Dear Friend of JFIT,

 

As the Dragon is making its exit, we are gearing up for the Year of the Snake (巳 or mi/snake). Unlike what the Western image may suggest, in Asia snakes are said to be wise, goal-oriented, and deep thinkers. We here at JFIT are fortunate to be surrounded by deep thinkers like you. And we can’t do it without your help. That’s why we are writing today to ask you to consider an end-of-the-year donation to ensure that we can continue to bring you insightful and interesting offerings.

 

Our Year of the Dragon was wonderfully successful, as we zigzagged at crazy speed through the twelve months. Ulrike published not one, but two books. In March, a “pocketbook” (shinsho) titled シン・日本の経営：悲観バイアスを排す (“New Japan Management: Overcoming the Negativity Bias”) was published by Nikkei BP Premiere. Somehow it became a bestseller and is now in its fourth print. That in turn triggered a number of articles in news outlets such as Shūkan Diamond and Nikkei Business, and even a TV appearance on NHK.

 

To reach a broader audience beyond Japan with this message, an English version that was revised and repositioned for the non-Japanese audience was published just last week under the title "Japan Re-Emerges." In an experiment intended to reach a larger number of people, this was self-published at Amazon so that we could keep the price for the Kindle version low. It’s just $5.99 or ¥867 – less than a bowl of ramen. 

 

Our Japan Zoominar (JZ) has continued as well, with conversations ranging from energy and security to politics and the Maiko show on Netflix. In 2024, we had a total of 1,454 live audience at 12 events, and 4,254 YouTube views – thank you all for your interest! In total, since we launched JZ in April 2020, we have had more than 13,500 live audience and over 74,500 views of the recordings. As always, the recordings are available from our website. We will begin the 2024 series on Jan. 7 and look forward to seeing you on Zoom throughout the year. 

 

And perhaps the biggest news for JFIT was that we received a grant from the Japan Foundation that allowed us to hire a postdoctoral scholar in Dr. Yuji Idomoto. Yuji just earned his Ph.D. from the University of Southern California, and he is an expert in Japanese security and defense-related matters, as well as international relations in Asia. Watch out for a JZ with him in early 2025! The grant also allowed us to teach a class titled “Japan and the Geopolitics of the Indo-Pacific” and to organize a symposium on that topic that brought Japan scholars and researchers from around the world to San Diego.

 

All these activities are possible only because of you – our friends, supporters, program participants, Japan Zoominar speakers, JZ audience, and donors. We thank you for being part of our community. We hope you can support our efforts with a gift, however small or large, to show the powers-that-be that Japan still matters and that we have a critical mass of audience here. Donations will not be used for lavish dinners, big staff, or office matters, because we don’t actually do that sort of thing. Instead, all donations will flow straight into making sure that the JZ and associated activities can continue and that we can reach more people with our message. 

 

The easiest way to make your gift is online with a credit card. If you prefer to donate by check, please make it payable to “UC San Diego Foundation” with a notation that “JFIT #2520” is your intended target. Please mail it to UCSD Gift Processing, 9500 Gilman Drive #0940, La Jolla, CA 92093-0940. 

 

Happy Holidays, and a Happy New Year of the Snake! Taka has drawn a snake for us this year, to guide us all into 2025. May yours be filled with all the wisdom, goal orientation, and good luck of this JFIT Snake!

 

With best wishes,
Ulrike Schaede 

Taka Kiyoizumi 

and the JFIT Team