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


H.E. SHIGEO YAMADA, Japan’s Ambassador to the United States

MR. CHIRAG PARIKH, Executive Secretary, US National Space Council (Invited)

GENERAL CHARLIE BOLDEN, Former NASA Administrator

Additional featured guests to be named soon!


RETROSPECT

RETROSPECT


US-Japan Capital Gala Featured Guests

1987Senator John D. Rockefeller IV
1988Ezra Vogel, Professor, Harvard University
1989Yotaro Kobayashi, Chairman, Fuji Xerox
 Hon. Dick Gephardt, House Majority Leader
1990Hon. Tom Foley, Speaker of the House
1991Yasuhiro Nakasone, Former Prime Minister
1992Hon. Paul A. Volcker, Former Chairman of the Federal Reserve
1993Toyoo Gyoten, Chairman, Bank of Tokyo and former Vice Minister of Finance
1994Hon. Mike Mansfield, former US Ambassador to Japan and former Senate Majority Leader
1995Dr. Shoichiro Toyoda, Chairman, Toyota Motors & Chairman, Keidanren
1996Hon. Tony Lake, Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs
1997Hon. Tom Foley, Ambassador to Japan
1998Hon. Stuart Eizenstadt, Under Secretary of State for Economic, Business & Agricultural Affairs
1999Minoru Makihara, Chairman, Mitsubishi Corporation
2000Tom Friedman, New York Times
2001Hon. Tom Foley, Former US Ambassador to Japan
2002Sadako Ogata, former United Nations
2003No Dinner was held
2004Hon. Norman Mineta, Secretary of Transportation and former Secretary of Commerce
2005Taizo 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
2006No Dinner was held
2007Senator Daniel K. Inouye
2008Mr. Yuzaburo Mogi, Chairman and CEO, The Kikkoman Corporation
2009Senator Jim Webb from Virginia
2010Ambassador Tom Schieffer, Former US Ambassador to Japan
2011Professor Gerald Curtis, Burgess Professor of Political Science at Columbia University
2012Hon. Kurt Campbell, Chairman & CEO of the Asia Group, LLC & Former Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs
2013Dr. 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
2014Dr. George R. Packard, President of the United States – Japan Foundation & Adjunct Professor, Department of Political Science at Columbia University
2015Congressman Joaquin Castro, U.S House of Representatives (TX), Co-chair of U.S.-Japan Congressional Caucus
2016Special Guest Panel: David E. Sanger (The New York Times), Jacob Schlesinger (The Wall Street Journal), Sheila Smith (Council on Foreign Relations, Moderator)
2017Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan
2018Special Guest Panel: Congressman Joaquin Castro (Texas), Congressman French Hill (Arkansas)
2019Special 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)
2020Special Guest Panel: Yuriko Koike (Tokyo Governor), Caroline Kennedy (Former Ambassador to Japan), and Ms. Wendy Cutler (Asia Society Policy Institute)
2021Ambassador Tomita Koji, The Honorable Senator Bill Hagerty
2022Ambassador Tomita Koji, Dr. Endo Nobuhiro, Mr. Charles D. Lake, The Honorable Kurt Campbell
2023Ambassador 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.”

2011Dr. Gerlad L. Curtis
Amb. Thomas S. Foley
Amb. William C. Sherman
2012Dr. George R. Packard
Amb. Yoshio Okawara
2013Amb. Ichiro Fujisaki
Mr. William Breer & Mrs. Peggy Breer
2014Washington Toho Koto Society
100th Infantry Battalion, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and the Nisei who served in the Military Intelligence Service
2015Prime Minister Yashuiro Nakasone
Ms. Wendy Cutler
2016Amb. Rust M. Deming & Mrs. Kristen Deming
The American Association for Teachers of Japanese (AATJ)
2017Amb. Walter F. Mondale
Amb. Michael H. Armacost
Dr. Sachiko Kuno
2018 The Honorable Norman Y. Mineta
Mrs. Nobuko Sasae
2019The Honorable Taro Kono
2020Mr. John Gauntner
2021Congresswoman Diana DeGette (D-CO)
2022The Honorable Kurt Campbell
2023Masanori “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.  

2019Individual: Joshua Beatty
Group: Kizuna Across Cultures
2020Individual: Dr. Sherry Martin
Group: Globalize DC
2021Individual: Dr. Mya Fisher
Group: Japan-America Student Conference
2022Individual: Ms. Reiko Hirai
Group: Mid Atlantic Association of Teachers of Japanese
2023Individual: Ms. Colette H. Fozard
Group: J.LIVE TALK at George Washington University