2012 Membership Dues

January is when it's time to renew your FWJS Membership but you can still renew at any time! Join us at one of our monthly luncheons or send a check. Check our Membership page for details.

February Workshop : Discover Japan (not open to public)

Februrary 26 - We are again working with Fort Worth Sister Cities International to host students from Fort Worth area schools who will be part of the student exchange program with Nagaoka, Japan. Host society members will be giving presentations and teaching the students about Japanese culture, a little history, and a little language so that they will be able to take better advantage of this great opportunity they have. It will be from 1:00pm to 3:30pm at the Yamagata Center (3608 Park Lake Dr, Fort Worth).

March Luncheon

March 18 - We will do things a little different this year and observe both Hinamatsuri - Girls Day (Doll Festival) AND Tango no Sekku - Boys Day at this luncheon. Hinamatsuri is celebrated on March 3rd and Tango no Sekku on May 5th, but we thought for our members, combining the events would be an opportunity to have more people honor the festivals. We will ask our members to bring in some traditional Japanese items from these festivals, and we will have games and an encore of our Kamishibai theater. To make this event feel even more genuine, we will have Japanese bento catered by one of our local Japanese restaurants. The obento will be $12 for adults, $8 for children from 8 to 12 years old and no charge for children under 8. Join us from 12:30pm at the Yamagata Center (3608 Park Lake Dr, Fort Worth).

Sons and Daughters of the Sun and Star

May to August 2012 - Our society will support a collaborative art exhibition between Texas Christian University and Hiroshima City University (HCU) to promote an extension of the relationships formed during the Sun & Star 96 Festival. In May 2012, students and faculty from HCU will travel to Fort Worth. In late July/early August 2012, the process will be reversed; the same TCU students and faculty will work in Hiroshima with the assistance of the same HCU students and faculty that traveled to Texas. Each exhibition will contain the artwork of fourteen individuals. These two exhibitions encompass not only the display of work by Japanese and American artists in two very different places, but also the exchange of cultural and artistic ideas.

Yu Darvish and the Texas Rangers

This spring, we will arrange a field trip for anyone who wants to visit the Texas Rangers and see Yu Darvish. The Texas Rangers are organizing a special Yu Darvish welcome event including the other Japanese players on the Ranger team. This will be similar to our visit to see Akinori Otsuka in 2006. At that game, Otsuka came and spoke to our group and threw out several autographed baseballs. Look for more news as this event takes shape.

Japan American Grass Roots Summit

August 28 – September 3, 2012 - 22nd American-Japan Grass Roots Summit will take place in North Texas from Aug. 28 to Sep. 3, 2012. This is being organized by the John Manjiro Whitfield Commemorative Center for International Exchange in Tokyo and locally by the Japan America Society of Dallas Fort Worth. The FWJS will support this event and provide interpreters and open some homes for home stay. This event will bring 200-250 Japanese to North Texas to experience American Culture. They will be staying in hotels part of the time, but there will be three nights of home stay – so we will be asking for volunteers to open their homes. More information will follow.

Dondoko Taiko Drum Group

This is one of our popular programs. If you want to learn how to play these Japanese Drums, have Sunday evenings open for practice, and have opportunities to perform at public events like the Japanese Garden Spring and Fall Festivals.

Japanese Language Class

Fall Semester will start on Monday, September 12. Payments are due to your teacher no later than August 31, 2011. Please refer to our school website for our refund policy.

Earthquake & Tsunami News

去る3月11日に起きました東北関東大震災、またその直後に東北地方太平洋沿岸を襲った大津波により、1万人を超える尊い命が奪われ、今なお1万人 を超す行方不明の方がいらっしゃることに、フォートワース日本人会の会員一同、心よりお悔やみ申し上げます。　また、日本にご在住の皆さまのご家族、ご友 人のご無事をお祈りいたします。

わが日本人会でも、こちらに居住する日本人および日本を愛する者たちとして、被災地から遠く離れたフォートワースで何ができるかを考え、今までに募 金活動やベイクセール、折り紙プロジェクトなど近郊団体などと力を合わせて行ってまいりました。　また、来月にフォートワース日本庭園で開催されます春祭 りでも、フォートワース姉妹都市協会などの他団体と同様に募金活動を行います。　それ以外にも、当会として募金活動や支援活動などに関わる際には、随時お 知らせしていく予定です。

現在、さまざまな団体、組織が義援金を募集しています。　オンラインや小切手送付にて寄付をお考えの方、アメリカ赤十字社（http://redcrossdallas.blogspot.com/） やダラス日本人会（http://godja.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&layout=blog&id=6&Itemid=60） でも、募金を受け付けていますので、ぜひご協力お願いいたします。

われわれフォートワース日本人会でも、小規模ながら、これからも日本を応援し続けていきたいと考えています。　

On Friday March 11th, a strong earthquake struck the north east part of Japan.  More than 10,000 people have lost their precious lives and about 16,000 people are still missing from earthquakes and subsequent huge tsunami caused by the quake.  Our thoughts go out to the people of Japan who were affected by the disaster.   We hope that your family and friends in Japan are safe and well.

We, Fort Worth Japanese Society, have been involved in Japan relief fundraising; bake sales, and senbazuru (thousand origami cranes) projects, cooperating with other organizations and societies in our local  communities, hoping we could be of some assistance to people in Japan, even though we are far away.  At the Fort Worth Japanese Garden Spring Festival in April, you will see our donation boxes as well as those many other groups, such as Fort Worth Sister Cities.  Regarding the details for upcoming relief activities and charities, we will keep you posted in our website.  

Other than ourselves, there are lots of organizations who are currently raising donations.  For those who wish to contribute to a relief fund by check or online, you can do so with American Red Cross of Dallas (http://redcrossdallas.blogspot.com/) and Japan-America Society of Dallas/Fort Worth (http://www.jasdfw.org/pages/news_earthquake.html).

Though we are rather a small organization, we will continue to pray and assist people in Japan with relief fund and recovery effort.

Sincerely,

Japanese Class of Fort Worth Japanese Society

Upcoming Charity Events

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