1CWAJ ANNUAL REPORT 2017-2018

CWAJ
ANNUAL REPORT2017-2018

COLLEGE WOMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF JAPANCWAJ’s Fukushima Programs Awarded
Governor’s Award of Appreciation
In April 2017 CWAJ was very honored toreceive
theGovernor'sAwardofAppreciation from Dr Shin’ichi Niwa on
behalf of Fukushima Governor Masao
Uchibori
inrecognitionof
CWAJ'simmediate and continued support ofFukushima following the 2011 Great East
Japan Earthquake. Dr Niwa also presented
CWAJ with a specially-made pair of okiagari
koboshi, papier-mâché dolls that recover
their upright position when pushed over, abeautiful symbol of Fukushima’s recovery
from adversity. Following the ceremony,
Dr Niwa gave an inspiring update on
Fukushima’s recovery efforts.

Mr Ren Otani of the Soma Kokoro-no-Care
Center and Nagomi Mental Health Clinic
helped greatly in both Soma andSukagawa
bychauffeuring
CWAJ
volunteers and actively taking part in bothprograms. Supporting Nagomi Health Care
Center was CWAJ's first Fukushima Relief
Project. In Sukagawa, Sonoko Nagasawa(2013-15 Fukushima Relief Scholar) kindlycame again to help with Asobijutsu. What
wonderful synergy!

APRIL 2018
Denzen AwardThe Denzen Award, an art competition
for elementary and middle school
students, honors Aoudou Denzen, an
Edo-period artist born in Sukagawa.
Since 2013 CWAJ has invited the top
winner in each age 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.

Fukushima Relief Scholarships (FRS)
Since the launch of the FRS program in2012, Fukushima Relief Scholarships havesupported13
nursingstudentsatFukushima Medical University School of
Nursing and its Graduate School. Two
additional recipients have been selected forthe 2018-19 academic year. Like all CWAJ
scholarships, FRS have no age limit; they
support talented undergraduates as well as
empower older students and students withfamilies to achieve their dreams.

Fukushima Art ProjectIn the summer of 2017 CWAJ volunteers
returned to Soma and Sukagawa withProfessor Ebizuka of Tama Art University
and his staff to hold Asobijutsu ("Art asPlay") programs. This year’s theme was"Create many colors and let them shine".
Each child created a unique array of
blended colors, which were then used topaint fantastic paper lampshades. Once allwere finished, the room was darkened andthe lamps were turned on. What abeautiful display of color brightened theroom! Asobijutsu will be held again insummer 2018.

SAVE THE DATES
62nd CWAJ Print Show
Hillside Forum, Daikanyama, TokyoSpecial English Program for Children
Before the Asobijutsu session, four CWAJ
volunteers led a fun program in English for
20 children at the Soma City Central
Children's Center. This included learningcolor and animal vocabulary, action songs,and games. At storytelling time, the book
Going on a Lion Hunt was read to thechildren.
Afterwards
everyone
imaginativelyacted
out
theirown
adventures, going through mud, trees, anda river to arrive at a cave to find a lion,
then running quickly back to safety. The
children took home their origami craft
animal and color game as a souvenir of theday's fun English lesson.

Weds Oct 31 – Sun Nov 4 2018
For the second time, we are
exhibiting at the beautiful, lightfilled Hillside Forum inDaikanyama! Make a note of thedates and plan to join us for thisrenowned exhibition and sale ofcontemporary Japanese prints.
CWAJ Associate Show
“Beyond the First Impression”
Prints from Cover Artists
Tues Oct 16 – Mon Nov 5 2018.
This year’s exhibition will focus on
catalogue cover artists from thelong history of the CWAJ Print Show.
Frederick Harris Gallery,
Tokyo American Club.
"Earthly Delights: Selections
from the 61st CWAJ Print Show"
During the summer of 2018,
Jun 20 – Sep 3 fifty prints from the61st Print Show will be exhibited andsold at Highfield Hall & Gardens inFalmouth, Massachusetts.
“Beyond the First Impression”

2CWAJ ANNUAL REPORT 2017-2018

CWAJ 61st PRINT SHOW:

New Venue Attracts
a Wider Audience

We welcomed locals and expats, students
and tourists, many different nationalities
and different age groups. There was asteady flow of visitors throughout the fivedays of the show. The docent tours
provided in English and Japanese were
popular and greatly increased theenjoyment and understanding of theprints.

In October 2017, the 61st CWAJ Print
Show was launched at the Hillside Forum
Gallery in the fashionable Tokyo district ofDaikanyama.
This exhibition and sale of originalcontemporary Japanese prints presented
209 artworks. Most of these had been
selected by a prestigious jury, with thebalance contributed by 26 invited artists.
The show ran for five days, Wednesday
25 – Sunday 29 October.

