters during which I helped to create the first successful fish tissue culture for the purposes of cancer research. Later, I created the first mammalian fish tissue culture with JL Fryer and KS Pilcher. Eventually, my findings were sent to the Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

After I graduated, I was employed by Oregon State University (OSU), though we referred to it as the “cow college” at the time.

This lasted until the Pacific Northwest Parks Service put out a call for a pathogenic microbiologist in response to the Tussock Moth infestation. So I became a civil servant, taking pictures, making assessments, and investigating. I worked under Dr. Roman Sears where I got to use the best camera equipment and to hike vast areas of wilderness in the northwest. By the time I retired in 1987, at the age of 65, I was adept at using my own top-of-the-line Rolleiflex cameras, the gems of my camera collection.

I am ninety-one now, and have lived in the same house in the outskirts of Corvallis for the last fifty years. My window looks onto the river and into the trees along the river bank where a multitude of birds flit about for my entertainment. Across the river, the tall skeleton of a snag invites the occasional eagle to perch. When I see that, it’s a good day.

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STEM* pioneers

STEM: Science, Technology, Engineering and Math

Historical Photo Collection, Special Collection and Archives Research Center, Oregon State University

ASIJ boasts a range of alumni with a lasting influence on the world of science. Here we profile a few well-known innovators with ASIJ roots.

David Nicodemus ‘33

Rudy Pariser ‘41

The son of missionary parents, Nicodemus was born in Kobe, Japan, and lived in Sendai as a child, later attending ASIJ from 1929 until graduation. He was a physicist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory from 1943 to 1946 and a member of the Manhattan Project— which culminated in the creation of the first atomic bomb. After the war he taught at Stanford University and continued working with Los Alamos scientists Bloch and Staub on their low energy nuclear program. Later in life he served as the Dean of Faculty at Oregon State University until his retirement.

Nicodemus passed away in 1999.

Born in Harbin, China, Pariser’s parents sent him to ASIJ as a boarding student in 1937. When war broke out, he worked simultaneously as an army translator while receiving his degree in chemistry. His research at the DuPont Chemical Company of quantum mechanics applied to organic molecules led to what is now known as the Pariser-Parr-Pople method. This made it possible to find reasonable approximations of molecular orbitals, useful in predicting the physical and chemical nature of the molecule. Originally, Pariser’s goal was to predict the characteristics of complex organic dyes, but this was never realized.

The method has applicability in the precise prediction of electronic transitions, particularly lower singlet transitions, and found wide application in theoretical and applied quantum chemistry.

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Albert Kobayashi ‘42

Wise Young ‘68

Rachael Neve ‘70

Kobayashi attended ASIJ in the pre-war years. He is well known internationally for his innovative “hybrid experimental and numerical method” for solving engineering problems. His research has impacted the aerospace industry, the construction industry and healthcare.

In particular his focus on fracture mechanics and experimental stress analysis uncovered ways to prevent damage to a variety of vehicles and structures. His research was crucial in constructing materials for spaceships that would not burn at high speeds. He has consulted with the National Science Foundation, Office of Naval Research, Air Force Propellant Laboratory and Boeing on issues of structural mechanics.

Kobayashi was awarded the Order of Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon from the Emperor of Japan in 1997.

A pioneering surgeon, he was part of the team that discovered and established high-dose methylprednisolone (MP) as the first effective therapy for spinal cord injuries. His work challenged the concept that spinal cord injuries were permanent, which led to new fields of research and gave hope to those who suffered these devastating injuries.

Young also organized the National and International Neurotrauma Societies as forums for scientists to share discoveries and collaborate on spinal cord injury and brain research. He is currently director of the VM Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience and a professor at Rutgers University. In August 2001, TIME Magazine named Young as ‘America’s Best’ in the field of spinal cord injury research.

Neve is currently the Director of the Viral Gene Transfer Core at MIT. Viral vectors are a key technology for neuroscience research, allowing delivery of genes into the brain to manipulate brain function.

Neve has published over 200 papers on the use of viral vectors in neuroscience, in areas ranging from learning and plasticity to Alzheimer’s disease and psychiatric disorders. Prior to joining MIT, she was an associate professor of genetics and psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and director of the Molecular Neurogenetics Laboratory at McLean Hospital in Belmont, MA. Her laboratory at Harvard was one of the first to clone the amyloid precursor protein (APP) and Tau genes that are centrally involved in Alzheimer’s disease.

Mechanical Engineering

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Neuroscience Genetics

top of his

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game

Sony President and CEO Kaz Hirai ’79 returns to campus to share his corporate wisdom with students.

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hen you’ve already launched a mega-successful game console, become an internet meme, been spoofed on Twitter, and honored by your peers you’d think there wasn’t much further you could go in your career? For Kazuo Hirai, that was just the start and since his last visit to campus in November 2010 he’s taken on the role of President and CEO of Sony Corporation, become director of the Sony Board, and is poised for the release of the highly anticipated PS4. Kaz, as he prefers to be called, joined us at ASIJ in September to speak to high school students and answer questions in a packed Ricketson Theater.

A lot has changed since Kazuo Hirai’s last visit in November 2010, for one thing his new role at Sony puts him in charge of a global corporation with a diversified business that covers everything from computer games and movies, to mobile phones and financial services. One of only a handful of people to take the President and CEO positions in the company’s 67-year history, Kaz brought Sony back under Japanese leadership following the departure of former CEO Howard Stringer.

With his company-wide initiative known as “One Sony,” Kaz hopes to refocus the business on core areas and told students how he hopes different divisions will collaborate more to develop products and share expertise. Kaz also hopes to leverage the advantages that Sony has from being both a content and consumer electronics producer. “If you have a company with a vast music library, a vast motion-picture library, and TV, the

opportunities to license that and to monetize that are becoming a lot more important for Sony as a business,” he recently said in an interview with The Telegraph.

By the time you read this, Sony’s PS4 games console should be on the shelves, but when quizzed by students about what the next generation PlayStation might offer, Kaz was tight lipped. Industry pundits anticipate that the new device will offer an even more immersive gaming experience with enhanced social features, including video sharing. In recognition of Kaz’s contribution to the video game industry—a $20 billion a year business in the United States—the Entertainment Software Association’s annual charity fundraiser will honor Sony’s top man.

“Kaz Hirai has made an indelible mark on the video game world.

His leadership and vision are hallmarks of our industry’s creativity and innovation,” said Michael D. Gallagher, president and CEO of ESA, the trade association that represents US video and computer game publishers. “We are grateful for his contributions to the consumer electronics and digital entertainment industries and we look forward to the many future innovations and magical experiences that Sony will deliver under Kaz’s direction.”

Kaz’s visit to campus was a fantastic opportunity for students to hear a prominent corporate leader speak about his career and business philosophy—particularly as he once walked the same corridors and classrooms as they do. Many thanks to the ASIJ Alumni Council and Kaz’s friend Atsuko Koshida Honda ’77, who arranged for Kaz to visit his alma mater.

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Lone Star

Senator

Our exclusive interview with US Senator John Cornyn â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;69 on choosing a career in politics, becoming a leader in the Republican Party, and how not to climb Mt. Fuji

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ohn Cornyn, a second term senator from Texas is known for being a supporter of open government, sponsoring bills such as the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in 2007 and the Fair Access to Science and Technology Research Act (FASTR) in 2013.

But a lesser-known fact about the senator is that he graduated from The American School in Japan in 1969. “ASIJ was where the world opened up for me to a whole range of new possibilities,” Cornyn tells us through an exclusive interview. In fact, the interview was made possible through David James, Cornyn’s State Director and also coincidentally an ASIJ alum from the class of 1995. They didn’t realize the connection until after James began working for Cornyn, so it came as a pleasant surprise to say the least.

When asked what kind of student he was at ASIJ, Cornyn says jokingly, “I’ll let my grades speak for themselves,” but it’s no secret that on the field, he was an impressive Mustang athlete both on the wrestling team and track and field team. These days, it can be hard to find time for sports and hobbies while he’s in Washington, but he is always sure to make time for daily exercise in order to maintain physical and mental wellbeing in the fast-paced and demanding environment of the Senate.

Cornyn came to Japan as part of his father’s three-decade career in the US Air Force. He remembers fondly the daily trip to ASIJ saying, “I remember traveling to and from school at the train station, and especially after athletic practice, eating chocolate éclairs and other delicacies at the local concession,” and has slightly less fond memories of a longer trip up Mt. Fuji. “I quickly discovered doing the hike in cowboy boots wasn’t the brightest idea.”

David James also ended up in Japan because of his father’s job. “My dad worked for Texas Instruments, and we were sent over for ‘two to four years’ and ended up staying about seven years.” His father became an active member of the ASIJ Board of Directors and the James family fully enjoyed their extended stay in Japan. Plus, there were other unforeseen benefits. “I met my wife Cara (Singer) James ’95 on the ASIJ elementary school playground” James explains.

Senator Cornyn’s first foray into politics was while he was an undergraduate at Trinity University and became the head of the dormitory hall council. Originally planning to be a doctor, he switched his major to journalism part way through and worked for the school paper. However, he continued to find himself in leadership positions while attending law school at St. Mary’s University, where he was president of the student bar association. But even at this point he wasn’t necessarily planning a career in politics. The senator clarifies, “The truth is I had no idea what the future might hold in terms of elected office—it’s been quite a ride.” After law school, he was able to combine his original interest in medicine and his law studies when he joined a San Antonio law firm that specialized in medical malpractice suits.

He didn’t actually enter the political realm until the age of 32 when he became a district judge, a position he would hold for six years. He then went on to join the Texas Supreme Court and later was elected Attorney General of Texas, becoming the first Republican to hold that office since the Reconstruction era following the Civil War. On his motivation to become involved in public service, Cornyn tells us, “You can either be in the game, and trying to affect the outcome, or you can be sitting on the sidelines as a spectator, and I much prefer the former.”

In 2002, Cornyn was elected for his first term in the Senate with 55% of the vote.

After just one year in office, he was selected for the Deputy Whip team. Then in 2006 he became a member of the Republican Senate leadership, including his spot as Minority Whip in the current congress. No doubt these leadership positions are partially due to his reputation as an outspoken and articulate representative, who was ranked by National Journal as the second-most conservative member of the Senate. So it comes as no surprise when we asked what it’s like representing Texas in

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David James ‘95, Senator Cornyn’s State Director, had an early interest in public MESSAGE service. Here he plays Dan Quayle in the ASIJ 1992 mock election.

