Aloha Members,

First and foremost please join me in congratulating Kris Miyamoto and her Board for guiding us through the challenging economy in 2009.  Special thanks to Chairman of the Board David Kaneko for his guidance throughout the year as well.  I would also like to thank you for providing me with the opportunity to serve as your President and I hope to live up to your expectations.

As we begin our 61^st year, I would like to remind everyone on our mission, which is “to provide our members with opportunities to strengthen leadership and personal development skills through community service and networking events while perpetuating Japanese relations and culture.”  Understanding our vision is only half of the battle.  The other half is to ensure that we are providing the activities and programs that provide value to our members.

This is where we need the assistance of you, our members.  All of you have become members of the HJJCC for your own individual reasons and we ask you to come forward to let us know what we can do to address your expectations of the HJJCC.  We have a full year planned that will involve many community service events, opportunities to meet with and learn from Executive Managers of companies, events to learn about the Japanese culture and last but not least, leadership opportunities on committees for our signature event, the Cherry Blossom Festival.  However, we want to hear from you to make sure that we are addressing your needs.

As the Honolulu Japanese Chamber of Commerce Chairman Wayne Kato said, “it’s all about relationships” and I couldn’t agree more.  In addition to connecting with our members, we will be focusing on strengthening the relationships that we have with other organizations to provide added value for our members.  With that being said, I encourage all of you to come out to our events and make new connections.

Lastly by the time you receive this newsletter, I will be back from attending our annual Goodwill Tour to Japan.  The Goodwill Tour is the trip where HJJCC members and the current Queen and Court (along with some of their parents if room permits) travel to Japan to thank our Corporate Sponsors and strengthen relationships with our sister Jaycee organizations and we traditionally travel during the first two weeks of October.  I would highly recommend for you to consider going on this trip next year so plan ahead!  It is truly an amazing eye-opening experience that will cause you to fall in love with the culture and Japan itself.  I’ll be sure to share stories and photos in the next newsletter.

Thank you again for your support in helping me to continue our legacy and create something that we can be proud of.

Mahalo,

Darren Ota
61st President