I attended my first mixer and lecture with the Japan-America Society of Greater Austin tonight as a member. It was a great opportunity to meet some of the Japanese and Japanese-Americans living in Austin as well as several other Japan enthusiasts. The meeting was held at Casa de Luz Center for Integral Studies, which offers macrobiotic dining, massage, tai chi, and yoga in addition to its meeting spaces.
This evening’s lecture was on Japan-America relations and was presented by Dr. Takeshi Udagawa, Professor of Physics at the University of Texas and senior adviser for JASGA. He used the Japanese Monument at the Alamo to illustrate the evolution of U.S.-Japan relations from 1914, when it was given to the Alamo by Dr. Shigetaka Shiga, through World War II, when it was nearly removed due to its Japanese origins, to the present day, when our countries’ relations are at their best.
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This lecture was particularly poignant coming from Dr. Udagawa, who was in Tokyo as a teenager during World War II, when the U.S. bombed that city to the ground.
For more information on joining the Japan-America Society of Greater Austin, go to their website at http://www.jasga.org/.
P.S. If you’re interested in learning traditional Japanese dance (nihon buyo), JASGA will be presenting a workshop this coming Monday (August 3rd) at Casa de Luz.