The Internationalist Spring 2019 Vol. 62

The Internationalist

Spring 2019 Vol. 62

Head of School Michael Hosking Director of Development Philippe Eymard Marketing and Communications Manager

Kacie Leviton ’95 Managing Editor

Mayumi Nakayama ‘90 Editor Anne Papantonio Art Design Akira Tomomitsu (Mashup) The Internationalist, Spring 2019 vol. 62, is published by the Development Office for alumni, parents, students, faculty, and friends of Nishimachi International School.

Article Contributors

Ryo A., grade 9 Creston Creswell William Dunaway Lalaka (Ogawa) Fukuma ‘90 Chris Nelson Catherine Noyes Yujin O., grade 9 Jan Opdahl Jason Sharp ‘88 Radim Sinkora Daniel Williams

Photo Credits

William Dunaway Philippe Eymard Everette Hirano Masako Koga Meredith Lawson Kacie Leviton ‘95 Jimmy Lin Mayumi Nakayama ‘90 Jimmy Rosenberg ‘05 Marsha and Jerry Rosenberg Jason Sharp ‘88 Radim Sinkora Jennifer Sutherland Ryo Takahashi Kristy Topham Daniel Williams Mimi Yano ‘18

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Hi Cheese!

Nishimachi International School Development Office 2-14-7 Moto Azabu, Minato-ku Tokyo 106-0046 Japan

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Tel: 03-3451-5520 Fax: 03-3456-0197 E-mail: development@nishimachi.ac.jp alumni@nishimachi.ac.jp URL www.nishimachi.ac.jp 学校法人 西町インターナショナルスクール 〒106-0046 東京都港区元麻布2-14-7 渉外開発室 電話：

03-3451-5520

ファックス： 03-3456-0197 メール：

development@nishimachi.ac.jp

ウェブ：

www.nishimachi.ac.jp

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The Internationalist Spring 2019 Vol. 62

Features 4

Feature Alumnus

Rooting for the Home Team Jimmy Rosenberg ‘05 on Marketing, MLB, and Making It in NYC

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Teacher Article

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Student Article

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Nishimachi Sports

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Outreach Scholarship Events

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Nishimachi-Kai Announcement

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Faces from Food Fair

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Alumini Reunion

Nishimachi Takes to the Slopes Community Service Trip to Kirivon, Cambodia

News & Notes

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Postmarks & Memory

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Announcements

Rooting for the Home Team Jimmy Rosenberg ‘05

on Marketing, MLB, and Making It in NYC

Jimmy Rosenberg’s official job title is senior coordinator of international consumer products for Major League Baseball, perfect for someone so immersed in the cultures of the U.S., Japan, and, of course, baseball. It’s a complex job, but so is the sophisticated structure in which he works. A long-time Japan resident, baseball fan, and Nishimachi International School alumnus, Jimmy was able to leverage his considerable language skills and third-culture experience to direct his career path.

I

asked him if working at Major League Baseball sometimes makes him feel like a kid in a candy shop.

“Definitely. I have to remind myself that this is actually work!”

Charming and personable, Jimmy radiates enthusiasm for his work. He spoke to me via video call from Major League Baseball offices in New York City, the backdrop filled with colorful team jerseys and caps. I had to catch him on the fly, as he wasn’t due in Japan until March, when the Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics open their season at Tokyo Dome.

Jimmy’s family has been in Japan for many years, and you can find his big sister, Kacie, upstairs in Matsukata House as Nishimachi’s marketing and communications manager. Home for Jimmy

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By Catherine

Noyes

Former NIS Librarian Alumni Parent

is rooted in family, wherever they are. He credits his dad, Jerry, for teaching him everything about baseball. They’re from Cleveland, Ohio, where Jimmy was born, and all big Cleveland Indians fans, and it has to be live: sitting in the bleachers with friends and family, the crack of the bat and the roar of the crowd!

Does he remember his first live game? “...It had to have been in Cleveland. My aunt had season’s tickets so in the summer she would always take me.” When Cleveland made it to the World Series in 2016, Jimmy was pleased to be able to return the favor, taking his aunt to the games. “It was an emotional thing, to be able to give her tickets this time…. My dad flew in from Japan, and we went to all seven games. It was an amazing experience, even though they [the Indians] lost -but the Cubs won for the first time in 107 years!”

What exactly does work entail for Jimmy? It boils down to this: if it has an MLB logo on it and is produced for or used in events in Asia, then it falls into his department.