All in all, this move to Hillside Forum
Gallery has been hugely successful andhas rekindled the joy of the CWAJ Print
Show for members and artists alike.

Associate Show
In keeping with past traditions, CWAJ’s
Associate Show was presented at theFrederick Harris Gallery at the Tokyo
American Club, September 26 – October
16. This meticulously curated small showcalled “Chiseled Variations” comprised 31
works showcasing the exciting diversity ofcontemporaryJapanese
woodblockprinting.

CWAJ Print Show in Kobe
In addition to the prints in the main show,
there was a display of “Hands-on Art(HOA)”. This is a unique program
designed primarily for visually impaired
visitors and a regular feature of the CWAJ
Print Show. It was also appreciated bymany sighted visitors. This year, fiveimages were chosen and made into raisedimages.

Following the main Print Show inDaikanyama, a dedicated team of CWAJ
members took 63 of the prints to Kobe foran exhibition and sale at the Kobe Club.
This show ran from November 15 – 19
and was also very successful. This was
the third time that CWAJ presented aPrint Show in Kobe, serving to maintainthe treasured friendships between CWAJ
and the Kobe community.

2018 CWAJ Young
Young Printmaker
PrintmakerAward Award
1 award of 500,000 yen

The decision to move to a new venue was
not made lightly and presented manychallenges. However, when the resulting
show opened, it was highly acclaimed andwell attended. Moving to a new area
introduced CWAJ and this beautiful art
form to a new audience. The artwork wasprofessionally
andsympatheticallydisplayed and enhanced by the whitewalls and natural light of the gallery.

Message from CWAJ’s President
Dear Friends,
On behalf of the College
Women’s Association ofJapan (CWAJ), I would
like to convey our deep
gratitude for your warm
support in helping us make 2017 agreat success.
Aftercelebrating
its“Kanreki”(“rebirth”) anniversary in October 2015,
the CWAJ Print Show embarked on anew era with the 61st Show held forthe first time at the fashionable Hillside
Forum in Daikanyama. At this newvenue the revitalized Print Show wasvery well received and offered anopportunity to introduce CWAJ to awider community including many
young and multicultural visitors. The
many positive comments from artistsand guests have encouraged us tocontinue Print Show at the same venue
in 2018.

■ NISHIMURA Ryo
Kyoto City University of Art, MAArt, MA
year student.
2ndyear2ndstudent.

Three works by the 2016 recipient of theYoung Printmaker Award, Ikumi Okada,
were featured in the show. Her beautiful
moody image, “Night on the Opposite
Shore”, was chosen for the cover of the2017 catalogue and the artist was present
to sign copies for purchasers.
The CWAJ Art and Scholarship Celebration
also held last October enticed people toattend the Print Show and raised muchneeded funds for CWAJ’s scholarshipprograms.
Another highlight in 2017 was the news
that CWAJ had received an Award of
Appreciation from the Governor of
Fukushima Prefecture in recognition of theFukushima Relief Projects that werelaunched in 2011 immediately after theGreat East Japan Earthquake.
If youhaven’t already done so, please read theFukushima Relief Projects report on thecover page for more details on the award
and CWAJ’s continued support for thepeople of Fukushima.
In 2019 CWAJ will commemorate its 70thanniversary. Established by two American
and two Japanese women in 1949, soonafter the end of World War II, CWAJ has
tirelessly served the community byawarding scholarships to Japanese andnon-Japanese women graduate students,

Mr. Nishimura
Nishimura plans
plans toto use the award
Mrmoneybuy amoney
1 meter wideuse
the toaward
woodblockcopper print machine,
tobuy a 1- ormeter
whichwoodblockhe often usewideor for his work.
copper print machine,which he often uses
for his work.

to visually impaired men and women, toprint artists, and most recently tograduate and undergraduate men andwomen studying nursing at Fukushima
Medical University. CWAJ also provides
educational and cross-cultural programs
and presents CWAJ’s annual Print Show,an exhibition and sale of high-quality
contemporary Japanese prints. The Print
Show is CWAJ’s major fundraiser,providing most of the resources needed
to fund its scholarship programs.
We are proud of our long history and of
our unchanging mission to serve thecommunity through shared goals andmulticultural friendships. In 2018, CWAJ
will continue to work with passion to fulfill
our mission to the community.
We will be extremely grateful for yourcontinued support as well your invaluableguidance and encouragement.
With best regards,
Reiko Oshima
2018 CWAJ President

