1CWAJ ANNUAL REPORT 2018-2019

CWAJ
ANNUAL REPORT2018-2019

CELEBRATING
70 YEARS OF CWAJCOLLEGE WOMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF JAPANMessage from CWAJ’s President
Dear Friends,
In2019theCollegeWomen’s
Association of Japan celebrates its 70th
Anniversary and remembers with muchpride the remarkable beginnings of thisorganization.
In 1949, just after the end of World War
II, a small group of Japanese andAmerican women in Tokyo started
raising travel funds for Japanese
students to study in the US. The groupquickly expanded to include womenfrom other countries and became
known as CWAJ. The travel grants
developed into scholarships for womenand in time the scholarship program
expanded to include visually impaired
Japanese men and women, artists, andmore recently scholarships for nursing
students in Fukushima. CWAJ has now
supported 850 students in the total
amount of 985,257,000 yen.
Since 1956, CWAJ’s annual Print Show
has raised funds for the scholarship

CWAJ 70th Anniversary
Dinner and Reception
Hotel Okura Tokyo, Ascot Hall
Friday 17th May 2019
Reception 5:30-6:30pm
Dinner 6:30-9:00pm
All are welcome to join thisjoyous celebration of ourhistory and friendship,including the introduction ofCWAJ’s 2019 scholars, liveentertainment and more.

program as well as awards to encourage
young print artists. In 2018 this very
popularexhibition
andsaleofcontemporary print art was held for thesecond time at Daikanyama Hillside Forum,with over 1000 local and international
visitors and positive reviews.
CWAJ also offers many educational andculturalprograms,
includinguniqueEnglish-language programs for the visually
impaired community in Tokyo. CWAJ now
has 400 members from 25 countries and isan entirely volunteer-run organization,
promoting cross-cultural understanding
and friendship.

MARCH 2019Japan” web TV series, Women at Work,celebrating female excellence.
The first of this year’s 70th anniversary
events is a public symposium, “Women
Making a Sustainable Impact in Society”,
held on 8th March 2019 (InternationalWomen’s Day) and generously supportedby The Tokyo Club. A panel of four womenleaders in Japan will share their views andexperiences on women’s participation insociety, education, and leadership. This
will be followed by a networking reception.
On 17th May there will be a special dinner
for the extended CWAJ community,introducing the 2019 scholars.

CWAJ’s 70th anniversary is not only a timeto celebrate seven decades of making a
difference but also to look towards thefuture. In order to be a sustainableorganization, we must continue to beinnovative - and it is critical to raise publicawareness of our work. We have recently
relaunched our website and we aredelighted to have been featured more in
the media, including the first in an “In

It is a privilege to be President of thisimpressiveorganization
asit
commemorates this landmark anniversary
and I would like to express our warm
gratitude to you all for your support for
CWAJ’s mission, past, present and future.

63rd CWAJ Print ShowCWAJ 70th Anniversary Show

Hillside Forum, Daikanyama, Tokyo
Wednesday 23rd - Sunday 27th October 2019
CWAJ’s renowned exhibition and sale ofcontemporary Japanese prints will be held again
at light-filled Hillside Forum in Daikanyama.

“Wonder Women! The Powerof Women’s Imagination”

Kobe CWAJ Print Show
The Kobe Club, Kobe
Thursday 7th - Sunday 10th November 2019
Exhibition and sale of selected works from the63rd CWAJ Print Show and the CWAJ 70thAnniversary Show.

Sincerely,
Reiko Oshima
CWAJ President

Frederick Harris Gallery,
Tokyo American Club
Wednesday 16th October Monday 4th November 2019A special exhibition and sale ofprints highlighting theimagination and power offemale artists.

2CWAJ ANNUAL REPORT 2018-2019

CWAJ 62nd PRINT SHOWIn October 2018, the 62nd CWAJ Print
Show was held for the second time at
Hillside Forum in Daikanyama. A total of
298 prints were exhibited in Daikanyama
and at the Associate Show at the Tokyo
American Club. The Show was attended
by over a thousand visitors and was very
well received, resulting in increased sales.

Guided tours offered in English, Japanese,French and Swedish were highly popular
andprovided
much-appreciatedbackground to the artists and their prints.
The cover artist, Yuki Hasegawa, whose
print was made into
an attractive scarf
and sold alongsidetheperennially
popularcards,calendars
anddiaries,madeseveral appearances
to sign copies of thecatalogue.

For many years CWAJ has included“Hands-on Art” as part of the Print Show.
Six prints were converted into tactile
raised images designed primarily forvisually impaired visitors. This unique andvery valuable initiative is always adrawcard and the display table stayedbusy throughout the exhibition, also
appreciated by many sighted visitors,especially children.

