Governor's
MONTHLYLETTER

2February 2021
Governor's
Message
Rotary International
District 2750 2020-21 Governor“Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.”A hot topic of late has been US President Joe Biden’s Cabinet
staffing choices. With Biden having promoted a large number ofboth women and people of color to key positions in that Cabinet,
their inclusion, which emphasizes diversity, is a night-and-day
difference form the Cabinet under former President Donald Trump.
Granted, with the American people having chosen an AfricanAmerican man as President in the past, this might come as nosurprise. At the same time, when comparing this diversity-minded
Cabinet with that of Japan, I cannot help but marvel at how somany different races reside in the US. The fact is that Japan had
also declared that it will achieve a women’s participation rateof 30% in all sectors of society by 2020 per the target set by
the “Headquarters for the Promotion of Gender Equality” under
the Cabinet Office. In reality, however, women only account for
3.4% of officers at listed companies (figure from 2019). Evenamong National Diet members, the women’s participation rate is
24.3%. Cabinet members under Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’sadministration are no exception either, with women accounting fora paltry two out of the 20 total members minus the Prime Ministerin 2020. In the “Gender Gap Index” (GGI) for 2020, which wasannounced at the 2019 World Economic Forum as an indicator ofthe degree of women’s participation, Japan ranked 121st out of153 countries. Incidentally, first place was occupied by Iceland,with the US unexpectedly ranking low at 53rd place (though thiswill likely improve under the Biden administration) and China andSouth Korea ranking 106th and 108th place, respectively.
The phrase “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.” is an excerpt from acommencement address given at Stanford University by Steve
Jobs in 2011. I imagine some of you have heard it before. WhatJobs is saying is that is necessary to remain “foolish” rather thanbecome “smart” in order to give rise to innovation. Remaining“foolish” in this case means sticking to your beliefs even if you
are considered “foolish” or “cavalier” by others. I see Jobs’ words
as a message telling us that the key to innovation lies in diversity

founded on a lack of fear of being different from others.
The importance of diversity has also been proven on a biologicalbasis. Living beings engage in relationships with each other as
they live. Such a relationship could be one of helping other out,
much like bees and flowers do, just as it could be one of themighty preying on the weak. Taking that one step further, likerelationships, the environment that blesses living beings with thelikes of light and water also impacts those beings greatly. Afterthe birth of homo, or the species of man (in the form of the Peking
Man, the Java Man and other primitives) roughly 2.5 million years
back, Neanderthal man went extinct about 40,000 years ago,and we, as the current species of man known as Homo sapiens,
became the sole homo remaining. In that respect, the level ofdiversity of species of mankind is extremely low. From a biologicalperspective, one could therefore argue that we would be betteroff not fighting over the color of our skin, issues with sex, wealthdisparity, differences in religion or beliefs, and the like.
In that context, our activities as Rotarians take on a greater
weight. One movement that we are currently promoting issupporting the environment. It is essential that we push forwardwith that movement in order to preserve the diversity of living
beings, reduce endangered species, and safeguard our ecosystemgoing forward. Additionally, when pondering the future of mankind,
there is little argument about how meaningful activities to give
relief to people who are destitute and disease-stricken throughout
the world and help provide equal opportunities for learning tochildren in unfortunate circumstances are. That being said,
what do we need to work harder on? The answer, I believe, israising our GGI. Of particular note are the “Award for Opening up
Opportunities for Women” and “Award for Development of Woman
Membership,” which we established in 2020-21 as Special
District Awards as an attempt to boost that index. As a result, ourdistrict has maintained the top women Rotarian ratio out of the 34
districts in Japan.
I have advocated a “barrier-free mentality” as being “all people
regardless of the different impediments, physical or mental
attributes or lines of thinking that they may have, mutuallyworking towards deepening understanding and communicating
and supporting each other from a position of equality.” Man tends
to feel pride in being superior to others. Moreover, man also has
a habit of staying clear of people whose opinions or beliefs aredifferent from their own. On the other hand, we at this wonderfulorganization that we call the Rotary Club have overcome anumber of differences to pursue activities in which over 1.19
million Rotarians from more than 200 countries across the globe
work together to forge a peaceful society in which people join
hand in hand. In 2021, the Year of the Ox in the Chinese zodiac,
let us take surefooted steps towards that goal one step at a time.

