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The Dartmouth Club of Japan

As the Japan expert and film historian Donald Richie wrote, “Japan never considers time together as time wasted. Rather it is time invested.” Through the leadership of Club President Kenji Hosokawa ’98, the Dartmouth Club of Japan has successfully invested time and effort in building bridges with the local Dartmouth community. The club’s collaborative spirit has shone through connections with Dartmouth faculty in Japan Studies, its collaboration with the Harvard Club of Japan to design a social impact and innovation networking event, and its partnership with a local university to co-host a speaker series titled “The Intersections of Social Media, Social Activism, and Public Policy.”

The club also builds international bridges. Since 1992, the club has presented the Kan’ichi Asakawa Award on nine occasions to an individual who exemplifies the spirit of international understanding. The award was established in memory of Dr. Kan’ichi Asakawa, Class of 1899, the first Japanese student to graduate from Dartmouth College and a famed historian.

This small club realizes these accomplishments through creative use of technology. Skype makes leadership meetings accessible over the many miles of this island country, and Twitter, Google +, and Facebook provide easy ways to exchange information of interest to alumni.

The Japan club also builds bridges to other Dartmouth alumni clubs across Asia by hosting an annual spring ski event, which includes a lunch where club leaders share best practices.

For all the club’s success in building bridges and community, we congratulate them by saying omedetou gozaimasu!