⚫ 2018 Associate Show
CWAJ’s traditional Associate Show wasnamed “Beyond the First Impression –Prints from Cover Artists”. This exquisitely
curated exhibition showcased new works
from artists whose prints had adorned
past Print Show catalogues. These weredisplayed both at the Tokyo American
Club and at the Hillside Forum and proved
to be very successful with visitors, who
got a fascinating glimpse into the long
history of the CWAJ Print Show.
The 62nd CWAJ Print Show was once again
a great success, promoting contemporary
Japanese print art (hanga) while at thesame time raising much-needed funds for
CWAJ’s various scholarship programs.

2018 CWAJ Print Show Award
Young printmakers were celebrated in a
special section displaying three works by
Ryo Nishimura, winner of the 2018 Young
Printmaker Award (YPA) , and also by Nao
Masuda, winner of the award in 2015.
Other YPA winners who have remained
active as printmakers since funding of theaward started in 2005 were showcasedwith one print each.

One award of 100,000 yen
KIM Sohee 「Way Home II」

Juror’s AwardIKUTA Koji 「Mirror X」
SAKAKIBARA Kei 「Crack in forest」

2019 CWAJ Young PrintmakerAward (YPA)
One award of 500,000 yen

YAMADA Hikaru
Musashino Art University Graduate,
2nd year

FUKUSHIMA RELIEF PROJECTSCWAJ is proud to have responded quickly
to support the areas stricken by the Great
East Japan Earthquake in March 2011 andcontinues to support the health andwelfare of the community through its
Fukushima Relief Projects.

strung together in five columns of five tofashion a dynamic hanging artwork.

● Fukushima Relief Scholarships
Since the beginning of the Fukushima
Relief Scholarship program in 2012, CWAJ
has awarded 18 scholarships to students of
the Fukushima Medical University School ofNursing. Two additional scholarships will
be awarded in 2019.
The 2018 FRS recipients were Ms Kazumi
Kokubun, whose goal is to use nursing
interventions to provide psychologicalsupport to people in crisis, and Ms Ayaka
Munakata, who wishes to specialize inoncology nursing to ease the pain ofpatients and their families. Previousscholars now serve the community as
nurses, midwives, and in public health.

There was a different program at theFukushima Prefectural Museum of Art,drawing inspiration from works currently
on display. After the curator explained theworks and the stencil medium, participantsfrom elementary to high school age madetheir own stencils and prints.

van between the various venues totransport volunteers and materials.
CWAJ Fukushima Relief scholar Kazumi
Kokubun joined the events in Sukagawa
andFukushima 2City,審査員特別賞
名 adding to the happycommunityspirit. We received a生田宏司
gracious
榊原 慶 thank you note from themuseum staff.
Asobijutsu 2018 was a splendid
conclusion to CWAJ’s participation in this“Art as Play” Program.
● Denzen AwardThe Denzen Award, a competition forelementary and middle school students,
honors Aoudou Denzen, an Edo-period
artist born in Sukagawa. Since 2013
CWAJ has invited the top winner in eachage category to attend the Print Show
with their parents. It will be exciting to
see the young artists and their dynamic
prints at Daikanyama this fall.

● Asobijutsu (“Art as Play”)
In late July 2018, CWAJ volunteers weredelighted to bring the Asobijutsu (“Art asPlay”) program back to Soma, Sukagawa
and Fukushima City. Led by Professor
Koichi Ebizuka of Tama Art University,these unique, creative experiences havebrightened the spirits of the children of
Fukushima every summer since 2014.
In Soma and Sukagawa each child painted
25 small wooden plaques which were

Mr Ren Otani of Soma Psychiatric Care
Center Nagomi drove the CWAJ-donatedVisit CWAJ’s website for an overview ofFukushima Relief Projects:
https://cwaj.org/education/fukushimarelief-projects/

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CWAJ ANNUAL REPORT 2018-2019

CWAJ SCHOLARSHIPCWAJ’s Scholarship Network for
Our Scholars
As mentioned in the President’s message,
CWAJ has long supported outstanding
students, first with travel grants, then later
scholarships.
Hearing
about
theirachievements is always exciting!

from Waseda University in April 2018 andwas appointed an Invited Researcher. Her
PhD dissertation received the 2018
EuropeanNetworkon
CulturalManagement and Policy’s Research Awardand will be published in ENCATC’s bookseries.

At the CWAJ luncheon in May 2018, Hiroko
Sano (1978 scholar SA*), Professor
Emerita at Aoyama Gakuin University,
spoke about the value of studying
humanities. She encouraged the newscholars to make and keep friendships
active throughout their lives, as hernetwork had helped greatly whenorganizing international events.