“You have everything on-field, and then you have all types of fashion products as well as smaller items: hard goods and soft goods,” he explains. He works with worldwide and in-country licensees and concessionaires who produce and sell merchandise, ensuring that the brand is

well represented according to MLB guidelines.

Major League Baseball has undergone significant organizational changes over the past few years, and Jimmy has been part of the merge of the international and domestic consumer goods departments. He says things are falling into place, but there are, indeed, a lot of moving pieces to his job.

The jerseys and caps on the wall behind him provide just a peek at the wealth of items he is responsible for, and MLB is widening the field of target demographics. For die-hard fans, team apparel is akin to a religious experience. Ask anyone who has a fan in their family. In 2017, 50% of Major League Baseball fans were over the age of 55. I asked how MLB attracts younger fans and women.

“On the apparel side it’s branding, so you want to make it cool. You want to try to get more people involved in baseball at a younger age, to get more people to wear your product, to become fans of a team.” It’s about connecting the consumer with the brand. Caps, jerseys, jackets, and T-shirts are part of the “soft” consumer product line. “Hard” goods in Jimmy’s domain run the gamut from collector cards and keyrings, travel mugs and tchotchkes, to everything you can think of in between—all sporting the MLB logo in Asia.

If you’ve ever been to a game at Tokyo Dome, there’s the MLB Café, loaded with memorabilia and even Kitty-chan wearing the red and white Los Angeles Angels’ uniform. “They see Otani playing, and they want all Angels stuff, so it really helps to have a Japanese superstar like that,” adds Jimmy. Japan’s love of baseball runs deep, creating a ready market for souvenir, equipment, and fashion merchandise. Jimmy stays apace of the unique nature and constant shifts in consumer consumption habits in Asia.

“For instance, we have a huge partner in Korea, but it’s seen as more of a fashion brand than a sports brand, in China, too. It’s continuing to expand throughout Asia as everyone loves their [Korea’s] style.” Top K-Pop performers front the label, and an MLB Korea shop opened in Hong Kong.

Counterfeiters love it, too, which creates major headaches for marketing and branding. I took a quick detour in the conversation here to ask Jimmy if it was a problem in Asia. “Yes, it’s a big part of the

job…. We call it ‘whack-a-mole’, because you shut down one company and ten more come up!

We have our own legal department, and within the legal department we have a counterfeit team.”

This team works with customs agents around the world, and huge seizures are common in Asia.

With increasing online sales, counterfeiters have more cash to spend on better technology for copying the merchandise, he explains. MLB takes a number of quality control steps to ensure that a product is genuine. “Every authentic product has a hologram with a number on it, but fakes are harder to spot these days.…

You have to educate the consumer and make it less attractive,” he notes. Pop culture icons in the U.S. have made the New York Yankees’ caps top sellers, and a recent fad for keeping the hologram sticker on a cap advertises a fan’s ability to purchase an authentic product.

Circling back to on-field products, it’s also Jimmy’s business to order and ship the apparel and equipment a team needs to play in Asia. He thrives on keeping the moving pieces together to make it all happen. “I love the events—being able to travel, working with players. I do a lot of the operations on the equipment side, making sure everyone gets their uniforms, enough baseballs, bats, bases; everything to organize the game.” The equipment and uniforms ride on the charter flights to the destination with the players. “Teams purchase a lot of product, so going to the games is a big part of it, a lot of hands-on stuff. I like the planning and then actually being able to execute it. You get to see your work when you see the game. I can say ‘I was part of this.’”

And his biggest fandom moments? “I got to work with Matsui this past November; he was a coach for the MLB All-Star team.… That was a big one. I saw Mark McGuire once; he was a Dodgers’ coach at the time. I also got to see Omar Visquel at an AllStars game. It’s really about seeing the players who I watched as a kid.”

Raised in Japan, Jimmy returned to the U.S. for holidays (and Indians’ baseball games) and then university. He attended local Japanese public school until fourth grade, Nishimachi International School through eighth grade, and then high school at the American School in Japan. He graduated

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from the University of Miami of Ohio with a Bachelor of Science in Marketing with minors in Japanese language and International Business. Attending a state school, he met students who were born and raised in Ohio, some never venturing further than their hometown. He found that people were either fascinated or confused by him, which gave him a new perspective on “being from Ohio” and on being a third-culture kid. I posed the usual question about his response when asked where he’s from.

“Ha!” he laughed. “So it’s changed over the years.

