Tokyo City Cup and Japan Family Day

On March 23rd, the 18th Tokyo City Cup and Japan Family Day, which introduces Japanese culture, took place at Santa Anita Race Track. Each year, the Tokyo City Cup Race is held to celebrate the partnership between Tokyo City Keiba (Ohi Racecourse) and Santa Anita Park. The festival, called Japan Family Day, is well received by the locals. There were performances of action heroes and games, riding ponies and many other activities enjoyed by families. In addition to the traditional cultural booths, there were many subculture booths that focused on anime and 'kawaii' (cute) fashion this year. This day, over 14,000 people visited the park.

5th Annual GOLD Symposium

On March 22nd, the 5th Annual GOLD Symposium took place in a hotel in Century City. Japanese and American leaders from the business, finance and NPO fields were invited as guests. A Japanese woman started GOLD (an NPO) to encourage global women leadership. This symposium takes place alternatively between Tokyo and Los Angeles every 18 months. It provides a place for Japanese and US companies to network. This day, there were 11 programs, where they discussed 21st century leadership. The symposium tickets were sold out. Over 200 people gathered and many interactions took place.

Colloquium At UCLA

On March 22nd, the Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies at UCLA hosted a colloquium, “Moving Forward”, which contemplates the Tohoku Earthquake. From Japan, Dr. Kiyoshi Kurokawa, who was the chair of the National Diet of Japan Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission (NAIIC), was invited. This commission started investigating the accident 6 months after the incident. Their study lasted 7 months. The commission submitted a report to the National Diet with suggestions that there were problems with the government’s crisis management and TEPCO’s organization. Dr. Kurokawa speaks out abroad about his analysis on the way the Japanese government and companies reacted to the accident. Afterwards, professor Hitoshi Abe, director of the Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies and an architect from Sendai, introduced ArchiAid, a reconstruction assistance network which consists of 300 architects. ArchiAid helps by making reconstruction proposals and by the rebuilding of the affected areas. About 80 people came to listen to the lectures.