3

CWAJ ANNUAL REPORT 2017-2018

CWAJ SCHOLARSHIPA Celebration ofExcellence and theExcellent
Our 2017 scholars were from disciplinesthat were as varied as they were excitingand meaningful. The aim of the CWAJ
scholarships is to empower change,
inspire leadership and inculcate a spirit ofgiving back to the community - and eachscholarship recipient in 2017 embodied
the core principles behind this mission.
Indeed, at the May luncheon, Saule
Zholdayakova(NJG)
statedthat“Educating a woman means educating ageneration” – and this joint emphasis on
educationandleadership tied
togethertheaims of all ourscholarship
recipients.
Inaddition
threescholarship
recipients fromprevious years Dragana Lazic, Ellie
BaeandAlba
Zamarbide(NJG,2016)
andAreiShirai (SA, 2011) spoke about theirrespective
postscholarship journeys,providing inspiration
to the new scholars and the audience
alike. In sum, the afternoon was acelebration of excellence and theexcellent!
The May luncheon is inarguably thehighlight of the scholarship year. But thework of the scholarship committee begins
in September the previous year when agroup of dedicated and enthusiastic CWAJ
members embarks upon the exciting
process of selecting the recipients of thevarious categories of scholarships. Firstthe selection committee coordinators
receive an orientation. They then guidetheselectioncommittee
members
through the review of the applications,interviews of the shortlisted candidates
and, finally, the discussion to determine

the winning scholars. It is a diligent andthorough process ensuring that thescholarships are awarded to the mostcommendable applicants in each category.
While the selection process requires
many volunteer hours, we would not beable to maintain CWAJ’s core mission ofawarding scholarships without the large
and small donations we receive fromindividuals,groups
andcorporate
supporters, as well as from the proceedsof the Print Show. In 2017 CWAJ wasable to award nine scholarships, includingtwo for visually impaired students andthree for nursing students in Fukushima.
The Women’s Group at the Tokyo
American Club once again funded a fullscholarship for a non-Japanese graduate.
Please take a look at the full list of 2017scholars below and read more about
them on the CWAJ website. The details
about the Fukushima Relief Scholarships
are on the cover page.
We invite you to continue to support
CWAJ’s work by making a donation in2018. For more details, please see theinformation on p. 4

2017 CWAJ SCHOLARSCWAJ Graduate Scholarshipfor Japanese Women to Study Abroad (SA)CWAJ Scholarship for the VisuallyImpaired to Study in Japan (SVI)

One scholarship of 3 million yen

Two scholarships of 1.5 million yen each

■ HIROSE, Shoko
MA, Social-Organizational Psychology, Teachers College, Columbia
University (USA)■■ KANEKO,KANEKO, Ririna
RirinaBachelor’s
Bachelor’s Degree,Degree, Political
Political Science,
Science, Faculty
Faculty ofof
Liberal Arts,Arts, Sophia
Sophia University
University
LiberalCWAJ Cultural Exchange Graduate Scholarshipfor Japanese Women to Study Abroad (SA)One scholarship of 3 million yen■ SHIMA, Aki
MA, Criminology and Social Research, University of York (UK)CWAJ Cultural Exchange Sano Chikara Graduate Scholarshipfor Non-Japanese Women to Study in Japan (NJG)
One scholarship of 2 million yen■ GHIMIRE, Mamata (Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal)
PhD, Healthcare Policy and Management, Graduate School ofComprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba

CWAJ-Tokyo American Club Women’s Group Graduate
Scholarship for Non-Japanese Women to Study in Japan (NJG)
One scholarship of 2 million yen■ ZHOLDAYAKOVA, Saule (Republic of Kazakhstan)
PhD, Technology and Science, Graduate School of Technology and Science,Tokai University■■ MORI,MORI, Yudai
Yudai
Bachelor’s
Bachelor’s Degree,Degree, Department
Department ofof BusinessBusiness
Administration,
FacultyofEconomics,Administration, Faculty of Economics, Niigata
Niigata
UniversityUniversity

CWAJ Fukushima Relief Scholarship (FRS)
0.5 millionyen
yeneacheach
Three scholarships of 500,000■ KANNO, Noriko
MSN, Oncology Nursing, Graduate School ofNursing, Fukushima Medical University■ MORI, Miyuki
MSN, Maternity Nursing, Graduate School ofNursing, Fukushima Medical University■ USUI, Yuka
3rd year student, School of Nursing, Fukushima
Medical University

4CWAJ ANNUAL REPORT 2017-2018

COMMUNITY SERVICEPROGRAMS
Volunteers for the Visually
Impaired (VVI)
The VVI group continues to provide
much-appreciated services to thevisually impaired community. The
twice-weekly English language lessons
at the Japan Vocational Development
Center for the Blind increase theparticipants’ job skills. Tsukuba HighSchool students benefit from the mockinterviews held as part of their
preparation for the Eiken English
proficiency test. This year’s three
English conversation gatherings focusedon the histories of New Zealand andEgypt, and the music of Brazil, andwere attended by more than 60 peopleon each occasion. The VVI newslettercontains program information andreports on other topics of interest. It issent to more than 100 VI friends byemail and other means.