I guess that’s the story of growing up in Japan, thinking I was American. Then I went to college in Ohio, and I found out that I wasn’t really from Cleveland…. I went from living in Tokyo to living in the middle of nowhere Ohio.” On reflection, though, he feels it was a bonus to have gone to such a generally homogeneous university in a quintessential U.S. college town. “I don’t think I would have appreciated growing up in Tokyo as much if I hadn’t had that experience.… Even though I was culturally Japanese, the international kid in me lived in a bubble and thought that this is what life really was.”

Jimmy reflects that it was difficult going from being “the foreigner” at a Japanese school to an international student. He fondly remembers his grade 4 teacher, Ms. Flippo, at Nishimachi International School, who helped him make the transition. “She spent the time to help me and that’s something I always cherished. I was surprised by how much work there was and learning on my own; …critical thinking and having opinions, which I wasn’t used to! But it was such a tight-knit group.… We lived further out, so I spent a lot of time at school.”

Sports, Kazuno, and school trips stand out as highlights for Jimmy. He is effusive about the lasting friendships and community bonds created at Nishimachi. “I was a big skier, and the ski trips were unbelievable!” He remembers going on the “Mr. Green ski trips” with his family from about the age of four.

Jimmy continued playing hockey with a local Japanese team, though, until grade 10. “I played a lot (of hockey) in college. Miami of Ohio used to have a good hockey program, ranked almost number one the whole time I went there. I had stopped in high school, though, because I was already playing three sports.” Jimmy added varsity baseball, football, and basketball in eleventh and twelfth grades.

He enjoyed being a teenager in Tokyo, a unique experience in

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a huge metropolis. The best part? “Safety and freedom. And the safety thing I only realize now. It’s unbelievable how safe it is. And being able to go anywhere without a car.”

After life in Tokyo, being isolated in the Midwest wasn’t his first choice for university he admits.

Miami of Ohio is located about an hour out of Cincinnati. “It’s like you’re trying to find the lost city, and you’re driving forever through the corn fields and then suddenly this town pops up!” It turned out to be the best decision for him, though. He consistently made the dean’s list at the university’s highly competitive Farmer School of Business.

University was another new transition and a journey of self-discovery, but he found that aside from being able to play hockey again, he enjoyed his classes.

In business school he had his eureka moment, realizing that business was what he wanted to pursue.

“I had an amazing educational experience throughout university. They have a fabulous business school there, with a huge consumer products program.” P&G is based in Cincinnati and works closely with Miami of Ohio, attracting other companies to do the same, benefitting from a ready pool of creative minds and potential future employees. He described how businesses propose projects for the class to work on, and students research and develop solutions, generating their own data, using a variety of technologies, designing creative branding and advertising, and defending their results. These opportunities to work on realworld assignments were Jimmy’s favorite part of the program, and he found his niche with leadership roles in the group projects. He completed several projects with P&G, including his senior capstone project and, earned a scholarship from the retailer Target after his work on one of their rebranding initiatives.

“Being able to present your findings: I thought it was extremely important that we had so many chances to present,… and being able to talk to someone in the business world, not just your peers.” Developing his presentation skills and the experience gained from interacting with business leaders helped him clinch internships and job interviews later. Being able to do all this in Japanese as well is at the core of Jimmy’s everyday work. “I would say that 40% of my communication now is in Japanese.” (He admits that being able to select the correct kanji from a keyboard makes that much easier!) “I wanted to take more classes and focus on an international business minor. Well, for that, you need to take a language…. I tried to pass out of Japanese, but they wouldn’t let me, and I had to start from the beginning to get the credits! I ended up being a sort of assistant, tutoring other students, but also took culture and linguistics courses.”

High school students are faced with a bewildering array of choices at university. How would someone

who was interested in the sports industry know what to take? “You don’t know, that’s the thing.

That’s why it was nice for me, taking all kinds of courses the first two years.” He recommends a wide range of subjects, finding a program that offers choice and the opportunity to specialize later, and emphasized getting reallife experience while you’re studying. In his first and second years, Jimmy needed top grades for admission into business school his junior (third) year.

He took subjects like economics, finance, business law, and accounting: critical to choosing his major.

He focused on marketing, which opens up a number of opportunities for graduates. Classmates went into jobs in advertising and sales, and to marketing divisions within large corporations.