Clockwise: Bethany Kemp ’94, Tatiana Elejalde ’94 and Yume Takeuchi at the mock election. James and his wife Cara (Singer) James ‘95. Nathan Barrett ‘93 as Bill Clinton. Students supporting their “candidates” in the mock election, including David’s future wife Cara in the top center.

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the Senate that he said “It is a wonderful, exciting opportunity, with no dull days.”

Within the Senate, Cornyn sits on the Committee on Finance, which not only specifically covers such important areas of governance such as taxation, ports of entry, trade, tariffs, pensions, and health care, but is also considered to be one of the most powerful committees in congress because it has legislative authority over sections of the Departments of Treasury, Commerce, Labor, Homeland Security and Health and Human Service, among others. Cornyn is also a member of the Committee on the Judiciary and is a ranking member of the Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees and Border Security, fittingly representing a border state on these issues.

The senator doesn’t have much down time between his duties in Washington and working in his home state. But he doesn’t seem to mind. “My favorite thing about traveling in Texas is the opportunity to talk with folks about the issues that are important to them,” he explains. And while in the Lone Star state he has James to support him. “With 26 million Texans that cover more than a quarter of a million square miles, the Senator needs to have a sizeable presence in the state to make sure he’s effectively representing and hearing from Texans as well as possible,” James says.

As a part of that effort, James oversees the Senator’s state operations that include seven offices in different cities around Texas and a staff of a little more than 25. The state staff do everything from outreach activities, casework to help Texans who are having challenges with federal agencies (not getting their veteran’s benefits, delays in getting a passport issued, etc.), to lining up events and meetings for the Senator in the state. And the most exciting part of his job? James expounds, “It is a great honor to join the Senator in meeting Texans of all walks of life, in every corner of the state. The spirit, resilience and attitude of our fellow Texans is inspiring.”

James had a more direct path to public service, already knowing that it was the career he wanted when he was a student at ASIJ. In fact, he was cast as Vice President Dan Quayle during the high school’s mock elections in 1992. “If I recall correctly, in spite of an aggressive get out the vote effort in the cafeteria, the Bush/ Quayle ticket did about as successfully among the ASIJ student body as it did among the general electorate that year...” he ruefully reminisces.

When he moved back to the states to finish high school, he worked on the campaign of US Congressman Sam Johnson after school and on weekends. That led to an internship in his official office and ultimately various jobs on Capitol Hill including working for Senator Phil Gramm, the US Senate Banking Committee, and House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. Now he’s been back in Texas for a little under seven years working out of Austin as Senator Cornyn’s State Director.

Senator Cornyn asserts that he would like to encourage any young person who is interested in government or public service to get involved via any number of ways. Expounding on his reasoning he says: “My experience is that when young people start paying taxes, they become a lot more politically aware, but the truth is younger Americans end up picking up the tab for a lot of excess spending and failures of the older generation.”

As for what the future will hold, the Senator is clear about the issues that matter to him and the Texans he represents. In terms of what he would like to see the Senate tackle in the upcoming session he says, “I would like to see a focus on energy production, along with the jobs and economic growth connected with that,” and adding “We also need to fix our broken immigration system, and provide some certainty for our economy where people are worried about what the federal government might do next, either from a legislative or regulatory perspective.”

Senator Cornyn has become well known as a leader within the Republican Party in just two terms in the Senate and we’ll be watching with interest as his political career continues to take flight. But one thing is for sure—he’s already made history as the first ASIJ alumnus to serve in the US Congress.

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Robin Lewis â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;06 on being a part of disaster relief efforts from Tohoku to Oklahoma and how the worst of nature can bring out the best in people

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t ripped right through the middle of my house,” one survivor told me, referring to the powerful tornado that struck Moore, Oklahoma on May 20. As we walked around his property, he explained that this had been his home for over 30 years. “All of it… gone in a few seconds,” he said as he looked at the bare concrete foundations. Fortunately, the man I was speaking to had not been home at the time of the disaster.

This top-of-the-scale EF5 tornado (measured on the Enhanced Fujita scale) took 24 lives, injured over 350 and affected tens of thousands across the region. It was one of a series of major tornadoes, which caused widespread damage in the Oklahoma City area in late May 2013, in the heart of the twister-prone region of the United States known as “tornado alley.”

I was there as part of a team from the Japanese nongovernmental organization Peace Boat Disaster Relief Volunteer Center (PBV). The organization wanted not only to support the local relief efforts, but to achieve the broader goal of ‘giving back’ as a Japanese NGO after having received so much assistance after the March 11 disaster from the United States.

In the days, weeks and years following the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, the unwavering support of both the US government and US civil society has been crucial to the on-going recovery of the Tohoku region. We wanted to provide the same kind of support to disaster-affected communities in the United States, to strengthen ties between the two countries and to ultimately enhance disaster response capacities through international cooperation.

Mutual support between countries can go beyond the scope of governments; NGOs and other civil society organizations are in a prime position to assist other nations and provide essential resources and support in times of need. If organizations can consistently support one another regardless of national boundaries in disaster time, this can literally make the difference between life and death.

Living in Japan, one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world, these ties are more important than ever.

My journey in disaster relief began in 2011 in the months after the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. I had the opportunity to spend some time in Fukushima, Miyagi and Iwate Prefectures that summer with a number of non-profit organizations, helping out with activities from debris removal in residential areas to distributing supplies in emergency shelters. During these months in Tohoku, I was moved by the number of foreign aid agencies and international volunteers who had contributed their time and energy to help the country that I consider to be my home. I was amazed by a few of these individuals who had flown across the world without any knowledge of the Japanese language or culture in order to help complete strangers. As the summer came to an end, these experiences and encounters stuck with me and I returned to ‘normal life’ in the city.

Over a year later in November 2012, I was offered the opportunity to take part in relief work post-Hurricane Sandy in New York. Needless to say, I took the offer without any hesitation and

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A tornado shelter left standing in Moore

Robin Lewis ‘06 works on data entry and administrative tasks in Moore

A home lies in ruins in Moore

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Trailer destroyed by the EF-5 tornado that struck Moore on May 20 MESSAGE

Volunteers from across the USA gather to help affected communities

Assisting local residents with clean-up of damaged homes

Meeting local governmental and community leaders in Texas

Water tower in Moore

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Damage in Queens, New York after Hurricane Sandy

Non-Japanese nationals assisting affected communities after the 3/11 disaster

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features ALUMNI PROFILE Cleaning up damaged homes in the Far Rockaways

Volunteers removing debris from a home in Coney Island

Riding on the back of a truck in the Oshika Peninsula, Miyagi

Clearing drainage gutters in a fishing village

joined a project that was to become my first experience of disaster relief work in the US, representing the same Japanese NGO. I was based in the Rockaways, Queens, a suburb located on a very exposed peninsula south of Manhattan facing the Atlantic Ocean. It was among the worst hit areas in the United States, with major damage sustained from the storm surge, strong winds and a fire that engulfed hundreds of homes in the neighbourhood of Breezy Point near the tip of the peninsula.

I remained there until April of the following year, coordinating volunteers who would help out with activities such as debris removal, demolition of damaged homes and suppression of toxic household mold. These free-of-charge services helped homeowners who were not adequately insured or compensated by lessening the financial burden of rebuilding their homes. Hearing from a number of local residents that they were facing extreme financial hardships after the storm, this kind of assistance was high in demand It is said that disasters often bring people together; this was most certainly the case with Hurricane Sandy, where thousands of volunteers from across the United States came together to help out and community groups of every description worked harmoniously in ways rarely seen in non-disaster times. Although there are many recovery initiatives and support programs even today in afflicted areas, reconstruction is still in progress and is expected to extend well into the foreseeable future.

This kind of synergy was also evident in Oklahoma, where I spent some time assisting with field and administrative operations and conducting assessments in the affected areas of Moore, El Reno and Shawnee in the wake of the tornadoes. Given the strong community presence of faith-based institutions in this area, these groups played a pivotal role in the relief and recovery efforts. They worked side by side, along with major organizations such as FEMA and the American Red Cross, often forming partnerships regardless of faith or denomination to bring their communities to a full recovery.

After talking with an official from the American Red Cross about Oklahoma’s emergency shelters, I was amazed to hear that hardly anyone had opted to take refuge, despite the significant number of families displaced in the immediate aftermath of the tornado.

He reasoned that they were largely unused because friends, family and neighbours went above and beyond to take people in and care for them. Many locals believed that this was a manifestation of the ‘Oklahoma Standard,’ the popular notion that Oklahomans will go to any length to accommodate and help someone in need.

Having worked in disaster relief for a relatively short time, there is undoubtedly still much for me to learn. However, the biggest lesson that has stuck with me throughout this time has been that disasters bring out the best in all of us.

Whether it is an earthquake in Japan, a hurricane in New York or a tornado in Oklahoma, it is always people-to-people relationships and community support networks, which play a major role in relief and recovery.

In the words of one survivor from Oklahoma, “When you find yourself in trouble, you find that everyone’s family.”

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With a brand new look and more space, the high school library is far from off the shelf.

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books turn up for the

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igh school students and faculty came back to campus after summer break to find the main library completely reimagined.

Over the vacation, the library was gutted and a larger, completely new, modern learning space created. The open plan design is the work of renowned Japanese architect Paul Tange— a former ASIJ parent and trustee—who also designed the school façade and athletics building. His design revitalized the library by creating more space for students to interact, collaborate, conduct research and also to study quietly when needed. A wall of windows now opens onto the outside providing plenty of natural light and is the first step in creating an indoor/outdoor community space in this very busy area of campus.

From there, the interior space is organized into several zones that range from a relaxed conversation area by the doors, through increasingly quieter areas back to three small rooms for collaborative work and the “Zen Corner” for silent study. Two large interactive touch screens located amongst the bookshelves highlight information and allow access to the library catalog and other multimedia content. The “IdeaXchange,” a room with a retractable wall, provides further space for larger groups to collaborate and can be closed off or opened up depending on the activity. It features an entire wall covered in special dry-erase paint for brainstorming activities, which is already proving popular with teachers and students. During free periods the space is also used to screen TED Talks and other short videos. The new design has tripled the capacity for students, improved the flexibility of the library as a teaching space, and provided students with tools for research and collaboration.

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Supporting Scholarships

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n March 2013, the Board of Directors launched the ASIJ Leadership Scholarship with the goal of helping lower the cost barrier for otherwise qualified students wishing to have an ASIJ education. The Leadership Scholarship program is distinct from the existing annual ASIJ Scholarship Program in that the ASIJ Leadership Scholarship is for the purpose of attracting new, qualified students to the school, while the existing Scholarship Program is for current students requiring short-term financial aid.