Other CWAJ scholars who have sentinteresting
updates
include:Alba
Zamarbide (2016 NJG) received her PhD

this line”, she dramatically broke hercane and threw it on the stage. She won
the Audience Prize!
Noriko Kanno (2017 FRS) earned her
Master's degree and is excited about
applying her learning and research as aClinicalResearchCoordinator
atFukushima Medical University Hospital.
Miyuki Mori (2017 FRS) is to be appointed
an assistant professor at the Fukushima
Medical University School of Nursing after
graduation in September 2019.

Ririna Kaneko (2017 SVI) is no stranger
to the stage, having been a ballet dancer,lecturer, and president of Toastmasters
Club Tokyo. In February 2018 sheparticipated in the University of Tokyo
English Speaking Society’s 12th annual
speech contest. In her speech, entitled“Line”, she suggested that people might
perceive her white cane as a symbol ofthe boundary between disabled and nondisabled. Exhorting everyone to “breakFusae Nara (1988 SA), now a New Yorkbasedlawyer,
waspleased
andimpressed to be introduced by CWAJ toColumbia University students Shoko
Hirose (2017 SA) and Eri Tayama (2018SA).
We are always grateful to our generous
donors, including the Tokyo American
Club Women’s Group. In 2018 CWAJ wasable to award nine scholarships.
*See below for the meaning of theScholarship abbreviations.

2018 CWAJ SCHOLARSCWAJ Graduate Scholarship for Japanese Womento Study Abroad (SA)CWAJ Cultural Exchange Graduate Scholarshipfor Japanese Women to Study Abroad (SA)

TAKAHASHI, Misaki

TAYAMA, Eri

MSc, Forest and Nature Conservation, Wageningen University& Research (Kingdom of the Netherlands)

MIA, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia
University (USA)CWAJ Graduate Scholarship for Non-Japanese
Women to Study in Japan (NJG)

CWAJ Sano Chikara Graduate Scholarship for
Non-Japanese Women to Study in Japan (NJG)

ZHANG, Yangyu (People’s Republic of China)

GANIEVA, Umida (Republic of Uzbekistan)MA, Art Produce, Department of Arts Studies and Curatorial
Practice Graduate School of Global Arts, Tokyo Univ. of the Arts

PhD, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Graduate School ofMedicine, Nagoya University

CWAJ-Tokyo American Club Women’s Group
Graduate Scholarship for Non-Japanese Women to
Study in Japan (NJG)
One scholarship of 2 million yen

CWAJ Scholarship for the Visually Impaired toStudy in Japan (SVI)AZHARY, Jerilee (Malaysia)

ITONO, KaikiPhD, Reproductive Endocrinology, Department of Obstetricsand Gynecology, Graduate School of Medicine, The Universityof Tokyo

MA, Education and Psychology, Graduate School of Arts andSciences, International Christian University

CWAJ Fukushima Relief Scholarship (FRS)

Bachelor's Degree, Department of Social Work, College ofCommunity and Human Services, Rikkyo University

One scholarship of 3 million yen

One scholarship of 3 million yen

Two scholarships of 500,000 yen each

KOKUBUN, Kazumi

3rd year student, Fukushima Medical Univ. School of Nursing

MUNAKATA, Ayaka

3rd year student, Fukushima Medical Univ. School of Nursing

One scholarship of 3 million yen

One scholarship of 2 million yen

Two scholarships of 1.5 million yen each

AMIMOTO, Marina

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CWAJ ANNUAL REPORT 2018-2019

OTHER FUNDRAISINGCOMMUNITY SERVICE PROGRAM⚫ Volunteers for the Visually
Impaired (VVI)With more than 40 years of history, VVI’s
mainstay services are English language
lessonsattheJapan
Vocational
Development Center for the Blind andmock interviews for students at Tsukuba
High School. The English lessons, whichhave become increasingly popular,enhance the participants’ job skills. Newsand information about CWAJ and its VVI
programs are included in the VVI
newsletter which in 2018 was distributed
three times to nearly 200 VI friends.

speaker in English, handling various
related objects, listening to music orsinging, and tasting treats prepared by
the speakers. Always popular, attendance
was about 60 each time.

● Foreign Students’ Circle (FSC)
FSC had four events in 2018: Visiting adisaster prevention center in April,watching a kabuki play in July, zazen
meditation in October, and visiting theCWAJ Print Show in November. An
average of 5–10 foreign students
participated on each occasion. Kabuki wasthe most popular event, with 15 students
and alumni participating. FSC volunteers
also act as mentors for the foreign
students, offering support when needed.