Summer internships offered stepping stones to Jimmy’s current job. “Those were probably the most important things,” he asserts. His college grades, language skills, networks, and connections in the Tokyo community helped him capitalize on opportunities. His first internship with MLB in Tokyo gave him an introduction into the industry.

A stint with Allergen pharmaceuticals and then SAP (business and financial software) gave him experience with marketing and international businesses in Japan. “SAP is a big international company but localized in Japan. I use SAP software now at MLB to collect consumer resource data.…

I also learned that I didn’t want to work in a Japanese company right away!” The opportunity to work in baseball was a pivotal career move.

“That’s the nice thing about working in sports. Once you have your foot in the door you meet so many people, so you’re connected to everything, different leagues… different companies.”

World Cup of baseball, an international event that happens in March every four years. In 2013 I was the coordinator for the Japanese national team.”

Preparation met opportunity and working for Major League Baseball now lets him spin his passion and his expertise into a career in New York.

Jimmy’s been with MLB for five years now. What does he envision for the next five? “That’s a great question. I think that’s definitely something I’m thinking hard about now. The organization in general is changing…. I’m just waiting to see what settles. I love what I’m doing.” And does that include living in the Big Apple?

“It’s interesting. In the beginning I kept comparing it to Tokyo, but it’s not Tokyo; it doesn’t work like Tokyo at all, which makes you appreciate Tokyo that much more. There’s so many opportunities here, so many things to do, but it’s expensive!… The pace? I mean a hundred miles a minute!... You’ve got to be faster than everyone else to keep up.” Jimmy was surprised to find many Tokyo friends also living and working in New York. Yet, despite it all, he’s looking forward to his upcoming visit home, where food is high on his priority list.

‘I’m a big ramen guy, but it’s too expensive in New York. I have to eat sushi. I always go to Fukuzushi in Roppongi for their weekday lunch special.”

We exchanged tonkatsu recommendations, then moved on, of course, to conbinis* - the life-blood of the Tokyo teen. He is still just as exuberant about this get-it-and-go, calorie-infused necessity. “Oh, yes! I love the American dogs and the pizza-man [buns filled with pizza toppings]. I love the potato chip section and all the flavors.” Pocky or Pretz?

“Well, that depends on the time of day - both!”

Jimmy has found success in other ballparks, but his home team is always in Tokyo. *Convenience stores

I encouraged him to give me his one-minute elevator pitch for anyone keen to work in sports. ‘I’d definitely say that first things first; you can’t really create a job, but if there’s a job opening, go for it.

And no matter what it is, do it… even if it’s not the first thing you want to do, you’re going to be able to find something for you, and the hardest part is getting that first job.”

Jimmy’s first job after graduation was in Tokyo with World Baseball Classic, a tournament which allows professional baseball players to play for their national team outside of the regular baseball season. “World Baseball Classic is basically… the

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Nishimachi Takes to the Slopes Daniel Williams Athletic Director MS PE Teacher

I’m sure that many alumni look back fondly on the time that they spent on either the ES or MS ski trip. This year we took 110 students on the threeday elementary trip and over 120 for the week-long middle school trip, the largest group that we have had for a number of years.

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It

is getting to the point we are almost filling up the “Nishimachi” wing of the Sierra Resort at Iwappara, which has been Nishimachi’s ski trip home since it was first built around 40 years ago. Some people may know that Nishimachi was the first-ever customer of the hotel, which continues to change and improve.

Students loved the newly renovated onsen area complete with connecting rotenburo.

This year, we were again lucky to have lots of snow.

On the first two days of the elementary trip, we were treated to a fantastic dump of powder, and there were many delighted, snow-covered kids piling into the locker room at the end of the day.

We were not quite as lucky in the second week with the middle school as we had heavy rainfalls on both Tuesday and Wednesday. We often get positive comments from the instructors with whom we work about how much they enjoy working with Nishimachi students, and there were a number of instructors who commented on the great attitude that our kids had despite being completely waterlogged on both of those days.

One of my personal favourite times on the ski trip is the evening sledding excursion. We have an excellent spot for sledding just next to the bottom quad lift, where the Echigo-Yuzawa lights twinkle from below and the aromas from a nearby woodfired pizza restaurant drift past. After a day of concentrating on their ski lessons, the kids let their hair down and laugh as they fall off or crash into someone else before puffing back up the hill. The level of energy with which the kids attack the slope after a full day of skiing is quite amazing. Of course

a push down the hill always helps, and ES PE teacher and ski-trip coordinator Mr. Dunaway led the way with his flamboyant style, punctuating each effort with a full-stretch belly flop. This technique was soon adopted by many of the chaperones, much to the kids’ delight. Sadly though, both nights of sledding had to be cancelled on the middle school trip because of the rain.