Our objective is to raise ÂĽ100 million to be used entirely to fund scholarships to attract new, qualified students of all nationalities. Fundraising efforts got off to a successful start at the end of the last school year and many companies and individuals have already lent their support to the program.

In August 2013, the first recipients of the program started school. Without the generous support of corporations, alumni, former faculty, and parents, those 21 new students would not have been able to attend our school. We believe ASIJ is the preeminent international school in Japan and the this program will help us to continue to attract talented potential leaders to ASIJ. To date, almost ÂĽ80 million has been donated to the scholarship fund. To allow us to continue to support this important program, we ask that you consider making a contribution to the ASIJ Leadership Scholarship Fund. All donations to the Annual Fund and the ASIJ Leadership Scholarship Fund are tax deductible in either Japan or the United States based on your preference.

I hope you will join us in supporting this exciting new initiative. Please feel free to contact the Center for School Community-Partnership should you have any questions about the program.

Sincerely, Tim Latimore Chair of the Development Committee ASIJ Board of Directors

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With Japanese corporations expanding their overseas operations and the wide-spread use of English in international boardrooms, there is a growing need to develop students with the academic, language and creative skills to succeed in Japanese and international settings.

We strongly believe that ASIJ already develops such well-educated, multilingual, multicultural graduates and the ASIJ Leadership Scholarship is designed to further attract talented potential leaders.

Supporting the ASIJ Leadership Program helps us reduce the cost of an international school education, which can be expensive.

Providing an innovative curriculum taught by highly qualified teachers with small class sizes and world-class facilities comes at a premium and international schools receive virtually no government financial support. The ASIJ Leadership Scholarship Program’s aim is to equalize the cost of tuition with that of a Japanese private school.

How to Support • In the US - Individuals and corporations can make tax deductible donations to the ASIJ Leadership Scholarship Fund through our 501c3 foundation Friends of the American School in Japan.

• In Japan - Individuals and corporations can make tax deductible donations to the ASIJ Leadership Scholarship Fund under the Tokutei Koeki Zoshin Hojin (Tokuzo) status.

• To make an online gift with a credit card, please visit the Support ASIJ section of the school website. Although the gift amount should be entered in US$, credit cards of any currency can be used to make a gift.

• You can also give using the attached gift envelope included with this magzaine. Please make your check payable to “Friends of The American School in Japan.”

• Gifts of stock or property can also be made to the School.

Please contact the Center for School-Community Partnership for more details.

If you have any questions regarding the ASIJ Leadership Scholarship and our associated fundraising, please contact the Center for SchoolCommunity Partnership at donate@asij.ac.jp.

ASIJ Leadership Scholarship Students meeting the admissions criteria of ASIJ are eligible to apply for one of the following merit/need-based scholarships: Early Learner Scholarship Open to any student applying to ASIJ who meets the school’s admissions criteria and whose parent is employed by a company or organization that does not begin payment of school tuition and fees until kindergarten. This program is designed for families who will be receiving corporate/ embassy tuition support from kindergarten age, but not for the nursery and pre-kindergarten programs.

Scholarship offers, once approved, are for the nursery and pre-kindergarten program. Scholarship amount will be based on parent financial need. If the employer company guarantees payment of one-time fees from kindergarten, it may be possible to defer one-time fees.

Nursery -12 Learner Scholarship Open to any student applying to ASIJ who meets the school’s admissions criteria. This scholarship will be awarded for a period of up to four years from the initial admissions date, pending annual reviews of financial records and academic and non-academic performance. At the end of each scholarship award period, the family would be eligible to re-apply for an additional scholarship of up to four years.

The ASIJ Leadership Scholarship program is currently only funded for an initial four-year period of time beginning with school year 2013-14 through 2016-17. However, our goal is to continue the fund indefinitely through on-going fundraising efforts.

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fundraising report

12-13

Donations listed here were made in the last school year, between July 1, 2012 and June 30, 2013.

Gifts received after June 30, 2013 will be listed in the spring issue.

Gift Clubs ASIJ’s Gift Club program recognizes the support of its most generous contributors. The objectives of the Gift

Clubs are to strengthen the annual giving program and to help build an enthusiastic group of parents, alumni and friends who feel a particularly close association with ASIJ. Special recognition is given to members of these clubs. (*or US$ equivalent) ¥5,000,000* or more in gifts within the current school year

The Second Century Circle

¥1,000,000–¥4,999,999* in gifts within the current school year

The 1902 Society The Headmaster’s Circle

¥200,000–¥999,999* in gifts within the current school year

The Black and Gold League

¥100,000–¥199,999* in gifts within the current school year ¥50,000–¥99,999* in gifts within the current school school year

The Mustangs Club The Decade Club

Members who have donated consecutively for the current and previous nine school years regardless of the total amount Members who have donated consecutively for the current and previous nineteen school years regardless of the total amount

The Double Decade Club The Triple Decade Club

Members who have donated consecutively for the current and previous twenty-nine school years regardless of the total amount

Gift Club Members The Second Century Circle O’Bryant, Allan E. & Tina Ryu, Jin R. ‘77 The 1902 Society Cannon, Alan & Kitakado, Fuyumi Folsom, Richard L. Hatakeyama, Maki & Yasu Higa, Ernest M. ‘70 & Aya Howe, Christian J. & Francesca P. Kawabata, Keiichi & Nana Kent, Eric A. & Yasuko Kim, Yosup J. & Yamamoto, Harue Latimore, Timothy W. & Chieko Miller, Anthony M. & Melin, Cecilia B. Mizuno, Toshizumi & Junko Murakami, Yumiko & Moses, Todd Nishida, Tina Y. ‘85 & David A. Noddin, Robert L. & Janette I. Porte, Thierry G. & Tashiro-Porte, Yasko Seltzer, Theodore S. & Yuen-San Shah, Rajul & Sachin N. Toppino, Jon-Paul & Stephanie H. Tsusaka, Miki & Jun Yonamine, Paul K. & Lynda S.

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The Headmaster’s Circle Border, Michael S. & Linda C. Conner, Christine J. & Clinton L. Connor, William E. ‘67 Downs, Vicky Ehrenkranz, Andra K. ‘83 & John Eto, Batara & Midori Fu, Ming-Xia & Nishikawa Fu, Hiroko Fukuda, Tomio ‘82 & Kami K. ‘84 Hsu, Jeff C. F. & Hiroko Ishibashi, Kenzo & Seiko Iverson, Chad M. & Rumi K. Jager, Karin & Garita, Gus Kasagawa, Nobuyuki & Eri Koll, Jesper J. W. & Matsui, Kathy M. Kong, Raymond & Megan Kono, Masahiko & Hiroko Ladd, Edwin V. & Carol W. Laughlin, Morgan A. & Rumiko Marquez, Christopher & Adonica McGuire, Matthew E. & Abe, Michi Merlino, Marc & Lotta Morgenstern, Frederick N. ‘83 & Kendra Nakata, Tetsuji & Mineko Nelson, Laura G. & Michael J. O’Brien, Jeffrey M. & Willcut, Deborah L. Piez, Catherine A. ‘82 Sasanuma, Taisuke & Catherine W.

Sashida, Minoru & Kaiei Villela-Talbott, Marlene & Talbott, Jose Zee, Jinly K. ‘90 Zolkewitz, Michael A. & Kramer, Michelle The Black and Gold League Balian, Razmik & Anush Bernier, Jeffrey S. & Seiko S. Black, Jerry & Sayuri Bohm, Michael & Diana Brandt, Daniel B. ‘92 Brown, Mark S. & Lynn G. Chamovitz, Sam Chitani, Yinsei Chang ‘68 Conrad, Andrew J. & Chitose S. Cox, William G. ‘62 & Joyce Doyno, David & Judith M. Forster, Brendan P. ‘07 France, Robert & Lori Fujishima, Julie K. ‘84 Fujita, Kenji & Tamaki Gibson, Kurt E. & Joey M. Gregor, Eugene C. & Barbara T. Grice, Todd & Wendy Hall, Larik M. & Katherine A. Hotta, Kay & Ken Johnson, David & Stephanie Jones, David G. ‘76 & Mayumi

2012-13 FUNDRAISING REPORT

Kamano, Hiroyuki & Harumi Lavender, Warren & Julie M. Lin, Victor H. & Susan S. Liu, Andrew & Ishida-Liu, Maki McDonald, Kathleen & Timothy Mera, Yuhka ‘81 Mohamed, Emi & Iku Okada, Hikaru & Yoshiko Piscopo, Kara & Al Plum, John E. & Mimi K. Ras, Andrew A. & Mariko H. Robinson, Andrew S. & Elizabeth L. Rossetto, J. Karen Sun, Shulin & Imamura, Mica J. Thornton, Timothy L. & Ash, Josephine C. Wakat, Barbara M. ‘88 Witt, Eugene W. & Janet M. Yu, Tong & Jung, Joo-Young Zahedi, Ardeshir Zumba Ladies Zwaanstra, John The Mustangs Club Becker, Darrow L. & Komiyama, Hisako Block, Jason Boatwright, David ‘73 Chuchro, Douglas & Kathryn Davis, Gregory & Townsley, Susan Drabkin, Mark T. & Miwako S. Elkareh, Oliver & Linda Gish, George W. & Yoko F. Hofmann, Peter A. ‘77 & Ana B. Hyman, Gary & Weiss, Efrot Joyce, Matthew D. & Kristen R. Junius, David & Hyson, Rosemary Kawada, Tadahiro & Susan Kohler, Barbara B. & Skorski, Joseph A. LaScala, Russell J. & Sheryl A. Lebrun, Laurie & Kenneth Lury, Richard R. ‘65 & Gemma Luton, Robert R. & McCreery, Margaret S. Magnan, Jacques E. M. R. & Mariko N. Mallat, Mary Margaret & Deck, David D. Martino, William L. ‘63 Moss, Carolyn M. ‘73 & Daniel J. Nagata, Paul ‘74 & Susan Nakayama, Tetsushi ‘84 Norris, Margaret ‘65 & Charles Okubo, Ryo ‘98 Rude, Michael & Reisner-Rude, Sharon Schipper, David ‘71

