Japan America Society of Chicago Celebrates 90th Anniversary Gala

Chicago, February 19th, 2020 - The Japan America Society of Chicago (JASC) will toast decades of Japanese and American friendship during the 90th Anniversary Gala, 6 to 9 p.m., Friday, March 13th, 2020, in the Gold Coast Room, Drake Hotel, 140 E. Walton Place. Guests who attend will be among the first to attend a private viewing of some of JASC’s exquisite collection of Japanese artwork, including photography by the late Mary Koga, award-winning photographer whose works are in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. Harvard Professor Emeritus, Ezra Vogel, an eminent East Asian scholar and author, will deliver a key-note address about the history of Chinese-Japanese relations. Dr. Vogel is the Henry Ford II Professor of the Social Sciences Emeritus at Harvard University.

The event begins with a 6 p.m. reception featuring Japanese cuisine and traditional Koto (stringed instrument) music. Guests will be able to stroll through a gallery of JASC’s private collection of precious Japanese art. In addition to unique prints, silver pieces and pottery– some dating back as early as the 19th century; attendees will have a rare opportunity to view Koga’s photographic series, Floral Forms, which often draws comparison to the floral paintings of Georgia O’Keeffe. By displaying her art, JASC honors her legacy and her contributions to the organization in this year which would have been her 100th birthday. After being relocated to an internment camp in California in the early 1940s, she found a home in the city of Chicago, where she spearheaded the revival of JASC after the war.

The evening continues with a three-course dinner and retrospective video of the history of JASC. Noriyuki Shikata, Associate for U.S.-Japan Relations Program at Harvard University’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs and Former Deputy Chief of Mission at the Japanese Embassy in Beijing, will introduce Prof. Vogel. A renowned East Asian Studies scholar and award-winning author, Prof. Vogel has published dozens of articles and books on Japan, China, and US East-Asian relations. His book, Japan as Number One: Lessons for America (1979), is Japan’s all-time best seller of a non-fiction book by a western author.

Dress for the event is business or national attire and individual tickets are $150. Corporate tables are $1,500. To order tickets for JASC 90th Anniversary Gala and for more information, visit www.jaschicago.org or contact Erika Kono, kono@jaschicago.org.

About The Japan America Society of Chicago

Established in 1930, The Japan America Society of Chicago is a not-for-profit, nonpartisan, nonpolitical association that “fosters understanding between our two cultures, to cultivate personal friendship between our two peoples.” The Society promotes dialogue, social interaction, cooperation and friendship among its members by serving as a forum for the exchange of ideas, information and experiences on economic, political, business and cultural affairs that inform and shape U.S.- Japan bilateral relations in world affairs. For more information, visit www.jaschicago.org.