For over six decades, the Japan-America Society has brought Japan to the Nation’s Capital community. Since the beginning, the Society has been a grassroots organization – a place dedicated to bringing Japan and America closer together through the people of both countries.
- Sakura Matsuri – Japanese Street Festival, which began in 1957, now brings together over 25,000 people each spring
- In 2014 JASWDC began CineMatsuri™, which showcases Japan’s best recent films here in DC to an audience that may not be able to access them otherwise
- JASWDC’s Japanese language classes, which began in 1959, are at their highest attendance ever
- Japan-in-a-Suitcase has taught thousands of children at no cost to schools across the DMV since it began in 1999
- The National Japan Bowl has brought hundreds of high school students from all over the nation each year to showcase their knowledge of Japan since 1992, and has begun to expand internationally
- Our first Annual Dinner was in 1987, with Senator John D. Rockefeller IV as the speaker. Since then, Prime Ministers, Ambassadors, prominent government members, and company executives have appeared at our dinners all with the same mission – to bring Japan and America closer together
Our mission hasn’t changed since the Society was formed in 1957. In the coming years we will continue to expand and better our programming, but we cannot do it alone. We need your help to achieve the vision that we have established for the next decade.
You can also donate using the following methods:
- If you are 70 ½ years old or older, you can transfer funds from your IRA to JASWDC and will not have to pay any tax on that distribution. This is called a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD). In most cases, this can be done online through the company that manages your IRA. Here is how one funds manager explains it.
- Transfer your stocks, bonds, or mutual funds to us and avoid paying tax on the capital gains. Instead, your donation is tax-deductible. For more information, see this link.