The seventh grade also missed out on their Tuesday and Wednesday evening disabled skiing sessions run by Tsugawa-sensei from AADS (Association for the Advancement for Disabled Skiers), who, along with Fukui-sensei, Miyauchi-sensei, and the irrepressible Komiyama-sensei, make up the “legendary” team of Nishimachi instructors who have been working with us for almost 20 years.

Tsugawa-sensei visited Nishimachi earlier in the year to educate the students about disabled skiing, and he brings a range of equipment such as chair and outrigger skis on the MS trip so that the students can experience it firsthand. Last year, when one of the chair skis broke, he drove to Hakuba and back in the evening, after teaching three sessions of skiing, to pick up a spare so that the kids would not miss out on the experience the next day. We are lucky to have so many passionate and committed instructors working to make the ski trip the rich experience for the students that it is. Hopefully, the rain will hold off for next year’s grade 7 students.

The middle school students didn’t seem to mind so much though. They had a little extra time to relax in Studio A, where the swimming pool has long since been replaced by a larger space perfect for our evening activities, and for their evening theater-sports performances. Students on the

elementary trip perform skits for each other on both the Wednesday and Thursday nights that they are in Iwappara, while in the MS, grade-level groups pit their thespian skills against each other in categories such as “death in a minute” and “directors’ cut.”

This year’s highlight was undoubtedly the ninthgrade boys’ interpretation of the anti-piracy ads from Japanese cinemas, complete with Jake R. and Kaz M. wearing hand-crafted cameras and sirens on their heads. Both the ES skit nights and MS theater-sports nights showcase our students’ excellent creativity and sense of humour, but it’s also always great to see how the kids in the audience support and interact positively with those who are on stage. Hats off to MS drama teacher Mr. Skelton, who does a great job preparing the kids for the event.

Our MS art and music teacher, Ms. Renfroe, does a similarly great job helping the MS students prepare for the talent show, which takes place before the dance on the final night of the MS trip. On a trip where the kids are most often developing their athletic talents, it always takes me a little by surprise to see the degree of refinement and sophistication with which the kids express themselves musically.

Momo H.’s (grade 8) original song that she performed on acoustic guitar was a great example of this, though there were many others. Nishimachi is truly a school bursting with well-rounded students.

Of course skiing is the main reason for the ski trip, and we invariably have a number of high performers in this area as well. One of the more quantifiable examples of this is the number of students that we have that pass the Ski Association of Japan

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badge tests. Up until around five years ago we had only a handful of students each year pass the level 2 (nikyuu) test. This year we had three students: Miki T. (grade 8), Sofia M. (grade 8), and Keiko Y. (grade 7), who had already passed the highly challenging level 1 (ikyuu) test. Additionally, we had three students, Sara T. (grade 7), Kanon M. (grade 7), and Nozomi G. (grade 8), who freshly passed their level 2 test during the MS trip this year. One of the relatively new features of the MS trip is taking the top eight groups to a nearby ski run at IshiuchiMaruyama so that the high level skiers that we have can experience a greater level of variety and challenge.

Perhaps, though, it is it the beginners who best typify what the ski trip is all about. It is the

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program’s aim to give students the confidence to be lifelong participants in the sport. Movement toward this goal is most evident in those who have never stood on skis or, in some cases, never seen snow before. There is something immensely satisfying about watching the students work through their fear and discomfort to get to the level where they can move freely down the hill, or the obvious pride they express when they talk about taking the lift up to the top of the mountain for the first time.

Many of our grade 9 students have a similar experience when they start their three days of snowboarding lessons on the Wednesday of the MS trip. I often wonder whether the challenge is greater for complete beginners or for those high-level skiers who have to start from scratch

on a snowboard. Whatever the answer, it is a joy to see our grade 9 students working through the experience together with both humour and conviction.

It takes a great number of people giving their time and energy to make the ski trip work; from the wonderful Iwappara, Snow Country and legendary NIshimachi instructors, to our amazing teaching staff and parent chaperones, there are countless examples of individuals giving beyond what is necessary to make the trip a memorable one for the kids. Most notable, however, are: Hotta-san, who works quietly behind the scenes for months to ensure that every basic detail is attended to, including organizing the purchase of the new skis that the students enjoyed this year; and the

indefatigable Nurse Nancy, who is effectively tethered to her room, where she attends to sick and injured kids 24 hours a day. It must have been particularly pleasing for her this year when we made it through the trip with no visits to the hospital, with the students having completed a record number of 1000-piece jigsaw puzzles!

