The Japan-America Society of Washington DC’s US-Japan Capital Gala and Silent Auction is one of the Society’s signature flagship programs. Over the years the Gala has welcomed and honored some of America’s and Japan’s most distinguished leaders.
The Gala and Silent Auction support Japan-America Society of Washington DC’s activities, including the National Japan Bowl, the Society’s Tanaka & Green Scholarship program, and our many other events aimed at nurturing US-Japan ties at the grassroots level
Presenting the Japan-America Society of Washington DC’s
38th Annual US-Japan Capital Gala
Celebrating the US-Japan Space Partnership
Wednesday, October 30th, 2024
Omni Shoreham, Washington DC
FEATURING
KURT CAMPBELL, Deputy Secretary of State
H.E. SHIGEO YAMADA, Japan’s Ambassador to the United States
DANIEL J. KRITENBRINK,
Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs
MR. CHIRAG PARIKH, Executive Secretary, US National Space Council
MAJOR GENERAL CHARLES F. BOLDEN JR., USMC (Ret.),
12th NASA Administrator
DR. NORISHIGE KANAI, JAXA Astronaut
MR. DANIEL TANI, NASA Astronaut (ret.)
RETROSPECT
RETROSPECT
US-Japan Capital Gala Featured Guests
| 1987 | Senator John D. Rockefeller IV |
| 1988 | Ezra Vogel, Professor, Harvard University |
| 1989 | Yotaro Kobayashi, Chairman, Fuji Xerox |
| Hon. Dick Gephardt, House Majority Leader | |
| 1990 | Hon. Tom Foley, Speaker of the House |
| 1991 | Yasuhiro Nakasone, Former Prime Minister |
| 1992 | Hon. Paul A. Volcker, Former Chairman of the Federal Reserve |
| 1993 | Toyoo Gyoten, Chairman, Bank of Tokyo and former Vice Minister of Finance |
| 1994 | Hon. Mike Mansfield, former US Ambassador to Japan and former Senate Majority Leader |
| 1995 | Dr. Shoichiro Toyoda, Chairman, Toyota Motors & Chairman, Keidanren |
| 1996 | Hon. Tony Lake, Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs |
| 1997 | Hon. Tom Foley, Ambassador to Japan |
| 1998 | Hon. Stuart Eizenstadt, Under Secretary of State for Economic, Business & Agricultural Affairs |
| 1999 | Minoru Makihara, Chairman, Mitsubishi Corporation |
| 2000 | Tom Friedman, New York Times |
| 2001 | Hon. Tom Foley, Former US Ambassador to Japan |
| 2002 | Sadako Ogata, former United Nations |
| 2003 | No Dinner was held |
| 2004 | Hon. Norman Mineta, Secretary of Transportation and former Secretary of Commerce |
| 2005 | Taizo Nishimuro, Chairman, Toshiba Corporation and Chairman, US-Japan Business Council |
| Hon. Howard Baker, former US Ambassador to Japan, former Senate Majority Leader, and former White House Chief of Staff | |
| 2006 | No Dinner was held |
| 2007 | Senator Daniel K. Inouye |
| 2008 | Mr. Yuzaburo Mogi, Chairman and CEO, The Kikkoman Corporation |
| 2009 | Senator Jim Webb from Virginia |
| 2010 | Ambassador Tom Schieffer, Former US Ambassador to Japan |
| 2011 | Professor Gerald Curtis, Burgess Professor of Political Science at Columbia University |
| 2012 | Hon. Kurt Campbell, Chairman & CEO of the Asia Group, LLC & Former Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs |
| 2013 | Dr. Michael J. Green, Senior Vice President for Asia and Japan Chair, CSIS & Associate Professor at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University |
| 2014 | Dr. George R. Packard, President of the United States – Japan Foundation & Adjunct Professor, Department of Political Science at Columbia University |
| 2015 | Congressman Joaquin Castro, U.S House of Representatives (TX), Co-chair of U.S.-Japan Congressional Caucus |
| 2016 | Special Guest Panel: David E. Sanger (The New York Times), Jacob Schlesinger (The Wall Street Journal), Sheila Smith (Council on Foreign Relations, Moderator) |
| 2017 | Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan |
| 2018 | Special Guest Panel: Congressman Joaquin Castro (Texas), Congressman French Hill (Arkansas) |
| 2019 | Special Guest Panel: Richard Fontaine (President, CNAS), Sheila Smith (Senior Fellow for Japan Studies, CFR), and Mike Green (Japan Chair, CSIS) and JASWDC Co-Vice Chair Emma Chanlett-Avery (Specialist in Asian Affairs, Congressional Research Service) |
| 2020 | Special Guest Panel: Yuriko Koike (Tokyo Governor), Caroline Kennedy (Former Ambassador to Japan), and Ms. Wendy Cutler (Asia Society Policy Institute) |
| 2021 | Ambassador Tomita Koji, The Honorable Senator Bill Hagerty |
| 2022 | Ambassador Tomita Koji, Dr. Endo Nobuhiro, Mr. Charles D. Lake, The Honorable Kurt Campbell |
| 2023 | Ambassador Koji Tomita, Senator Angus King, Senator Bill Hagerty, Assistant Secretary Daniel Kritenbrink, Masanori “Mashi” Murakami (the First Japanese Player in Major League Baseball), Japan Baseball Legend Tuffy Rhodes |
The Marshall Green Award
The JASWDC Board of Trustees established the Marshall Green Award in 2011 to recognize “an individual or a group that has made a sustained and significant contribution to strengthening relations between the United States and Japan, and/or to increasing understanding between the American and Japanese people.”
| 2011 | Dr. Gerlad L. Curtis Amb. Thomas S. Foley Amb. William C. Sherman |
| 2012 | Dr. George R. Packard Amb. Yoshio Okawara |
| 2013 | Amb. Ichiro Fujisaki Mr. William Breer & Mrs. Peggy Breer |
| 2014 | Washington Toho Koto Society 100th Infantry Battalion, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and the Nisei who served in the Military Intelligence Service |
| 2015 | Prime Minister Yashuiro Nakasone Ms. Wendy Cutler |
| 2016 | Amb. Rust M. Deming & Mrs. Kristen Deming The American Association for Teachers of Japanese (AATJ) |
| 2017 | Amb. Walter F. Mondale Amb. Michael H. Armacost Dr. Sachiko Kuno |
| 2018 |
The Honorable Norman Y. Mineta Mrs. Nobuko Sasae |
| 2019 | The Honorable Taro Kono |
| 2020 | Mr. John Gauntner |
| 2021 | Congresswoman Diana DeGette (D-CO) |
| 2022 | The Honorable Kurt Campbell |
| 2023 | Masanori “Mashi” Murakami The First Japanese Player in Major League Baseball |
The John & Hiroko Malott Leadership Award
The John and Hiroko Malott Leadership Award is presented annually by the Japan-America Society of Washington DC to an individual or a group that is making a significant contribution to the future of US-Japan relations by increasing mutual understanding and cooperation between the next generation of Americans and Japanese. The Society is honored to recognize the recipients and is confident that their efforts will continue to enhance our relationship in the years to come.
| 2019 | Individual: Joshua Beatty Group: Kizuna Across Cultures |
| 2020 | Individual: Dr. Sherry Martin Group: Globalize DC |
| 2021 | Individual: Dr. Mya Fisher Group: Japan-America Student Conference |
| 2022 | Individual: Ms. Reiko Hirai Group: Mid Atlantic Association of Teachers of Japanese |
| 2023 | Individual: Ms. Colette H. Fozard Group: J.LIVE TALK at George Washington University |