District 2750 Membership Report December 2020
Club Name

Regularmeeting

Member quantity
July 1, 2020

End of Dec. 2020

Variations

Chiyoda GroupClub Name

Regularmeeting

Member quantity
July 1, 2020

End of Dec. 2020

Variations

Yamanote West Group

Rotary Club of Tokyo-South

3

184

187

3

Rotary Club of Tokyo-Jiyugaoka

116160Rotary Club of Tokyo-Shiba

05659

3

Rotary Club of Tokyo-Yoneyama Yuai

33536

1

Rotary Club of Tokyo-Shimbashi

35654-2

Rotary E-Club of District 2750, Tokyo Yoneyama

33433-1

Rotary Club of Tokyo-Akasaka

345450Rotary Club of Tokyo Daikanyama

228280Rotary Club of Tokyo-Minato

33231-1

Tama South Group

Rotary Club of Tokyo-Azabu

115172

Rotary Club of Tokyo-Hachioji

26362-1

Rotary Club of Tokyo-Global

220200Rotary Club of Tokyo-Machida35756-1

Rotary Club of Tokyo-Sunrise Shiodome

316160Rotary Club of Tokyo-Hino

43433-1

Rotary Club of Tokyo-Hachioji West3111110-1Rotary Club of Tokyo-Ginza

3180182

2

Rotary Club of Tokyo-Machida-Naka

22826-2

Rotary Club of Tokyo-Nihonbashi

3204203-1

Rotary Club of Tokyo-Hachioji East

23233

1

Rotary Club of Tokyo-Tsukiji

369690Rotary Club of Tokyo-Hachioji South

37877-1

Rotary Club of Tokyo-Nihonbashi East

34142

1

Rotary Club of Tokyo-Machida-Salvia

33536

1

Rotary Club of Tokyo-Chuo

3203

202-1

Rotary Club of Tokyo-Tobihino

322220Rotary Club of Tokyo-Nihonbashi West34544-1

Rotary Club of Tokyo-Machida East

330300Rotary Club of Tokyo-Ginza New379790Rotary Club of Tokyo-Hachioji North

143430Rotary Club of Tokyo-City Nihonbashi

33836-2Tama Middle Group

Rotary Club of Tokyo-Chuo Shin

256604Rotary Club of Tokyo-Tachikawa

31191190

Rotary Club of Tokyo-Akebono

220200Rotary Club of Tokyo-Koganei

23837-1

Rotary Club of Tokyo-Sanno

436382

Ginza/Nihonbashi GroupKeihin Group

Rotary Club of Tokyo-Kokubunji

332320Rotary Club of Tokyo-Mitaka

14239-3

Rotary Club of Tokyo-Haneda

255550Rotary Club of Tokyo-Akishima

25553-2

Rotary Club of Tokyo-Shinagawa341421Rotary Club of Tokyo-Kunitachi

34745-2

Rotary Club of Tokyo-Omori

335394Rotary Club of Tokyo-Tachikawa Kobushi

087903Rotary Club of Tokyo-Shinagawa Chuo

23029-1

Rotary Club of Tokyo-Inokashira

323230Rotary Club of Tokyo-Denenchofu

248480Rotary Club of Tokyo-Akishima Chuo

448

480

Rotary Club of Tokyo-Konan Marine

31817-1

Rotary Club of Tokyo-Musashi Kokubunji

242420Rotary Club of Tokyo-Osaki

22426

2

Rotary Club of Tokyo-Koganei-Sakura

32526

1Rotary Club of Tokyo-Kamata

15964

5Rotary Club of Tokyo-Kunitachi Shiroume217170Rotary Club of Tokyo-Keihin326260Rotary E-Club of Tokyo Peace Wing

423230Rotary Club of Tokyo-Denenchofu Midori

218180Tama East Group

Rotary Club of Tokyo-Shirokane

32427

3

Rotary Club of Tokyo-Fuchu

355

55

0

Rotary Club of Tokyo-Takanawa

22320-3

Rotary Club of Tokyo-Chofu

26462-2

Rotary Club of Tokyo-Tama

32021

1

Rotary Club of Tokyo-West

3197

195-2

Rotary Club of Tokyo-Komae

11413-1

Rotary Club of Tokyo-Josai

367

69

2

Rotary Club of Tokyo-Inagi

32826-2

Rotary Club of Tokyo-Seinan

44443-1

Rotary Club of Tokyo-Musashi Fuchu

13935-4

Rotary Club of Tokyo-Harajuku

41716-1

Rotary Club of Tokyo-Tamagawa

12018-2

Rotary Club of Tokyo-Suginami

34139-2

Rotary Club of Tokyo-Tama Green

329290Rotary Club of Tokyo-Jingu

324240Rotary Club of Tokyo-Chofu Murasaki

36664-2

Rotary Club of Tokyo-Ebisu

3117112-5

Rotary Club of Tokyo i City

218180Rotary Club of Tokyo-Hiroo

324240

Pacific Basin Group

Rotary Club of Tokyo-Shibuya

135372

Rotary Club of Guam

4*5251-1

Rotary Club of Tokyo-Roppongi

25352-1

Rotary Club of Saipan

3*40444

Rotary Club of Tokyo-Atago

431310Rotary Club of Tumon Bay

2*5955-4Rotary Club of Northern Guam

2*31310Rotary Club of Tokyo-Setagaya

344440Rotary Club of Pohnpei

2*1816-2

Rotary Club of Tokyo-Meguro

333330Rotary Club of Palau

214162

Rotary Club of Tokyo-Seijo

117170Rotary Club of Guam Sunrise

5*1514-1

Rotary Club of Tokyo-Setagaya South29790-7

Rotary Club of Truk Lagoon

880

Rotary Club of Tokyo-Jonan

213141

Rotary Club of Pago Bay Guam E*23252

Rotary Club of Tokyo-Yamanote

07069-1

Total in Japan - 89

4,364

4,346-18

Rotary Club of Tokyo-Seijo Shin

231310Rotary Club of Tokyo-Aoyama

21615-1

Total in 2750 dis. - 98

4,624

4,606-18

Yamanote East Group

Yamanote West Group2* shows the provisional data.