* Alumni Parents

+ Former faculty/Staff

Schrepfer, Jeffrey S. & Ikuko K. Simmons, Brian D. & Toni A. Takekoshi, Yoshie & Yoshikazu Toyoda, Takashi & Rika Treves, Alexander & Baek, Eun Ju Tromburg, Martin & Miki Turner, Sally A. ‘66 Williams, John S. ‘87 & Heidi Yasutomi, Wayne K. & Nakamura, Keiko The Triple Decade Club Burkart, Edward I. ‘48 & Pauline A. Cohen, Frederick ‘69 & Topper-Cohen, Barbara Davis, Jenny Skillman ‘72 Downs, Vicky Fielding, Raymond E. ‘48 & Carole Glazier, Kenneth C. ‘67 Haines, Andrew L. ‘60 & Elizabeth Harkness, Donald R. ‘50 & Mary H. N. Kurahashi, Nancy ‘65 Lank, Dannette L. ‘69 & Avi Nicol, Joanna ‘52 Nielsen, Jeannette A. ‘59 Pariser, Rudolph ‘41 & Louise Pietraszek, Henry T. & Margaret Shimizu, George ‘39 Thede, Gaius W.’43 & Ann L. The Double Decade Club Adams, Jim D. & Nancy Boatwright, David ‘73 Bragg, G. Mark ‘75 & Debra Brooke, George M. ‘63 & Jane Bruns, David R. ‘68 Bruzek, Patricia A. Carlin, Christopher D. & Donna K. Chitani, Yinsei Chang ‘68 Cooper, Peter R. & Pamela Cox, William G. ‘62 & Joyce Crandall, Leslie G. & Aiko K. Fattal, Leon ‘57 & Suzanne Fisher, Carl M. ‘51 & Miriam Ford, Gregory R. ‘72 & Maita, Toni Fox, Eugene A. ‘50 & Chantal Francischetti, Mark P. ‘72 Gibson, Margaret G. ‘40 & Wallace Hand, Richard A. & Yumi Harnik, Peter L. ‘69 & Yoko M. Harte, Norman F. & Esther L. Hermann, Kenneth W. & Beatrice A. Higa, Ernest M. ‘70 & Aya

Repeat donors listed in bold

Honaman, Andrew M. ‘77 & Mary C. James, Larry G. & Sharon Jones, Linda E. ‘69 Jones-Morton, Pamela Kemmerer, Ruthli Kidder, Paul M. ‘76 & Terry P. Kobayashi, Albert S. ‘42 & Elizabeth Kurahashi, Nancy ‘65 Leybold, Sandra L. ‘73 & Dennis Livingston, Jerry K. ‘81 & Bonnie Lund, Andrew E. ‘81 & Denise Lury, Richard R. ‘65 & Gemma Magnuson, Jody ‘73 & Clark E. Markley, Harrison M. ‘48 & Elsie Martenstein, Thomas B. ‘50 & Carolyn T. McCoy, William L. ‘59 & Lynne V. McKee, Craig L. ‘60 & Kathy McVeigh, Thomas R. ‘70 & Rebecca B. Meyer, Mary A. ‘65 Morgenstern, Frederick N. ‘83 & Kendra Moss, Carolyn M. ‘73 & Daniel J. Nagata, Paul ‘74 & Susan Pierce, Lucia B. ‘68 Schaffer, Sally ‘76 Shorrock, Hallam & Yasuko Smith, Tara L. ‘78 & McSwiggen, Patrick Squier, Middleton P. & Carol L. Tunis, Jeffrey S. Vehanen, Martin J. ‘61 Wakat, Barbara M. ‘88 Walsh, Robert R. ‘81 White, Ruth ‘49 Whitehead, Charles K. ‘79 & Debbie Wierman, Albert & Ineke Yanagihara, Kaworu The Decade Club Bailey, Mark E. ‘78 & Denise Berkove, Ethan J. ‘86 & Kyra Blizzard, Jan M. ‘71 & D. Craig Clark, Matthew R. ‘93 Coopat, E. Thomas & Cheryle P. Dirkse, Ronald L. & Miki T. Duke, Christopher K. ‘88 Duke, Susan N. ‘83 Ehrenkranz, Andra K. ‘83 & John Fujishima, Julie K. ‘84 Fukuda, Tomio ‘82 & Kami K. ‘84 Fukuma, Lalaka ‘93 Gish, George W. & Yoko F. Gregor, Eugene C. & Barbara T.

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2012-13 FUNDRAISING REPORT

Greig, Katherine H. ‘94 Hastings, James E. ‘53 & Constance Hayase, John K. ‘85 Huo, Eugene J. ‘96 Huo, Jeffrey S. ‘94 Jones, David G. ‘76 & Mayumi Kamano, Hiroyuki & Harumi Kirby, Kyoko O. ‘80 & Peter S. Kuroda, Mitzi ‘77 & Elledge, Stephen J. Mallat, Mary Margaret & Deck, David D. Marini, Nina M. ‘88 Meller, Louise S. ‘63 & Lukowski, Jay D. Mera, Yuhka ‘81 Miller, Scott M. & Mary E. Nishida, Tina Y. ‘85 & David A. Onishi, Randall & Susan Plum, John E. & Mimi K. Pontius, Pamela R. D. ‘97 Porte, Thierry G. & Tashiro-Porte, Yasko Sanders, Michael ‘87 Sanoden, James P. ‘71 Schlichting, Richard D. & Cynthia M. Snell, Richard T. & Francine J. S. Stokes, Paul A. & Rose Sult, Nathan ‘75 Sundquist, Alexander ‘95 Tanimoto, Hiroshi & Michiyo Turner, Sally A. ‘66 Walsh, William A. ‘80 & Marion Witt, Eugene W. & Janet M. Yamazaki, Fusae Yao, Alejo & Lusan Yasutomi, Wayne K. & Nakamura, Keiko Zwaanstra, John

Honor Roll of Donors Parents and Alumni Parents Adams, E. Scott & Vera-Germaine M. *Adams, Jim D. & Nancy *Akiyama, Kenichi & Tammy Anonymous Present Parent Balian, Razmik & Anush *Barber, John F. & Susan C. *Becker, Darrow L. & Komiyama, Hisako Bernier, Jeffrey S. & Seiko S. Black, Jerry & Sayuri *Blizzard, Jan M. ‘71 & D. Craig Bohm, Michael & Diana Border, Michael S. & Linda C. Brown, Mark S. & Lynn G.

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the ambassador FALL 2013

Cannon, Alan & Kitakado, Fuyumi *Carlin, Christopher D. & Donna K. Chamovitz, Sam *Chitani, Yinsei Chang ‘68 Chuchro, Douglas & Kathryn *Conner, Christine J. & Clinton L. Conrad, Andrew J. & Chitose S. *Coopat, E. Thomas & Cheryle P. *Cooper, Peter R. & Pamela Davidson, Mark J. & Kuniko *Davis, Gregory & Townsley, Susan *Dirkse, Ronald L. & Miki T. *Downs, Vicky Doyno, David M. & Judith M. Drabkin, Mark T. & Miwako S. Elkareh, Oliver & Linda Estrada, David E. & Haruko Eto, Batara & Midori *Folsom, Richard L. *France, Robert & Lori Fu, Ming-Xia & Nishikawa Fu, Hiroko *Fujishima, Julie K. ‘84 Fujita, Kenji & Tamaki Fukuda, Tomio ‘82 & Kami K. ‘84 Gesling, Russell W. & Anita J. *Gibson, Kurt E. & Joey M. *Gish, George W. & Yoko F. Gokhale, Ajit & Gouri J. *Gregor, Eugene C. & Barbara T. Grice, Todd & Wendy Guttenfelder, David W. & Cassandra C. Hall, Darrell C. & Motegi-Hall, Miki Hall, Larik M. & Katherine A. Halverson, Jennifer & Mark *Harte, Norman F. & Esther L. Hasegawa, Yumi & Davis, Robert Hatakeyama, Yasu & Maki Hattori, Hitomi ‘83 & Seikou *Hayase, Kiyoshi & Susanne *Hermann, Kenneth W. & Beatrice A. Higa, Ernest M. ‘70 & Aya *Hotta, Kay & Ken Howe, Christian J. & Francesca P. Hsu, Jeff C. F. & Hiroko *Hudson, Nicole & Christopher S. Hyman, Gary & Weiss, Efrot Ishibashi, Kenzo & Seiko Ishida-Liu, Maki & Liu, Andrew Iverson, Chad M. & Rumi K. Jacobsen, Ayako & Eric A. Jager, Karin & Garita, Gus

*James, Larry G. & Sharon Johnson, David & Stephanie *Jones, David G. ‘76 & Mayumi Joyce, Matthew D. & Kristen R. *Junius, David & Hyson, Rosemary Kasagawa, Nobuyuki & Eri *Kawabata, Keiichi & Nana Kawada, Tadahiro & Susan Kent, Eric A. & Yasuko Kim, Yosup J. & Yamamoto, Harue *Kirby, Kyoko O. ‘80 & Peter S. Kochhar, Rakesh & Priti Kohler, Barbara B. & Skorski, Joseph A. Kohri, Lisa & Shinichiro Koll, Jesper J. W. & Matsui, Kathy M. Kong, Raymond & Megan Kono, Masahiko & Hiroko *LaScala, Russell J. & Sheryl A. Latimore, Timothy W. & Chieko Laughlin, Morgan A. & Rumiko Lebrun, Laurie & Kenneth *Lin, Susan S. & Victor H. Luton, Robert R. & McCreery, Margaret S. Magnan, Jacques E. M. R. & Mariko N. *Mallat, Mary Margaret & Deck, David D. *Mark, James D. & Stephanie H. *Marohn, Steve P. & Teresa L. Marquez, Adonica & Christopher Mayer, Ray & Robin McDonald, Kathleen & Timothy McGuire, Matthew E. & Abe, Michi Merlino, Marc & Lotta *Michels, William C. & Mary S. *Mies, Michael J. & Eiko I. Miller, Anthony M. & Melin, Cecilia B. *Miller, Scott M. & Mary E. Mizuno, Toshizumi & Junko Mohamed, Emi & Iku *Moore, James A. & Claudie M. Morgenstern, Frederick N. ‘83 & Kendra Muir, James T. & Kanai, Miwa *Munter, Steven D. & Miriam Murakami, Yumiko & Moses, Todd Nakata, Tetsuji & Mineko Nakayama, Mayumi ‘93 Nelson, Laura G. & Michael J. Nishida, Tina Y. ‘85 & David A. Noddin, Robert L. & Janette I. O’Brien, Jeffrey M. & Willcut, Deborah L. *O’Bryant, Allan E. & Tina Okada, Hikaru & Yoshiko