Foreign Students’ Circle (FSC)
Listening and watching are the usual
ways in which university students learn
a subject. FSC takes the next step andfacilitates practical opportunities forforeign students to experience Japaneseculture, customs, and history. Previous
events have included kabuki, origami,temple and shrine visits, and several
types of tea ceremony. FSC is a funway for foreign students and CWAJ
members to interact and learn about
each other’s cultures and customs. FSC
mentors also take care of students
individually by providing advice aboutliving in Japan, inviting them to otherevents, and offering general support.

CULTURAL PROGRAMSMembers enjoyed two Cultural Program
events in 2017. The first was a visit to theYamatane Museum of Art in Hiroo, Tokyo,
on Saturday June 3. The Museum’sDirector, Dr Taeko Yamazaki, gave an
introduction to the museum, which isrenowned for its collection of Japanese art.
Curator Minako Takahashi then gave an
overview of Japanese painting. The talks
were followed by a gallery tour focusing
on paintings from the ongoing exhibition,“A World of Flowers - from Rimpa School
to Contemporary Art.” The entire program
was conducted in English. Participants
enjoyed the afternoon viewing someexquisite Japanese paintings and also
tasted tea and confectionery themedaround some of the exhibits.
The second event took place at theBrazilian Embassy on Saturday November
11. CWAJ was privileged to hold a cultural
evening there thanks to the kind
hospitality of His Excellency Ambassador
Andre Aranha Corrêa Do Lago and Madam
BéatriceCorrêaDoLago.
Acommemorative
exhibition
entitled“Eternal Bond: 50 Years of Time from theFirst Visit to Brazil by Their Majesties theEmperor and the Empress” was on view. A
special lecture by the Minister, Mr.
Augusto Pestana accompanied by wideranging
archivematerial
deepenedparticipants’ understanding of the impactof the visit and the friendship between thetwo countries. The evening concluded witha reception, where a wonderful spread of
Brazilian delicacies delighted everyone.

CWAJ ART ＆ SCHOLARSHIP
CELEBRATIONThe CWAJ Art and Scholarship Celebration
held at the Tokyo American Club on
October 5 2017 was a big success! Just
over 100 guests joined us and thoroughly
enjoyed a silent auction of vintage prints
and other artworks, travel and dining
experiences and more, as well as apremium wine-tasting and wine raffle, live
music from the ASIJ Jazz Band, and, ofcourse, delicious food.
Attendees
enthusiasticallyandgenerously
participated in both the silent auction andwine raffle, which ultimately raised 1.3
million yen to support CWAJ’s scholarshipand education programs. CWAJ would
again like to thank all donors, guests,volunteers, and supporters who made theCWAJ Art and Scholarship Celebrationsuch a memorable occasion!

Fund the Future!
By supporting the CWAJ Scholarshipand Education Programs and theCWAJ Fukushima Relief Projects, you
can make a genuine and long-lasting
impact on the lives of individuals andcommunities both in Japan andbeyond. CWAJ welcomes donations of
any amount throughout the year.
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 JapanFoundation is available for donors toCWAJ who file tax return forms inJapan. For further information about
making a donation to CWAJ, pleasecontact, donations@cwaj.org

About CWAJ

Special Member Activities

Children’s Special ProjectWith the closing of the CSP, CWAJ
wishes to thank everyone who has
supported our children’s programs overthe years. CWAJ is in the process ofevaluating how we can best use ourlimited resources to serve the changing
needs of our community.

CWAJ College Women’s
Association of Japan(Ippan Shadan Hojin CWAJ)CWAJ Center2-24-13-703 Kami-Osaki
Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 141-0021
Tel/Fax : 03-3491-2091
www.cwaj.org

In September last year, there was aspecial afternoon event featuring one of
CWAJ’s very distinguished members,
Tamako Takamatsu, well known for hervery high-profile work as an interpreterand NHK personality. More than 50 CWAJ
members
attended,welcoming
theopportunity to hear more about Tamako’s
career and her message of encouragement
for women to pursue their dreams.

Founded in 1949, College Women'sAssociationofJapan(CWAJ)
promotes education and cross-cultural
exchange through its scholarshipprograms, the annual Print Show, andother programs that support thecommunity. A volunteer, not-forprofit 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 toshare valuable cultural experiences,
CWAJ provides a long-term link withJapan as well as the immediate
benefits of a wide range of activities
in and around Tokyo. Interested injoining
CWAJ?
Pleasecontact
membership@cwaj.org for more
information. If you know of former
CWAJ members who have repatriatedand may be interested in becoming
an overseas member, please contact,cwajoverseas@cwaj.org