As I conclude, I think on the stories that occur in the private corners of the trip: from a joke shared on the ski lift, to an epic crash; to a new friendship formed with a roommate, to accidentally leaving the locker room with your boots on the wrong feet; to the first time getting off the chair lift or going over a jump.

My hope is that as you read this you smile as you remember some of your own stories.

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Putting Learning into Service and Service into Learning

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On December 14, 2018, 12 grade 9 students and four teachers (the “Cambodia team”) were excited and ready for the big journey ahead of them.

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fter a seven-hour flight, the team arrived at the Phnom Penh airport. This was the first time for most of us to visit a developing country, and none of us knew exactly what we were going to witness during the trip–and therefore weren’t ready for the eyepopping delights of Cambodia.

so smoothly: first, because we had planned out what activities we would do, and for how long, in the Cambodia exploratories we had at Nishimachi; second, because some of the kids were around the same age as we were; and, lastly and most importantly, because most of the kids were able to speak some English.

We got on a bus for a tour of Phnom Penh, and our guide, Chanseng (CS), entertained us with his wide knowledge of history and his humorous jokes. CS is a 26-year-old Cambodian citizen who lived in the rural areas of Cambodia when he was small. He took a master’s degree in chemistry but is working as a tour guide as it pays better.

Days three and five were the big days for me personally. Those were the days we visited Kirivorn and interacted with the children there. Although I had seen many pictures of and heard a lot about, Kirivorn during my years at Nishimachi, it was a completely different experience actually visiting there and seeing the facilities firsthand. The primary difference, for us, between the kids in Kirivorn and Bright Futures was language.

From the moment we stepped on the school grounds, English was not going to be a communication option for us.

We were then welcomed by a massive traffic jam, two minutes into our bus ride. And this wasn’t any normal traffic jam (such as we see in Tokyo); this was a traffic jam where there were scooters (motorcycles) all over the place. Although we had thought Cambodia would be a largely agricultural country, we realized on our bus ride how built up Phnom Penh was, with streets of first-class stores, properly built infrastructure, and many, many vehicles.

We spent the first days of our trip staying at a large hotel, going to the more upscale tourist restaurants, visiting the royal palace and also going to the big open market for some shopping, in other words, seeing Cambodia from a tourist’s point of view.

On the third day, we visited an orphanage called Bright Futures, and on the days following we made two trips to Kiriviorn, the school Nishimachi helped build in 2001 and still supports. We had a lot of fun with the kids at Bright Futures although it was our first meeting with Cambodian children, and none of us had ever done anything like this before. I think there are three reasons why this first session went

Our first impressions of the school were good. There was grass on every inch of the campus; there was some playground equipment; and we saw multiple buildings, including the new building for the lowest grade-level kids. One thing that surprised me a lot was that some of the kids didn’t have their shoes on outdoors. As the Nishimachi Cambodia team was preparing and getting settled in our assigned groups and classrooms, the Kirivorn kids were becoming very anxious and excited to see what we were going to do with them. Their eyes were sparkling and they wore big smiles. Although we started our session with awkward high fives, partly because of the language barrier, everyone was having fun together by the end, communicating with hand gestures and facial expressions.

We were able to “talk” to each other without speaking each other’s language.

Ryo A. Grade 9

amazing friend, whom I was able to meet again on our second visit. I was very happy to see that he was excited to see me. Although some of the activities we did with the students–like Jenga and cards, which have rules which need a lot of explanation–didn’t really work out well, we all had so much fun creating objects out of clay, jumping rope, playing tag, and much, much more. If I were asked what my best moment at Kirvorn was I couldn’t possibly choose. I would probably say it was when my best friend in Kirivorn remembered my name.

We faced so many challenges before and during the trip, which made our experience so meaningful. I think we were able to overcome all these challenges because of the strong bond that exists among us and our amazing teamwork. I want to mention particularly our peers who were not able to go on the trip: they supported us during the preparatory sessions and were important players on our team. If I were to epitomize the whole experience, I would describe it as multiple gears in a gear train, where the whole system shuts down if just one cog is out of place. We all collaborated to make this trip the very best, the most meaningful, and we all put lots of effort into it. I am looking forward to hearing from the current eighth-graders on how their experience in Cambodia goes next year.