2012-13 FUNDRAISING REPORT

*Onishi, Randall & Susan *Pietraszek, Henry T. & Margaret Piscopo, Kara & Al *Plum, John E. & Mimi K. *Porte, Thierry G. & Tashiro-Porte, Yasko *Proctor, David M. *Ras, Andrew A. & Mariko H. Reidenbach, Frederick & Ito, Yoko Robinson, Andrew S. & Elizabeth L. *Rude, Michael & Reisner-Rude, Sharon Sasanuma, Taisuke & Catherine W. Sashida, Minoru & Kaiei *Schlichting, Richard D. & Cynthia M. Schmidt, Matthew L. & Lisa H. Schrepfer, Jeffrey S. & Ikuko K. Seltzer, Yuen-San & Theodore S. Shah, Rajul & Sachin N. *Shorrock, Hallam & Yasuko Simmons, Brian D. & Toni A. *Snell, Richard T. & Francine J. S. *Squier, Middleton P. & Carol L. *Stokes, Paul A. & Rose Studebaker, Jeff & Snyder, Melissa Sun, Shulin & Imamura, Mica J. Sun, Yongchin & Nahoko Takada, Yuko Takekoshi, Yoshie & Yoshikazu *Tanimoto, Hiroshi & Michiyo Thornton, Timothy L. & Ash, Josephine C. Toppino, Jon-Paul & Stephanie H. Toyoda, Takashi & Rika Treves, Alexander & Baek, Eun Ju Tromburg, Martin & Miki Tsusaka, Miki & Jun Tulk, Karen L. J. & Howard *Tunis, Jeffrey S. *Tyldum, Svein & Cristina Villela-Talbott, Marlene & Talbott, Jose *Wallingford, R. Douglas ‘74 White, Kevin & Melissa *Wierman, Albert & Ineke Wilmoth, Michele L. & Roy L. *Witt, Eugene W. & Janet M. *Yanagihara, Kaworu *Yao, Alejo & Lusan Yasutomi, Wayne K. & Nakamura, Keiko Yeskel, William H. & Murai, Noriko Yonamine, Paul K. & Lynda S. *Yoshii, Shigeharu & Kirby W. Young, Alex S. & Rachel *Yu, Tong & Jung, Joo-Young

* Alumni Parents

+ Former faculty/Staff

*Zolkewitz, Michael A. & Kramer, Michelle Zumba Ladies *Zwaanstra, John Current/Former Faculty & Staff +Adams, Jim D. & Nancy Adams, E. Scott & Vera-Germaine M. +Arnote, Alison T. ‘99 & Rimsnider, Ryan ‘98 +Bruzek, Patricia A. Burpee, Mark D. & Nakamura, Machi Chitani, Yinsei Chang ‘68 +Cooper, Peter R. & Pamela +Crandall, Leslie G. & Aiko K. +Dirkse, Ronald L. & Miki T. +Downs, Vicky +Duke, Christopher K. ‘88 +Fee, John F. Gesling, Russell W. & Anita J. Guttenfelder, David W. & Cassandra C. +Hand, Richard A. & Yumi Hatakeyama, Maki & Yasu +Hayase, Kiyoshi & Susanne +Jones-Morton, Pamela +Kemmerer, Ruthli Ladd, Edwin V. & Carol W. Lavender, Warren & Julie M. Mallat, Mary Margaret & Deck, David D. O’Brien, Jeffrey M. & Willcut, Deborah L. +Pietraszek, Henry T. & Margaret Rossetto, J. Karen +Shorrock, Hallam & Yasuko +Snell, Richard T. & Francine J. S. +Squier, Middleton P. & Carol L. Takekoshi, Yoshie & Yoshikazu Tanaka, Mariko Thornton, Timothy L. & Ash, Josephine C. Tromburg, Martin & Miki Wick, Erin Wilce, Matthew D. Witt, Eugene W. & Janet M. +Yamazaki, Fusae Yoshii, Shigeharu & Kirby W. Friends Block, Jason Kamano, Hiroyuki & Harumi Zahedi, Ardeshir

Alumni Donors Class of 1939 Shimizu, George

Class of 1940 Gibson, Margaret G. (Noss)

Class of 1941 Pariser, Rudolph

Class of 1942 Kobayashi, Albert S.

Class of 1943 Thede, Gaius W. (in memory of)

Class of 1948 Burkart, Edward I. Fielding, Raymond E. Markley, Harrison M.

Class of 1949 White, Ruth (Hayward)

Class of 1950 Fox, Eugene A. Harkness, Donald R. Martenstein, Thomas B. Tucker, Gordon L.

Class of 1951 Fisher, Carl M.

Class of 1952 Nicol, Joanna (Strother)

Class of 1953 Hastings, James E.

Class of 1956 Harkness-Nelson, Sarah E. (Wheeler)

Repeat donors listed in bold

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2012-13 FUNDRAISING REPORT

Class of 1957

Jones, Linda E.

Fattal, Leon

Lank, Dannette L. (Hill)

Class of 1959

Class of 1970

McCoy, William L.

Higa, Ernest M.

Nielsen, Jeannette A. (Elsener)

McVeigh, Thomas R. Tsai, Linda L. L. (Yen)

Class of 1960 Haines, Andrew L.

Class of 1971

McKee, Craig L.

Blizzard, Jan M.

Class of 1976 Jones, David G. Kidder, Paul M. Schaffer, Sally

Class of 1977 Hofmann, Peter A. Honaman, Andrew M. Kuroda, Mitzi Ryu, Jin R.

DeBarr, Sally J. (Hedeen)

Class of 1961 Vehanen, Martin J.

Johnson, Steven Kuhnau, Teresa L. (Trackwell) Sanoden, James P.

Class of 1962

Class of 1978 Bailey, Mark E. Smith, Tara L.

Schipper, David

Cox, William G.

Vitzthum, Gwen E. (Fairfield)

Class of 1963

Class of 1972

Brooke, George M.

Davis, Jenny (Skillman)

Martino, William L.

Ford, Gregory R.

Meller, Louise S.

Francischetti, Mark P.

Class of 1979 Shimogori, Yujiro Whitehead, Charles K.

Class of 1980 Kirby, Kyoko O. (Ono)

Rogers, Lynda J. (Ogden)

Walsh, William A.

Kurahashi, Nancy (Nagase)

Class of 1973 Boatwright, David

Class of 1981

Lury, Richard R. Meyer, Mary A.

Hoagland, Melvin R.

Lund, Andrew E.

Norris, Margaret (Tsukahira)

Kleinjans, Constance

Matsubara, Kathryn (Wakamatsu)

Leybold, Sandra L. (Colville)

Mera, Yuhka

Magnuson, Jody (Kroehler)

Walsh, Robert R.

Class of 1965

Class of 1966 Turner, Sally A. (Noll)

Melnick, Mark Moss, Carolyn M.

Class of 1967 Connor, William E.

Livingston, Jerry K.

Weaverling, Lenard

Glazier, Kenneth C.

Class of 1974

Kurata, Winfred

Allen, Edith A. (Woods)

Class of 1982 Fukuda, Tomio Piez, Catherine A. (Mera) Pachler, Colleen A. (Soulis) Taguchi, Mamiko (Taguchi)

Nagata, Paul

Class of 1968 Bruns, David R.

Wallingford, R. Douglas

Class of 1983 Duke, Susan N.

Chitani, Yinsei (Chang)

Class of 1975

Pierce, Lucia B.

Bragg, G. Mark

Hattori, Hitomi (Wakita)

Cakebread, Rosemary (Januleski)

Morgenstern, Frederick N.

Class of 1969 Cohen, Frederick Harnik, Peter L.

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Sult, Nathan

Ehrenkranz, Andra K. (Bowman)

2012-13 FUNDRAISING REPORT

Class of 1984

Class of 1996

Class of 2004

Fujishima, Julie K.

Huo, Eugene J.

Taffel, Max W.

Class of 1997

Class of 2005

Pontius, Pamela R. D.

Lombardo, Lisa C.

Fukuda, Kami T. (Inoue) Nakayama, Tetsushi

Class of 1985

Woods, Steven T.

Hayase, John K.

Class of 1998

Little, John

Okubo, Ryo

Class of 2008

Nishida, Tina Y. (Yamano)

Rimsnider, Ryan M.

Adams, Seira A.

Wax, William

Class of 1999

Class of 1986 Berkove, Ethan J.

Arnote, Alison T.

Class of 2010

Clyne, Meghan L.

Forster, David P.

Hayase, Naomi D.

Class of 1987

Goto, Ryan R.

Hayashida, Shintaro

Class of 2011

Sanders, Michael

Laabs, Eve M.

Hattori, Enna K.

Williams, John S.

Nishiwaki, Yukiko (Miyauchi) Seta, Christopher T.

Class of 1988

Steele, Matthew W.

Duke, Christopher K.

Tanaka, Daisuke

Marini, Nina M.

Wissel, Deborah L. P.

Wakat, Barbara M.

Woods, Robert F.

Class of 1989

Class of 2000

Swanz, Sarah P.

Choo, Yoon Suk Hastings, Paul D.

Class of 1990

Hattori, Shusaku

Sharp, Patricia E. (Vajda)

Joslyn, Andrew P.

Zee, Jinly K.

Lee, Lindsay Lombardo, Leo A.

Class of 1992

Takashima, Mirei

Brandt, Daniel B.

Watanabe, Natsumi

Class of 1993

Class of 2001

Clark, Matthew R.

Endo, Kaoru

Fukuma, Lalaka (Ogawa)

Sato, Sho F.

Nakayama, Mayumi

Thomas, Sarah

Class of 1994

Class of 2002

Greig, Katherine H.

Harris, Emmy S.

Huo, Jeffrey S.

Kido, Shino O’Brien, Kelly B.

Class of 1995

Tokita, Emi B.

Sundquist, Alexander

* Alumni Parents

+ Former faculty/Staff

The Gate Society Ms. Irene M. Anderson ‘74 Mr. David Bergt ’60 Dr. Frederick Cohen ‘69 Mr. Peter Cooper* Mr. & Mrs. Ray Downs* ‘50 Dr. Frederick P. Harris*# Mr. Robert D. Haven Ms. Ann Hesselink ‘71 Ms. Abigail Hoffsommer ‘27# Mr. W. Alfred Hoffsommer ‘29# Dr. James R Huddle ‘70 Dr. Pamela Jones-Morton* Ms. Julia Ludlow-Ortner ‘72 Ms. Rhoda (Knudten) Miklos ‘40# Mr. Richard R. Muhl* Mr. David B. Nicodemus ‘33# Mr. David M. Proctor Ms. Elli-Hideko Shibata ‘66 Mr. Ronald J. Snyder* Mr. John J. Sullivan*# Mr. and Mrs. Carl Sundberg ‘77 Mrs. Chizu Shindo Suzuki ‘64 Mr. Jeffrey S. Tunis Mr. & Mrs. Brent Ware ‘74 * = Former Faculty # = Posthumously

Repeat donors listed in bold

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In Memory of Michiel “Mimi” Brandt ‘99

Michiel passed away from complications of her leukemia treatment on July 9, 2012. Despite her struggle, she was resilient, strong and always full of life. As a member of the ASIJ tennis team, she made MVP in 1997 and won the Sportsmanship Award in 1998.

