The Japan Society Annual General Meeting
The Society’s 2010 AGM took place on 16 June 2010 at the Embassy of Japan. Themembership was well represented and we are grateful to all who attended and who took thetime to vote by proxy. The meeting was followed by a Sake tasting courtesy of the Sake
Samurai Association. Members had the opportunity to taste 15 top sakes, recognised in theSake Section of the International Wine Challenge.
If you wish to receive a hard copy of the annual accounts and Council Members’ report,
please contact us.
Minutes of the 113th Annual General Meeting of The Japan SocietyHeld at the Japanese Embassy, 101-104 Piccadilly, London W1at 6.00 p.m. on Wednesday,
16th June 2010.
The Chairman (Christopher Purvis) opened the meeting by welcoming all those present; hegave a particular welcome to the Society’s President, the Japanese Ambassador, Mr Shin
Ebihara. Christopher also thanked the Ambassador and all the Embassy staff for theirtremendous and ongoing support and assistance to the Japan Society, especially with events
hosted at the Embassy, such as tonight’s AGM and Sake Tasting Reception.
Ambassador Ebihara
Ambassador Ebihara noted that this was his 3rd AGM as President and, although much had
occurred since his arrival, including the economic downturn, he commended the Japan
Society for its resilience and for maintaining its activities and funding under suchconditions.He thanked the Society for all its hard work this past year and expressed hisappreciation to Heidi Potter and Christopher Purvis, while wishing the Society well for thefuture.
Christopher Purvis
Christopher Purvis explained that not withstanding the harsh economic situation, the Japan
Society had had its most successful year, with a financial turnover higher than ever before.
This demonstrated both the increase in activity and consequent demand for our services, andin particular, the ability to generate some financial surplus during the year at times wherepreviously there may have been concerns to raise funds.
Christopher expressed thanks to six groups of people for their contributions to the Japan
Society this year:
1) Volunteers
With particular thanks to: Japanese lLadies who assist with Japan in the Classroom and theHammersmith Garden Party event, Events and Publication Planning committees, Lectures
preparation group, and the Trustees.
2) Members
Involvement by the Members is crucial in the success of the Society, and we were delighted
to receive such support during the Members’ Art Exhibition this year.

3) Partner Organizations
The Japan Foundation, Daiwa Foundation, Great Britain Sasakawa Foundatio, JETRO andJCCI were key partners for the Japan Society and it was of great importance that the Society
was able to collaborate on events and activities during the year. The major collaborative
event had been Japan Matsui 2009 attracting 35,000 attendees, with Japan Matsui 2010scheduled this year for Saturday 18th September.
4) Donors
Donations are the largest source of income for the Society. This support is greatly appreciatedand without it the Society would not be able to continue the current level of activity. Donatedfunds are received at the basic level in the form of individual membership fees, through tocorporate donors and individual donors, support from foundations and legacies. Members
were encouraged to consider becoming Donors, which also provides them with theopportunity to have increased involvement with the Society.
5) Staff (under Heidi Potter’s leadership)
6) President
The Society is hugely appreciative of its President, His Excellency Ambassador Ebihara forhis great support of the Society.
The floor was then opened to Members for their comments and suggestions.
Paul Dimond raised particular attention to the small committee involved in promoting andattracting corporate membership. He highlighted the existence of hundreds of potential
companies with British/Japanese connections, to whom membership of the Society waspotentially of interest. He asked that members try and promote corporate membership of theSociety when networking.
Any potential corporate members should be directed to the Japan Society’s office, so thatthey can be contacted by Heidi Potter, Robert Guy, Paul Dimond or Sandy Sano, to discuss
the recommendation further, in the first instance, and then arrange a personal visit whereappropriate.
Christopher Purvis encouraged people to contact the Society at any time with ideas andsuggestions, including nominations for the Board.
Agenda Items
There were three ordinary resolutions to be considered at the AGM. Christopher Purvis
explained the details and outlined the procedure for voting. Votes were counted after themeeting and the results announced during the subsequent sake tasting reception, following
the short lecture by Sake Samurai, Mr Simon Hofstra.
The following resolutions were passed:
1. To receive and adopt the audited annual accounts for the financial year ended 31 December
2009 and the Trustees’ report.
2. To reappoint Richard Place Dobson as auditors and to authorise the Board to approve theirremuneration as thought fit.

3. To elect and re-elect Ordinary Trustees of the Company to fill certain vacancies arising.
There were four possible vacancies for ordinary membership to the Council and fourcandidates. All were duly elected:
David Cairns
Pauline Chakmakjian
Andrew Fraser
Koji Nakamura
Council members who had served during the year, but who were standing down were thanked
for their contributions to the Society: Masamichi Morooka, Anna Dingley.