I want to give a massive thank you to our science teacher, Mr.Sinkora, our music and art teacher, Ms.Renfroe, and our English and social studies teacher, Mr.Deane, for chaperoning the rip. But the biggest thank you goes to our MS principal, Ms.Lawson, for planning everything from the getgo, so our trip was safe, smooth, and so much fun. /OR KUN (THANK YOU)

I know some other ninth graders made friends with the Kirivorn students, but I made an especially

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未知の世界との 一期一会

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2018年、12月14日に9年生一同はカンボジアに 旅立った。私は発展途上国に行くのが初めてという こともあり、少し不安もあったが、友達や先生と一 緒に行動することでその思いを簡単に払拭できた。

成田空港からプノンペン空港までの

三日目は「ブライトフューチャーズ（

飛行時間は七時間弱だった。空港に到着

明るい未来）」という養護施設に行き、

した私たちはツアーガイドの乗っている

幅広い年齢層の子供達と交流をする日

バスに乗り込んだ。バスが出発すると、

だ。二時間ほどのバス移動の末、周りに

私は外の風景をまじまじと見て、スクー

はこれといったものは何もないような田

ターの多さに驚愕した。ツアーガイドが

舎の養護施設に到着した。バスを降りる

自己紹介をし、達者な英語でカンボジア

と、民族衣装を着ている女の子と運動着

のことを教えてくれた。私たちは彼を

の男の子が並んでいた。私たちは少し躊

「CS」の愛称で呼び、彼の明るい性格と

躇しながらも、笑顔で胸に手を合わせ挨

ユーモアに自然と親近感が湧いた。その

拶をした。それに対し、向こうは拍手を

後、私達は観光客向けの少し高級感のあ

し、温かく迎え入れてくれた。挨拶を交

るレストランで夕食を終え、市内のホテ

わした後、ブライトフューチャーズの子

ルに泊まった。

供達が伝統的なダンスやココナッツを楽 器として音楽を披露してくれた。子供達

二日目の朝は、「トゥクトゥク」と呼

が可愛らしく、思わず私は笑みをこぼし

ばれるタクシーらしき乗り物に乗り、王

ていた。私の班は、10年生から12年生

宮に向かった。王宮には歴史のある黄金

の上級生たちを担当し、UNO、ジェン

の建造物が並んでおり、カンボジアがフ

ガ、大縄、サッカーなどのゲームで交流

ランス領だった時代に建てられたものも

を始めた。驚いたのは英語が思ったより

再建されていた。それぞれの建物がとて

も通じたことと、男の子達の運動能力の

も複雑なデザインをしていて、一つ一つ

高さに驚き、感心した。ゲームと運動で

の工夫が王や神への尊敬を表しているよ

楽しんだ後は、昼食を一緒に食べ、お別

うに感じられた。次に市場へ向かうと、

れをした。

電気製品や衣類、様々なフルーツなどが たくさん並んでいた。買い物をして面白

旅も後半を迎えた四日目、ついにこ

かったのは、ドルで支払うと現地の通貨

の日がやってきた。西町が「World As-

「リエル」でおつりが返ってきた事だっ

sistance for Cambodia」という支援プ

た。次に向かったのはS-21という刑務所

ログラムを通して建てられた学校、「Ki-

博物館である。そこはポルポト政権の時

rivorn School」を訪れる日だった。キリ

代に起きたクメール•ルージュという反政

ボンスクールはプノンペンから約160キ

府組織による大虐殺と深く関係のある場

ロ離れていて、2001年に建設された。凸

所だった。S-21は犠牲者を一時的に捕虜

凹の道を走ること約三時間、「Kirivorn

にしていた収容所であった。犠牲者がい

Primary School」と書かれている青い看

た部屋に入って見ると、当時のままの錆

板の横にバスが止まった。子供達は丁寧

びた鋼鉄の不快そうなベッドと、トイレ

に校門の横に立ち、花束をもって笑顔で

として使われていた小さい箱があった。

出迎えてくれた。学校に入り、まず私の

さらに多くのものはこの部屋で殺され、

目に入ったのが校庭の遊具だった。昨年

当時の写真が貼ってあった。私たちは沈

これが設置されてから最初に訪れたのが

黙し、ため息をついている人も多かっ

私たちだということを知り、特別な気分

た。血で黒ずんだ床を見ながら「なぜこ

になった。西町で毎年行われるイベント

んなに罪のない人が犠牲になったんだろ

の売り上げ金がこれを建てるために使わ

う」と私は未だに理解できずにいる。

れたのだという。挨拶を交わした後、私

Yujin O. Grade 9

は5、6年生の部屋に入り交流を始めた。 生徒たちの緊張を和らげるためにシャボ ン玉やジェンガなど、説明をあまり必要 としないゲームを選んだ。キリボンの生 徒たちは常に笑顔で、どのゲームでも盛 り上がってくれた。 六日目も再びキリボンスクールを訪 れ、今度は僕は低学年を担当した。さす がに低学年の子供達との交流は手こずる だろうと思っていたが、絵を描いたり紙 粘土で遊ぶと、子供たちはとても関心を 持ってくれた。校庭でもいっぱい遊び、 時間はあっという間に過ぎ、気づけばも うお別れの時間だった。言葉が違っても こんなにうまく交流し、楽しめるんだと いうことに感激した。 最初の二日間はプノンペンの市街を 見学していたので、予想していたよりも 遥かに発展しているように見えた。しか し、都市と田舎のギャップは大きく、僕 の見た田舎は殺風景な感じがした。それ でもカンボジアがここまで発展を遂げら れたのは、他国からの多額の資金援助と 様々な支援団体や財団が大きく関わって いるのだと思う。西町もその一部を担っ ている。今でもクメール•ルージュの傷 跡は少し残っているが、今後の経済成長 が期待できる国だと、私はこの経験を通 して感じることができた。カンボジアの 文化に触れる事によって良い意味でカル チャーショックを受け、社会的規範や価 値観の違いを実感することができた。中 等部教頭、ローソン先生を中心に色々な 先生方やスタッフの方々が時間と労力を 費やしてくださったおかげで、この貴重 な旅行を実現できたのだと思う。この場 を借りて、改めて感謝の意を伝えたいと 思う。

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Nishimachi Sports