Her Varisty Tennis teammates spearheaded a fundraiser for ASIJ in Michiel’s memory in November, 2012 which provided for an umpire chair to be installed on the school’s new tennis courts with the goal of raising ¥100,000. In February, 2013 when the fund was closed we had exceeded our goal with ¥206,200 collected. Thanks to the support of Michiel’s friends, the umpire chair was added to the tennis courts over the summer break of 2013. A plaque on the chair’s front states “In memory of Michiel “Mimi” Brandt ’99 (1981-2012), Beloved member of the ASIJ Varsity Tennis Team.” We hope the chair will be a reminder for all of those who loved Michiel whenever you have the chance to visit ASIJ and will also serve future generations of ASIJ tennis players.

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the ambassador FALL 2013

2012-13 FUNDRAISING REPORT

Corporate Donors 37 Frames Photography A Cut Above adidas Japan K.K. AIG Star Life Insurance Akariya Kanaru-sha Allied Pickfords Japan Amway American Express International American International Group Amit Trading Co., Ltd. Amway Japan Ltd. Ancre Co., Ltd Anantara Hotels, Resorts and Spas Andre Bernard Salon Appex Arata Restaurant Asian Tigers ATV Outfitters Hawaii Aveda Barber URA x RA BeatNix Coorporation of America Beauté Abolue Be Yoga Japan Blue Lotus Borei Angkor Resort and Spa Botejyu/Tokyo Food Corporation Canyons Capital International KK Carpet Doctor Caterpillar Japan Chez Vous Co., Ltd. Citibank Japan Ltd. Club Med Kabira Beach Coach Japan LLC Coca-Cola Japan Co, Ltd. Corning Holding Japan GK Costco Wholesale Japan Craft Hands Beer and Wine Daniel Kelly Studio Del Benson Photography Delta Air Lines, Inc. Dhillon-Marty Wines Discover Japan Disney Resort Anaheim Domino’s Pizza Elana Jade Elbex Japan Enterprise HUGE Co., Ltd. Evergreen Outdoor Center Foreign Buyers Club Forest Engineers Co., Ltd. Frijoles KK Fukushima Garo

Fuji Torii G Insolite GAP Japan K.K. Garden Clinic Hiroo Gilt Groupe Gliese Global Dining Good Morning Tokyo Co., Ltd. Grand Hyatt Tokyo Hai Cheese!

Hakuba Sports Hotel Terry Hanwha Japan Co., Ltd. Haruna no Mori Country Club Higa Industries/Wendy’s Japan Hilton USA Hilton Odawara Holiday Inn Phi Phi Hotei Wines Hyatt Regency Kyoto IBM Japan Ltd. I Can Gymnastics Interior Collection K.K. Ito-En Co. Ltd. Iwama Violin Coaching Kanei Brewery Kasumisou Gallery Kato Gallery Kawada Technologies Inc. {KEEN} Performance Training Kidzania Kirin Brewery Company, Limited Laurent Perrier LEGO Japan K.K. Lenovo Let’s Party Tokyo LINC Media, Inc. Little Green Lunches Longleage Lotus Blanc Resort and Spa M. Archie International Malkit Singh Major League Baseball Make a Friend Co., Ltd. Mar Samba Mathis Pfohl Foundation Merrill Lynch Japan Microsoft Corporation Miele Moana Surfrider Morgan Stanley Group KK Mori Building City Air Services Mori Building Co., Ltd. Motorola Foundation

Mugen National Azabu Nihon Harmony Resorts Nike Japan Corporation Nikko Asset Management Noble House NuSkin OPI Japan K.K. Orca Intl. Cellar Club Otterbox Hong Kong Pan Pacific Yokohama Park Hyatt Tokyo Peninsula Hotel Tokyo, The Prince Resorts Hawaii Priya Restaurant Restaurant-I Roey’s Cookies Roppongi Hills Club Royal Copenhagen Japan SALA Resorts and Spas S and J Lifestyle Shangri La Macatan Island Cebu Sheraton Grande Tokyo Bay Hotel Simpson Thatcher & Bartlett LLP Sin Den Small Luxury Hotels Sogetsu Foundation Sports TMC Ltd. Suji’s Swimfriends Tokyo American Club Tokyo Fitness Tomoe Collection Co., Ltd. Toni and Guy Japan Toriizaka Art Toys R Us Japan Trump Hotel Waikiki Two Rooms Bar and Grill TY Express Unique Collectionn United Dental Office United Airlines, Inc. Vale, The Wally Yonamine Co., Inc. Walt Disney Attractions Japan WDI Corporation White Beach Hotel Woodsmans Village Yamano College of Aesthetics Yoga Tree YCAC Xilinx KK Zee Foundation

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2012-13 FUNDRAISING REPORT

Matching Your Gift Matching gift programs allow donors to double or sometimes triple their gifts to ASIJ. The companies and their foundations listed here have matched individuals’ gifts to ASIJ’s US foundation, Friends of The American School in Japan. If your firm does not appear, please help ASIJ increase the list and gain further support by checking with your personnel officer about matching gifts. Matching gifts are credited toward qualification for ASIJ’s Gift Clubs.

Abbott Laboratories Fund, The

Fidelity Foundation

Mobil Foundation, Inc.

Adobe Systems Incorporated

The Field Corporation Fund

Morgan Stanley Group K.K.

Allied-Signal Foundation

First Hawaiian Bank

Morgan Stanley Matching Gifts Program

American Express GivingExpress Program

GAP Foundation, The

Motorola Foundation

American International Group Inc.

GE Foundation

Nike, Inc.

Amherst International, Inc.

GlaxoSmithKline Foundation

North Star Reinsurance Corporation

Amoco Foundation, Inc.

Goldman Sachs

Northrop Grumman Int’l Inc.

Associated Dry Goods Corporation

Google Matching Gifts Program

Norton Company Foundation

Atlantic Richfield Foundation

GTE Foundation

Owens-Illinois (Asia) Ltd.

Avon Products Foundation, Inc.

Hewitt Associates LLC

PepsiCo Foundation Inc.

Bank of California N.A., Tokyo Branch, The

Home Depot, The

Pfizer Japan Inc.

Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi-UFJ, Ltd., The

Houghton Mifflin Company

Prudential Foundation, The

Bankers Trust Foundation

Hughes Aircraft Company

Raytheon Engineers & Constructors

Baxter Allegiance Foundation

IMC Fertilizer, Inc.

RJR Nabisco Foundation

Bell & Howell Foundation

International Schools Services

Rohm and Haas Company

BOC Group, Inc., The

ITT Corporation

Saint-Gobain Corporation Foundation

Boeing Company, The

J.P. Morgan Chase Foundation, The

Sanofi Winthrop, Inc.

BP America Inc.

JK Group, Inc.

Security Pacific Foundation

Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison LLP

Johnson & Higgins of Japan Inc.

Signet Banking Corporation

Cabot Corporation Foundation, Inc.

Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, Inc.

Sony Corp.

Capital International K.K.

Jostens Foundation, Inc., The

Sony Corporation of America Foundation, Inc.

Cardinal Health

Kemper National Insurance Companies

SPS Foundation

Charles Schwab Corporation Foundation

L.L. Bean, Inc.

Sun Microsystems Foundation, Inc., The

Chubb Corporation, The

Legg Mason

Sundstrand Corporation Foundation

CIGNA Foundation

Lehman Brothers

Tandy Corp./Radio Shack

Cisco Foundation

Lucent Technologies Foundation

Thomas J. Lipton Foundation, Inc.

Colgate-Palmolive Company

Manhattan Life Insurance Company, The

Torrington Co., The

ConocoPhillips Company

Manufacturers Hanover Foundation

Towers Perrin

CoreStates Financial Corp.

MasterCard Matching Gifts Program

Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.

Corning Incorporated Foundation

MasterCard Worldwide

UBS

CPI Corp.

May Stores Foundation, Inc., The

Verizon Foundation

Dana Corporation Foundation

McGraw-Hill Foundation, Inc., The

Yahoo! Inc. Matching Gifts Program

Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation

MediaOne

Young & Rubicam Foundation, The

Digital Equipment Corporation

Merrill Lynch & Co. Foundation, Inc.

Electronic Arts Inc.

Merrill Lynch Japan Incorporated

Ethyl Corporation

Microsoft Corporation

ExxonMobil Yugen Kaisha

Mitsui USA Foundation, The

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The students who attended ASIJ when it was located in Meguro from 192763, lived through war, the Occupation, and a rapidly changing society. Sidney Oltman Ferrell ’57 and Gabriel Ireton ’57 set out to capture their stories.

With submissions from 73 alumni, ASIJ Memories: The Meguro Years, should be on every alum’s bookshelf.

To read their great histories, get your copy online at: http://community.asij.ac.jp/memories

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Class

Reunions

From the 1950s to the year 2003, a half century of ASIJ alumni reconnected

Meguro

Hobos Las Vegas NV

Five members of the Classes of 1951 and 1952 who were known as the Hobos met for a reunion at the Ravella Resort and Hotel in Las Vegas from May 5-10, 2013. Those attending were Bill Brunckhorst ‘52, Carl Fisher ‘51, Bill Wardell ‘51, Al Carr ’51 and Dan Garges ‘51. Accompanied by their wives, they spent hours reminiscing, playing jokes on each other, eating, touring and searching for past memories of Meguro days that will never fade from our hearts. Commemorative T-shirts were provided by Bill Brunckhorst in honor of the occasion. The Hobos meet every year or two somewhere in the US to keep the flame aglow. Now in our 80s, or fast approaching that, we appreciate so much those years and those days gone by. There are still members of the Hobos out there that we have not heard from but would like to do so. Please contact us for information on our next meeting. Email Carl Fisher at <cfisher@carolina.rr.com>

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class of

‘60

Lunenburg, Canada

The Class of 1960 enjoyed a wonderful three-day reunion in picturesque Lunenburg, Nova Scotia in mid-September. Our class held it’s first reunion in San Francisco 39 years after graduation in 1999, and since then we’ve been meeting every three years or so, always in a different locale.

