NAJAS – The National Association of Japan-America Societies

The National Association of Japan-America Societies, (NAJAS) is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization that offers educational, cultural and business programs about Japan and U.S.-Japan relations to the general public through its member Japan and Japan-America Societies. NAJAS is the only national non-profit network in the United States dedicated to public education about Japan. NAJAS consists of approximately 40 independent Japan-related organizations located in 32 cities around the country. Its membership cuts across usual group boundaries (business, political, academic, American, Japanese, etc.) and affords a variety of perspectives on U.S.-Japan relations. That variety and outreach are its main strengths.
This membership network annually presents to its members and the general public:

1. · Over 800 public affairs programs
2. · 500 corporate programs
3. · 160 cultural programs and educational programs reaching more than 250,000 students each year

Collectively, the member societies represent more than:

1. · 15,000 individuals
2. · Over 15,000 corporate representatives

Educational outreach programs reaching more than 250,000 students each year
NAJAS is served by a Board of Directors and Advisory Board comprised of key individuals from business, academia and government involved in the US-Japan relationship.

Mission
The National Association of Japan-America Societies, Inc. (NAJAS), an umbrella organization for its 39 member societies, shares with them the mission of promoting better understanding between Americans and Japanese through the presentation of cultural, educational and public affairs programs.

NAJAS History
In 1960, the presidents of nine Japan and Japan-America Societies joined a committee chaired by John D. Rockefeller III and formed to celebrate the centennial for the first Treaty of Trade and Amity between Japan and the United States. Collective activity and sporadic meetings of the Japan America Societies continued during the 1960s.
In 1968, representatives of seven societies met in Tokyo to celebrate the Meiji Centennial. In 1975, a joint conference was held in New York, and in 1977, a more formal meeting took place in Washington, D.C., leading to the decision to meet every other year.
At the 1979 meeting in Los Angeles, where thirteen societies participated, the Association came officially into existence under its first chairman, former Ambassador U.Alexis Johnson. It was incorporated in New York State, and was located in New York City until 1999.
In 1981, the Association's first annual conference was held in Chicago. Member societies alternate hosting the annual meetings.
Initial funding for NAJAS operations and salary came from society dues, the Japan-United States Friendship Commission, and a grant from Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.
In October 1990, the name of the organization was officially changed to the National Association of Japan-America Societies in order to reflect more clearly the nationwide scope of its then twenty-five member societies.
In October 1999, the National Association of Japan-America Societies celebrated its twenty year anniversary and relocated its headquarters to the nation's capital.
In 2001, NAJAS inaugurated its annual State of the U.S.-Japan Relations Symposium, held in Washington, DC.

From 2003 to 2004, NAJAS has served as Secretariat for the 150th Anniversary of U.S.-Japan relations which commenced with Commodore Perry's arrival in Japan in 1853.