Cultural and Educational Programming Highlights

2017

• Visiting business people from Shikoku tour Pittsburgh and meet JASP members at a reception hosted by Schneider Downs.

2016

• The JASP presents internationally renowned taiko artist Kenny Endo at the Manchester Craftsmen's Guild as part of his 40th Anniversary Celebration tour
• The JASP presents On Ensemble contemporary taiko group at the Hill House

2015

• The first College Japanese Speech Contest is held at Indiana University of Pennsylvania

2014

• The Voices from Japan poetry exhibit featured tanka poetry printed in the Asahi Shimbun after the 3/11 disaster

2010

• The JASP presents internationally renowned taiko artist Kenny Endo at the Manchester Craftsmen's Guild as part of his Gateway – 'Ma' vs Groove tour

2009

• The JASP coordinated with University of Pittsburgh to hold two Act 48 seminars, one on Japanese furoshiki and one on o-bento
  

2008

• The JASP co-sponsors a symposium of the US-Japan Innovators Network featuring leaders in business, the arts, and social entrepreneurs
• Co-sponsors a concert featuring Jerome White, a Japanese Enka superstar known as Jero in Japan. Jero is a Pittsburgh native and graduate of the University of Pittsburgh

2007

• The JASP co-sponsors two taiko concerts: East meets West, and a performance by San Jose Taiko
• Special reception for University of Pittsburgh Emeritus Professor Isamu Sando's receiving the "Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon" Award from the Emperor of Japan

2006

• The JASP hosts a special reception with Jiro Okuyama, Director of the Japan Information Center and Deputy Consul General of Japan in New York
• Event featuring Memoirs of a Geisha author Arthur Golden

2005

• The JASP presents a concert by San Jose Taiko, one of the key groups in American taiko drumming
  

2004

• The JASP hosts a Japanese Day of Culture and Opening Reception for exhibition of Japanese photography exhibit Unspoken Ground: Two Views of Japan
• Special lecture and book signing by Robert Whiting about his book The Meaning of Ichiro, about the Japanese presence and influence on major league baseball
• The JASP collaborates with the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh to present a special program, Japan and the U.S.:Managing Relations in a Time of Change, featuring Yukihiro Nikaido, Director of the Japan Information Center and Deputy Consul General of Japan to New York, and Ayako Doi, former editor of The Daily Japan Digest

2003

• Special lunch and lecture event with Minister Naoyuki Agawa, Director of the Japan Information and Culture Center, Embassy of Japan, Japan-U.S. Alliance in the 21st Century
• On the occasion of the 150 anniversary of the establishment of Japanese-American relations, the JASP presents a series of talks entitled Inside Japan: A look at the history, current factors, and future of the U.S.-Japan business relationship

2002

• Japan-America Society of Pennsylvania and the Asian Studies Center of the University of Pittsburgh put on HOW Taiko Drumming Concert
• The JASP hosts reception for the delegation from Saitama as part of the Saitama City Weekend

2001

• Private viewing and reception for JASP members at the Carnegie Museum of Fine Art's exhibit Urban Metamorphosis: One Hundred Views of New Tokyo
• The JASP sponsors Tadashi Suzuki's Oedipus Rex, a production that performed the classic Greek tragedy as a Noh play
  

2000

• The JASP put on a mini-Japan Festival organized around the performance of Kwaidan, a performance of three ghost stories in traditional Japanese puppet theater.
• 2000 Delegation from Kitakyushu to Pittsburgh

1999

• The JASP hosts a three day Japanese cultural festival in downtown Pittsburgh.
  

1998

• The JASP hosts a speech and reception event with Ambassador Kensaku Hogen, Under-Secretary General to the United Nations
  

1997

• The JASP holds a week-long Japan Fest, including a koto player, samurai lecture, and exhibits about ikebana, calligraphy, and zen gardens
• The JASP sponsors a concert by Kodo, one of the premier Japanese Taiko drumming groups in the world

1996

• The JASP held a program featuring Joan Adams Mondale, Art in Public Places—A comparison between the U.S. and Japan. Mrs. Mondale, known as Joan of Art, is a strong advocate of the arts, and during a three year stay in Japan while her husband served as the Ambassador from the United States to Japan, she worked to bring American art to Japan and Japanese art to America
  

1994

• The JASP hosts a lunch and talk with Barbara Wanner, Senior Political Analyst at the Japan Economic Institute of America "Japan's Changing Political Landscape"
• The JASP presented internationally acclaimed saxophonist Sado Watanabe at the Manchester Craftsmen's Guild

1993

• A family picnic event was held at Slippery Rock University
  

1993-94

• "Koryu" (Exchange) lecture series on cultural topics; speakers include one of the most important modern scholars on Japan, Chalmers Johnson, Ph.D
  

1991-95

• The Society held frequent programs about business and related issues, titled the "Japan Business Lecture Series." Programming included topics such as, "Japanese Manufacturing Mgmt. in the U.S." and a 7-part training video series Working with Japan
  

1991

• AJSP hosted a reception at the Duquesne Club for Mr. Saburo Okita, former Minister of Foreign Affairs
  

1989

• Week-long Japan Festival myriad of cultural and business-oriented programs. Participants included Ambassador Masamichi Hanabusa, a taiko group and an ikebana sensei
  

1988

• AJSP holds "Japan Symposium '88'" Keynote speaker Ambassador Hidetoshi Ukawa, Consul General of Japan to New York president of Asian Advisory Service, Inc., Dr. James Abegglen
  

1987

• AJSP holds a Business Forum during CMU's "Discover Japan" program
• July, AJSP holds a cocktail reception for a delegation from Kitakyushu, including Mayor Sueyoshi
• Luncheon for Ambassador Hidetoshi Ukawa, Consul General of Japan to New York