2024, A Year in Review
Looking back at 2024, it was definitely a banner year for Japan Society! We premiered Oscar winners The Boy and the Heron and Godzilla Minus One right here in New York at Japan Society. Many of the people who would vote for the Oscars were there in our auditorium to watch our five-star red-carpet event with the Shōgun cast, who held their premiere here before going on to clean up on the Emmys. We certainly can’t take credit for Shohei Ohtani, who turned the World Series into a true World Series where more Japanese than Americans were paying attention to what the Dodgers and the Yankees were doing, but Ohtani and baseball have been a major focus ever since the 150th year baseball celebrations between the U.S. and Japan that we marked at our Annual Dinner in 2022 with the Yankees’ great Hideki Matsui and exemplified with a 2024 watch party celebrating this year’s special New York-Japan connection.
I think we can be very proud of what we’ve accomplished, whether by implementing our new strategy of engaging new and old friends in Japan, with our Japan Society School Partnership bringing Japan and Japanese culture to Title 1 schools in New York City, another record-breaking year for Language Center enrollment, welcoming a new senior gallery director, launching our new Culture & Community program, or celebrating the 20 years of service by our Artistic Director Yoko Shioya, who has received the 2024 Foreign Minister’s Commendation in addition to her many honors. Our 2024 Annual Dinner raised a record-breaking $1.8 million in unrestricted funds for Japan Society’s operations and programs.
In the business and policy realm, tentpole programs such as our annual Global Risk Forum, the U.S.-Japan Forum, and our new Economics & Finance Forum served as touchpoints for our Corporate members and friends, and we also co-hosted invitational events with people who historically would not have been seen in the same place, including Haruhiko Kuroda, the former Governor of the Bank of Japan, US Commerce Secretary Gina M. Raimondo, and her immediate predecessor, the Honorable Wilbur L. Ross.
In 2024, Japan Society was a true bridge and a connector between the peoples, cultures and societies of the United States and Japan. Thank you for your support, and please join us for another gala year in 2025!