This time we met in Lunenburg and were hosted by classmate Ivan Carey and his wife Sherrie who live there (lucky them) and did a fabulous job setting up three days of fun and reminiscing. Despite hurricane Gabrielle, ten of us straggled in wet and windblown and from then on it got better and better. We postponed a kickoff walking tour of the charming seaside town because of the rain, but had a wonderful meal and hours of talking, cozy in our hotel the first night.

Saturday was sunny and packed with the delayed walking tour, a visit to the famous Fisheries Museum and old fishing schooners, a three-hour sail on the Eastern Star where some of us even took the wheel, and then finished off with a terrific mussels and lobster dinner at the Lunenburg Yacht Club. Maybe the best part of the reunion was sharing memories from the ‘old days’ at ASIJ at Ivan and Sherrie’s house long into the night. It was especially fun talking about our classmates that didn’t make it to the reunion!

A scrumptious brunch finished it off on Sunday morning but there were planes to catch, and in a short time we were gone and Lunenburg got back to its quiet, peaceful lifestyle. We’ll meet somewhere again in three years, but we know that it will be all but impossible to top the Carey’s 2013 class reunion in Lunenburg. To help us remember our reunion Ivan gifted each of us with a canvas-printed copy of one of his oil paintings of the Lunenburg shoreline.

Ten of us made it to the reunion, and with spouses we totaled 17. The ten were: Dave Bergt, Craig McKee, Bob Ching, Andrew Haines, Ivan Carey, Larisa Looby, Phyllis Lyons, Kenneth Campbell, Thomas Richards and Akihiro Okada. We’ll be back, Ivan!

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alumni REUNIONS

50

class of

‘68

years

Rancho Santa Fe CA

The Class of 1968, their significant others and several friends from other ASIJ classes—66 people in all, including 43 ASIJ alumni—gathered at the Inn at Rancho Santa Fe, just north of San Diego, CA, June 7-9, 2013, to celebrate the class’ 45th reunion. The group made the most of the beautiful Rancho Santa Fe location, with a Friday night barbeque at Rancho Santa Fe Tennis Club, wonderful breakfasts of fresh, locally baked goods every morning, and two Saturday walks around the beautiful area and historic town of Rancho Santa Fe. The reunion’s main event, the Saturday night banquet, was held at the Inn at Rancho Santa Fe and featured live music produced by classmate Marty Honda, a very entertaining mentalist/magician and line dancing led by classmate David Sakamoto.

Former ASIJ Mustangs basketball star Nicholas Connor was the local host for this reunion and he created a vision for the event that departed from the more typical resort format in favor of a charming country inn setting in the beautiful rolling hills of Rancho Santa Fe. Although San Diego possesses unparalleled attractions, which add a huge bonus to any visit to the area, Nick and the committee elected to adopt a more intimate and private approach particularly conducive to reconnecting old friends. Other members of the reunion committee were: Kathy Chih, Glenn Colville, Toni Dyktor Mullen, Frank Terschan and Marty Honda.

Highlights of the three-day celebration included a Saturday afternoon presentation by Toni Dyktor Mullen on “Third Culture Kids,” a term for persons who spend a significant part of their developmental years outside their parents’ culture, usually because of parents relocating. In addition five authors in the class discussed their books: Daigaku Rummé, author of The Essence of Zen, Laer Pearce, author of Crazifornia: Tales from the Tarnished State, Grenda Penhollow Moss, author of Sweet and Saucy: A Family Treasury of Recipes, Mara Purl, author of the Milford-Haven series of novels and several plays, screenplays and nonfiction works, and Peter Tsukahira, author of Culture of the Kingdom: a Journey of Restoration and other Christian books. And Marty Honda provided information on his latest jazz CD Levitate Live.

Peter Tsukahira was the Class of ’68 graduate traveling the farthest to the reunion, coming from Haifa, Israel, where he and his wife Rita are directors of Kehilat HaCarmel, a Christian ministry center. Peter was frequently seen in deep conversations with Daigaku Rummé, who is the senior priest at the Los Angeles Buddhist Temple.

Many attendees felt this reunion was the best they have ever attended and want the organizers to do it again for the 50th Reunion!

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alumni REUNIONS

class of

‘83

30

years

Las Vegas NV

What do you get when 35 alumni and friends from the Class of ‘83 get together? Answer: one amazing weekend in Vegas! This past June, the Class of ‘83 held its 30th reunion at the Monte Carlo Hotel. With dancing, excellent sushi, and the Cirque de Soleil Beatles show, the gambling chips hardly surfaced. The weather topped 117°F, but we were cool in our private cabana all day Friday, lounging and floating.

Some enjoyed the late-night ice bar, others shopped ‘til they dropped. Also the new class agent George Mimura was nominated by his son Alex and ran an uncontested race to win the coveted role. We look forward to the 32½ year reunion as we don’t want to wait another 5 years.

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alumni REUNIONS

25

years

class of

‘88

Los Angeles CA

On the weekend of June 28-30, 2013, 13 members of the Class of ‘88 gathered in Los Angeles for a Mini-25th Reunion. With family members included, a total of 20 people got together over the three days. Many couldn’t attend because arrangements were made very last minute via Facebook and email, but we still had a good time! This was the first major gathering for the Class of ‘88 since the 10th Reunion in 1998 in San Francisco. Seeing everyone again made us that much more motivated to do a proper 30th Reunion in 2018!

20

class of

‘93

years

San Francisco CA

Classmates from around the world gathered in San Francisco, CA, over the weekend of August 9-11 for the Class of 1993’s 20th reunion. While some classmates have gotten opportunities to see each other more recently, it had been 20 or more years for some of us. The festivities were kicked off with a happy hour at the Thirsty Bear Brewing Company. We reminisced over drinks and hors d’oeuvres and caught each other up on all the exciting things in our lives. During the day on Saturday, a family picnic was held at Dolores Park. Classmates brought their families and dogs to the park and we relaxed in the warm sun with some cold beers and snacks. We were also joined by other ASIJ alumni living in the area. Saturday night’s dinner reception was held at YamaSho Japanese Restaurant. After we had our fill of Japanese fare, the lure of karaoke could not keep some away. Strong, memorable performances were made by a handful of classmates while others sat back and enjoyed the entertainment. The event carried on later into the night for some at a nearby bar. Good times were had by all and it was a wonderful opportunity to catch up with old friends. We look forward to the next reunion in 2018!

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alumni REUNIONS

class of

‘93

20

years

Tokyo Japan

Our mini-reunion in Tokyo was a successful event complimenting the San Francisco event! Eleven classmates met up for dinner at La Colina at Tokyo Midtown on Friday, September 28. Most of us reside in Tokyo and surrounding cities, but two flew in from afar to join the festivity. Michael Curnutt sure wins the prize for the longest traveled. He flew in from the East Coast! The other, who traveled the distance was Philip Soldini, who flew in from Miyazaki prefecture in Kyushu. We ahh-ed and ohh-ed over our 5th grade, 8th grade, and 12th grade yearbooks (thank you Mrs. Bender!) over food and drinks, and caught up with our life stories. After dinner, we still wanted to enjoy our night, and decided to go to a karaoke box for a nijikai (after party) in Roppongi. We all kept saying we “can’t believe it’s been 20 years since we graduated ASIJ!” Time flew by so fast and we felt like we’ve lost touch with each other. But it was great to know, and feel, that our friendship, camaraderie, bonding, or whatever we call it, was still present when we gathered. Last but not least, a huge thanks to our organizers Lalaka and Mayumi!

class of

‘03

10

years

New York, NY

The 10 Year Reunion for the Class of 2003 was a multi-day event and was held in New York City during the weekend of August 10th. The weather was perfect and a group of alumni met at Central Park near the turtle pond on Saturday for a barbecue. Later that evening, a few of us met at the Sky Terrace at the Hudson near Columbus Circle for happy hour drinks and caught up over wine, cocktails and beer. For dinner, the group headed over to a local sushi restaurant in Midtown. Dolores and Tomoyo ordered a lot of food and had such a good time that they ended up skipping the two-hour karaoke event that they had planned afterwards (Kay, Sarah and Tomoyo had a few more beers for the group at a local pub afterwards). The second day of the reunion started with a few of us lining up to buy the famed “cronuts” from bakery shop Dominque Anglique in Soho. One of us (who will remain unnamed) stood in line from 7am to grab a bite of the famed pastry, but ended up selling them to a passionate tourist who offered to buy them from her for a marked up price. For brunch, Kay, Danielle Benedetto Diaz, Bari Greenfield, Chie, and Dan met at the Mercer Kitchen near Prince Street. The group exchanged promises to keep in touch and to meet up on a more regular basis. The evening wrapped up with a roof top party at Tomoyo’s apartment with beer, wine and barbecue. It was a food-filled weekend with a great turnout. To the Class of ‘03, stay in touch and see you at the next reunion!

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alumni

Class Agents 1945

Mrs. Martha Kipp Barber martedbar@yahoo.com

1950

Col. Eugene A. Fox gene.fox@verizon.net

1951

Mr. Carl Fisher cfisher@carolina.rr.com

1952

Mr. William L. Brunckhorst brunckhorst@gmail.com

1953

Col. William B. Seely bseelys7@live.com

1954

1962

Mrs. Katherine “K.C.” Clarke kcbclarke@gmail.com

1963, 1964,1965 Class agents required

1966

Mrs. Annie Nichols Campbell campbell.annie@gmail.com

1967

Mrs. Grenda F. Penhollow Moss grendamoss@yahoo.com

1968

Dr. Masahiro “Marty” Honda martyhonda19@gmail.com

1977

Mr. Carl E. Sundberg carl_sundberg_ja@yahoo.com

1978

Mrs. Deanna Adams Smith smithgang5@cableone.net

1979

Mr. L. Dean Kistler skierdean1@aol.com

1980

Mrs. Julie L. Froude froude14@gmail.com

1981

Mrs. Sherry Davis Tighe tighezoo@sbcglobal.net

1982

Mr. William H. Curtis captskayc@aol.com

1969

1955

1970

1983

1956

1971

1984

Ms. Mei Sun Li meisunli@comcast.net

1972

1985

1973

1986

Rev. William L. Cryderman wcryderman@comcast.net Mrs. Sandra McIver Thompson sandra.thompson3@comcast.net

1957

Mr. Charles C. Wu wu57@gmail.com

1958

Class agent required Mr. Daniel Garnitz dangar46@yahoo.com Ms. Kathy K. Kobata kkobata21@gmail.com Mrs. Karin Jaegel Flynn kflynn@vedderprice.com Mr. J. Chris Reid jchrisreid@gmail.com

