Pittsburgh...October 17, 1878. Andrew Carnegie receives a telegram. If he can get to San Francisco by the 24th he can make the ship for Japan. With the new transcontinental railroad, the launching of transpacific steamship travel, and the opening of the Suez Canal, around-the-world travel was all the rage. Just in his early 40s at the time, Carnegie had begun to build his empire of steel but was little known beyond the Mon Valley. Japan was the first stop on his global excursion and began his life-long interaction with the first Asian powerhouse of the emerging international order.
Hear about his visit and his years of interactions with Japanese leaders from JASP member Sam Kidder, editor of Our First Glimpse of Japan: Prominent American Visitors to Japan in the 1870s. Experience our own fascinating local history at the newly renovated Carnegie One Braddock, the first U.S. library and community center of over 2,500 Carnegie funded worldwide.
Join the JASP for this free evening at Carnegie One Braddock on March 12, 2026. Light hors d’oeuvres and beverages will be provided.
Samuel Kidder first arrived in East Asia as an undergraduate exchange student. After training and deployment in Korea as a U.S. Army linguist, he studied East Asian history at Harvard, the University of Washington, and as a Fulbright scholar at Yonsei University. After two years in New York City with Toyoda Tsusho Kaisha, he joined an Australian company, setting up their offices in Chicago and Seoul. He then entered the foreign service and was assigned tours in Seoul, Tokyo and New Delhi. The experience and knowledge he gained over a quarter of a century as a diplomat were invaluable preparation for his service as executive director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan. Kidder’s first book, Of One Blood All Nations, examined the 12 years Ohio Congressman and Reconstruction leader John Bingham spent as America’s senior diplomat in Japan. Serving four presidents, Bingham’s tenure remains the longest of any American ambassador to Japan.
Network with JASP members and supporters at this day-long event. This is a great opportunity to spend the day with a client, treat employees, or network with industry colleagues while supporting the connections between our region and Japan.
Take your team-building and networking to the course for a fun day on the links.
This year's event will be held at Edgewood Country Club, designed by Donald Ross. Ross's philosophy of golf architecture can best be described by a quotation he often used, "Golf should be a pleasure, not a penance." his interpretation of the word pleasure was very broad, implying not only a fair course which presents problems and challenges to all types of golfers, but also which is a natural as possible. Visit their website for a tour.
The golf tournament will begin at noon. Golfers compete for winning team trophies, individual skill prizes, and hole-in-one prizes. A post-golf cocktail hour will provide opportunities to meet the other guests and win raffle prizes, including a Grand Prize!
We hope you will join us for this fun and popular event.
10 AM – Registration Opens
11 AM – Lunch, Driving Range and Putting Green open
Noon – Shotgun start
5 PM – Raffle drawing & Cocktails
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The Japan-America Society of Pennsylvania is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
PHONE: 412-856-8608
EMAIL: jasp@japansocietypa.org
