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2013.1.24 AJS (America-Japan Society) New Year’s Party at the US Ambassador's Residence
There was a New Year party at the Residence of the Ambassador of the United States of America on Thursday, January 24. More than 300 people including five KIP members attended the party. One of the reasons why there were so many attendees this year was due to the Ambassador's unusual request to have a discussion with Japanese young people. Two of the KIP members had the opportunity to join the discussion session in the Library and Narikiyo-san was pointed out to give a question of Liberal Arts, which is currently a topic of the KIP project. We hope many of the KIP members will gradually have such an opportunity in future and they speak English without any hesitations. Here are their short comments on the event:・・ackard・・Photos)
Comments of students
It was so precious experience for me that I attended the New Year's party at the Residence of the Ambassador of the United States of America. The atmosphere of residence and the refined figures of other attendants were very impressive, but the most memorable was that I could give a question to Ambassador Roos at the meeting of Mr. Roos and 21 Japanese youth. My question was about liberal arts, which is the theme of our KIP Project, and he answered kindly that liberal arts is much more important in American universities than in Japanese universities, and that he personally thinks philosophy or literature are very important subjects. Other things to note are that there were some difference between Japanese and American people in the main hall, topics such as a sense of humor, each person's stance toward national anthem, and evaluations of universities educational systems. These topics seem to be the themes that we KIP should keep on thinking. (Shunsuke Narikiyo Tokyo Univ.)
Since Ambassador Roos had kindly given us the chance to participate in this New Year Reception, I was able to meet a lot of leaders and experts from various fields and that was undoubtedly a great new experience for me. The people from the Embassy were more outgoing and amiable than I had expected. Thanks to their kindness, we enjoyed having some nice conversations. In addition, meeting students from different schools was inspiring and fun. As Mr.Roos had mentioned in his speech, I believe this kind of gathering would contribute to bolster the US-Japan relation. Also it made me realize how crucial it is for having some students involved in such events because I honestly had a precious time. (Taichi Naka Waseda Univ.)
All was new to me, because we students rarely have such chances. I found what social communication is like through the party. What impressed me most that night was Mr. Roos's powerful, articulate opening remarks, which made me realize that words of a person represent his personality. (Akira Endo Tokyo Univ.)