Mr. Andrew W. Blum innofthe5thwheel@gmail.com

Mrs. Pamela Backer Channell pchannell@me.com

1959

1974

Mr. Knight D. Farwell PO Box 1074 Morehead KY 40351-5074 USA

1960

Mr. David E. Bergt dbergt@comcast.net

1961

Mr. C. Stuart Bennett angus-coyle@hotmail.com

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the ambassador FALL 2013

Mrs. Mirja Karikoski Hanson mirjah@aol.com

1975

Ms. Reiko E. Niimi rniimi@gmail.com

1976

Ms. Elizabeth Yanagihara Horwitz liz@lizhorwitz.com

Ms. Lisa Bastick omalasq@mac.com Mr. George Mimura georgemimura@yahoo.com Mrs. Yuriko Anton yurikoanton@gmail.com Ms. Jennifer A. Krouse jen@jkrouse.com Mrs. Diane E. Stewart Wack diwack@msn.com

1987

Mr. Robert L. Sharp III robert@robertsharp.com

1988

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

1989

Ms. Linnea M. Hasegawa tamagomeshi@yahoo.com

alumni Mrs. Diana K. Chang Stuhrenberg dcheng1@hotmail.com Mrs. Samantha Fritz Hurd samf@austin.rr.com

1990

Ms. Kacie (Rosenberg) Leviton kacieleviton@yahoo.com

1999

Ms. Naomi D. Hayase naomidhayase@gmail.com

Mr. Kentaro K. Relnick krelnick@me.com

Ms. Tamina M. Plum tamina_plum@yahoo.com

1991

2000

Mrs. Nicola M.Watkin Britton nicola.britton@gmail.com

1992

Mrs. Jikja Chung jikchun@gmail.com Ms. Beth J. McGregor Vergidis beth@devstudios.com

1993

Mr. M. Thomas Homer Reid homereid@mit.edu Ms. Katherine (Sakuma) Moore ktsakuma@yahoo.com

1994

Mrs. Margaret McCallum Hartley maccallummr@gmail.com Ms. Midori “Mimi” Kano mxkano@hotmail.com

1995

Ms. Sarah M. Suzuki sarahmeg@optonline.net Ms. Yuki Pearl Vos pearlvos@hotmail.com

1996

Mr. H. Sunny Shimizu sunny_shimizu@hotmail.com

1997

Ms. Amy M. McIntire amymariemc@yahoo.com Ms. Alyssa K. Murphy alyssam@gmail.com

1998

Ms. Rose E. Hastings rosehastings@gmail.com

Mr. Gary T. Yamada gtyamada@gmail.com Ms. Aimee F. Singer aimeefrancine@gmail.com

2001

Ms. N. Joy Mita nagarekawa@hotmail.com Ms. Kim Lyons kathrynlyons@gmail.com

2002

Ms. Anna L. Tuttle annalynnosu@gmail.com Mr. Mitsuhiko Tsukimoto moonbook@gmail.com

2003

Ms. Aileen N. Kurobe aileennaomi@gmail.com Mr. J. Chesley Burruss chesley.burruss@gmail.com

2004

2007

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

2008

Ms. Mariko C. Funai funai.mariko@gmail.com

2009

Ms. Caitlin E. McHose caitlinmch@hotmail.com Ms. Elicia M. Cousins elcousins@asij.ac.jp

2010

Ms. Janet Kanzawa janet.kanzawa@gmail.com Mr. Alexander Vergel vergela@ucla.edu

2011

Mr. Philip Tseng ptseng15@cmc.edu Ms. Hannah Siegel hannahtsiegel@gmail.com

2012

Mr. SJ Sung sjsung94@gmail.com Ms. Aya Tange ayatange94@gmail.com

Mr. Jason C. Mothersill jasonmothersill@gmail.com Ms. Arisa M. T. Goldstone arisa.goldstone@gmail.com

2005

Mr. Tatsuya Izumi tatsizumi@gmail.com

class agents!

Classes of 1963, 1964, 1965 and 1969 need someone to be their class agent—if you’re interested let us know!

2006

Ms. Mana (Sasaki) Kalohelani mkalohelani@gmail.com Mr. Andrew Tai Dirkse tdirkse@asij.ac.jp

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61

alumni

In Memoriam Sydelle M. Garnitz (AP 1967-72) passed May 12, 2013 at her home in Lessburg, VA. She is survived by her children Dan Garnitz ‘70 and Joan Garnitz Harris ’72.

Randall “Randy” Hubbard ’77 passed away on August 6, 2013 in Plano, TX. He is survived by his wife Vicky, and 16-year-old son Bryce, a basketball player just like his dad.

Dinkeloo & Assoc. (formerly Eero Saarinen Architects) in Hamden, Connecticut. There at the coffee machine he met fellow architect Eva Pupols whom he married in 1970. Two years later, they moved to Vancouver where he worked for Arthur Erickson Architects for 14 years, and then was a partner in Matsuzaki Wright Architects and Matsuzaki Architects. Throughout his professional career Kiyoshi was an active volunteer on many committees, panels, and boards. He was a strong advocate for involving the younger generation, for diversity, and for increased volunteerism. Even after he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2010, he continued his efforts, especially for distance education and other national issues at Architecture Canada. Outside the world of architecture, Kiyo loved the game of golf, played with the Men’s Mid-week group at University Golf Club since 2003. Kiyoshi is survived by his wife Eva, daughter Tessa, son Martin and many relatives in British Columbia and in Japan

Kiyoshi Matsuzaki ‘62, architect and pastpresident and Fellow of Architecture Canada (RAIC), and former council member of the Architectural Institute of British Columbia, passed away on December 23, 2012. He was born in 1943 in Shanghai, China to Susumu and Kiyoko (Izumi) Matsuzaki, both originally from Steveston, British Columbia. After the war, the family settled in Tokyo where Kiyoshi and his brother Kazuo (1941-2012) were raised. He attended ASIJ from 1959 until his graduation in 1962, upon which he moved to the United States to study architecture at Rhode Island School of Design. After graduation he worked at Kevin Roche John

Wayne Morton (FF 1972-77) passed away on June 11, 2013 in Fort Myers, FL. He had just left Karachi, Pakistan, and stopped in the United States to visit family and friends. He was excited about his next school and headmaster position in Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas, Mexico. Wayne was a dedicated educator who sought to make reading fun for all young people. In addition his desire to support the arts was legendary.

Wayne spent 30 years in the international school system, but his heart was always with ASIJ. He was a sweet, kind person who had a gentle soul and he will be greatly missed by the thousands of students, parents and faculty that he leaves behind.

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Marcia (Harris) Noble ’71 passed away suddenly in her home in Portland, OR, on September 6, 2012. Marcia was born on June 27, 1953 in Cleveland, OH, to Frederick Harris (FF 1957-66) and Hester Harris (AP 1957-66). In 1955, the Harris family moved to Kyoto, Japan, when Dr. Harris accepted a two-year Fulbright Scholarship to teach at Kyoto University. Not wanting to leave Japan after the two years, Frederick accepted the headmaster’s position at ASIJ and the family moved to Meguro in 1957. The family spent 11 years in Japan before moving to Beaverton, OR, in 1966. In 1971 Marcia graduated from Beaverton High School. In 1975, while studying abroad in Avignon, France, she decided to take a weekend trip to Germany. While waiting to go up the Zugspitze mountain cable car, Marcia met a few GIs from the local Army base and decided to go up the mountain with them. She hit it off with one man in particular, Larry Dennis Noble, Jr.—her future husband. In 1977 she graduated from Oregon State Univeristy and reunited with Dennis after 2 years of longdistance romance.

In 1989, Marcia started her own business called Oregon Homestays. She organized host families for Japanese students every summer and planned English lessons, day trips and events for the students and host families. She happily and successfully ran this business for 12 years. Marcia was a truly special person with a gentle and caring spirit. Marcia was passionate about helping others and volunteered with the Red Cross and Emanuel Children’s hospital. She loved Andrea Bocelli’s music, traveling the world, flowers and gardening, knitting, antiquing, and cross country skiing. She looked forward

features

alumni MESSAGE

to bunco night with her girlfriends, was a phenomenal storyteller and could warm a room with her infectious laugh. There were no strangers in her life, only friends she hadn’t met yet. She will be missed by all who knew her.

She was proceeded by her loving husband Larry Dennis Noble, Jr. and is survived by her two daughters, Kathryn Noble and Julia Noble; her four sisters, Judith Garbutt ’62, Jacquelyn Bergeson ‘67, Jennifer Wahlberg ’68 and Elizabeth Bullis ‘70; and her granddaughter Zoey.

Junko Utada (AP 1998-2000) who was better known by her stage name Keiko Fuji, passed away at age 62 in Tokyo on August 22, 2013. Keiko was an accomplished actress and enka singer. Her debut album “Shinjuku no Onna,” which was released in 1970, spent 20 straight weeks at the top of Japan’s Oricon chart. She is survived by her daughter, Hikaru Utada ’00.

Michelle R. Werlich ’79 passed away due to complications from surgery at age 51 on April 20, 2013. Michelle lived in Minneapolis until she was 7 years old and then moved to Kobe, Japan, and later Tokyo. She graduated from ASIJ in 1979. She always spoke very fondly of growing up in Japan and loved her years at ASIJ. After graduation from high school she attended the University of Minnesota.

Survived by her loving family: son Geno Werlich; parents Eugene and Roberta Werlich (AP 1975-81); brother John Werlich ‘81; sister Leslie Swanby ’83 and many other relatives and friends.

save the date:

2014

alumni reception All ASIJ alumni, alumni parents, former faculty and staff are invited to attend the 2014 reception with Head of School Ed Ladd.

Join us for a fun evening in New York catching up with old friends and meeting ASIJ alumni from multiple decades.

An open bar and hors-d’oeuvres will be served.

Saturday, January 25, 2014 New York City $25 per person Online registration at < https://community.asij.ac.jp/reception> or contact the Alumni Office at <alumni@asij.ac.jp> for more details.

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The Chochin went digital!

As the pages of the Chochin in the ASIJ archives, dating back to 1918, have begun to show their age, we embarked on an important project to preserve them by digitalizing each yearbook. After the most complete version of each book was chosen, it was sent to an historical text archiving specialist to be scanned and then the completed files were processed and checked. The entire project took several months, but now a high quality PDF of each Chochin from 1918-2013 is archived and is available for alumni to download online. We hope that you will enjoy stepping back in time and seeing how our school has developed through the ages.

Thank you to the ASIJ Alumni Council who contributed funds towards the project.

Check out the digital archive online at http://community.asij.ac.jp/chochin

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the ambassador FALL 2013