In October 1995, Takei was personally appointed by President Clinton to the US-Japan Friendship Commission, where hs approves arts and culture grants to promote good relations between the United States and Japan. Takei's interests extend to fiction and non-fiction writing. He is an editor and columnist for Transpacific, the monthly magazine focused on Pacific Rim news. He wrote one science-fiction novel, Mirror Friend, Mirror Foe , and his autobiography, To The Stars . Mr. Takei's MIT residency is sponsored by the MIT Office of the Arts, the MIT Foreign Languages and Literatures Section within of the School of Humanities and Social Science, and numerous other MIT offices.
Admission is free to the three public events.