● The Art and Gourmet Raffle
The Art and Gourmet Raffle proved to bea wonderful effort, adding to the successof the 62nd Print Show. With more than 80
prizes on offer, including vacation anddining packages, a lovely Shinoda print,
Dom Perignon champagne, beauty
packages, and many more, the Art and
Gourmet Raffle raised 865,000 yen for
CWAJ’s scholarship programs. The raffle
kicked-off in September, as CWAJ
members did an exceptional job sellingraffle tickets ahead of the Print Show. In
addition, many of the 1,000 Print Show
attendees bought tickets when visiting theshow which also played a big role in theoverwhelming success of the raffle.

Fund the FutureThis year’s two English conversation
gatherings (ECG) had themes of “theAmerican south” and “winter traditions.”
On each occasion, participants had funlearning about the topic by listening to theCULTURAL PROGRAMS● Cultural Program
CWAJ’sCulturalPrograms
providestimulating cultural events for members
and the community at large. Open to all,these events are held twice a year andusually conducted in English.
On 21st May 2018, fifty people enjoyedvisiting two lesser known temples in theseasideoutskirtsofKamakura.
Participants first took an exclusive private
tour of the small Renjo-in, guided by theHead Priest who talked about Amida andJōdo-shū (Pure Land Buddhism). Thegroup then moved on to nearby Kōmyō-ji(a larger and important teaching temple).
This visit included a guided tour of themagnificent buildings and garden (rebuiltin the 17th century), a discussion about
Buddhism, and further comments andquestions about food over a wonderfultemple meal (authentic shōjin-ryōri,typical Japanese vegetarian Buddhist
cuisine). Many of the group then joined
the optional climb up to the great sanmon(main gate).

The autumn program (including lunch ata traditional Japanese eatery) was aguided tour of the Kao Museum, situatedat their corporate complex in Sumida-ku.

The museum traces the early history ofsoap and "cleanliness" as well as
recounting the company's history from its
founding in 1890. Eye-catching anddetailed exhibits recreate the social
history of Japan in the 20th century
through developments in soap, otherhousehold products, and cosmetics. The
group
also
explored
hands-ondemonstrations and exhibits of more
recentlydeveloped
eco-conscious
products.

● Luncheon Program
CWAJ’s monthly luncheon program offers
unique opportunities for inspiration andpersonal enrichment, for promoting
cross-cultural values, for entertainment,
and for connecting with old friends andmeeting new ones.
In 2018, we offered ten diverse programs– from classical Japanese dance andmusic to a talk and fashion show by alegendary Japanese designer. We learned
about the challenges women face in the
media industry, and we heard from adevelopment practitioner with over thirty
years’ experience of the United Nations
Development Program about ways to help
womenenlarge
theirinternational
networks. In October, just ahead of thePrint Show, we were addressed by amember of the selection committee.
Finally, we were fortunate to beentertained by two professional musicians,
both daughters of CWAJ members. There
are further details about all of these
programs on the CWAJ website.

CWAJ supports SDGs,

By supporting the CWAJ Scholarship andEducation Programs and the CWAJ
Fukushima Relief Projects, you can makea genuine and long-lasting impact on thelives of individuals and communities bothin Japan and beyond. CWAJ welcomes
donations of any amount throughout theyear.
The support of the Japan Foundation
Designated Donation Program enables
CWAJ to award more scholarships towomen graduate students who havechosen to study abroad. A tax deduction
receipt from the Japan Foundation isavailable for donors to CWAJ who file tax
return forms in Japan. For further
information about making a donation toCWAJ, please contact,
donations@cwaj.org

About CWAJ
Founded in 1949, College Women's
Association of Japan (CWAJ) promotes
education and cross-cultural exchange
through its scholarship programs, theannual Print Show, and other programsthat support the community. A volunteer,not-for-profit organization, CWAJ has
450 members from over 20 countries
who work together in many diverse areasof activity. Offering opportunities for
women from all over the world to sharevaluable cultural experiences, CWAJ
provides a long-term link with Japan aswell as the immediate benefits of a wide
range of activities in and around Tokyo.
Interested in joining CWAJ? Pleasecontact membership@cwaj.org for
more information. If you know of former
CWAJ members who have repatriatedand may be interested in becoming anoverseas member, please contact,cwajoverseas@cwaj.org.
CWAJ College Women’s
Association of Japan(Ippan Shadan Hojin CWAJ)CWAJ Center
2-24-13-703 Kami-Osaki
Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 141-0021
Tel/Fax : 03-3491-2091
https://cwaj.org/