T

he opportunity to play in a Championship Final doesn’t come very often for a soccer player, and the memories of a trophy can linger for years to come.

When the morning of Saturday, November 3rd came round, the Vikings middle school co-ed team seized just such an opportunity to deliver the first Soccer Championship in Nishimachi school history. Starting the day as the bottom seed in the top bracket, the Vikings came from a goal down in both games to win in memorable style. Living true to the graduate statement of 2030, each team member showed the confidence and determination to move forward and motivate each other when facing challenges.

Nishimachi started the day against undefeated, league leader Aoba-Japan International School. The Vikings had worked hard during the week on manmarking drills to ensure that we would be ready for the known fire-power of

the big striker number 99, but it would all come down to the player’s performances on the day. Aoba scored the first goal early in the match, but the Vikings fought back. Sixth grader Shin H., perhaps the shortest player on the field at this moment but perfectly positioned in the 6-yard box, jumped to gently place a looping header in the upper left corner. 1-1 and game on!

As the final minute of the first half approached, the Vikings delivered a moment of grit which reflected the team spirit that defined our season.

As Aoba distributed confidently and started to move the ball upfield, Kanta Y. (grade 7) leapt into a slide tackle to intercept a crisp pass.

With the momentum shifted in this split-second, Kanta was quickly back on his feet, first to the ball and drove forward to unleash a powerful shot into the top corner of the goal.

The halftime whistle blew almost immediately and, holding a surprising 2-1 lead, the entire Vikings team could not wait for the second half to begin.

These next 35 minutes must have felt like seconds or an eternity to Oliver H (grade 8). Truly the best goalkeeper in the league, our man-ofthe-match combined reaction saves and confident footwork as far as 25 meters outside his goal to deliver a second half performance which no one on the team will ever forget. Two game saving moments included an incredible leap and a strong-hand

Creston Creswell

Soccer Co-Coach, Current Parent

Chris Nelson

Soccer Co-Coach, Grade 4 Teacher

beneath the crossbar, and a smart kick-save in the dying moments to deny Aoba’s tallest, strongest striker in a one-on-one situation. No goals for either side in the second half, but the Vikings were through to the final!

We would face ASIJ in the Championship match, on their home pitch and supported by a large crowd of parents who expected a victory for these perennial favorites. The final match started a little tense and nervy with some misplaced passes from both sides. Although Nishimachi appeared to take hold of the game, it was ASIJ who took the lead with a goal before the tenth minute. The Vikings did not dip their heads for a second, and responded with the pride and confidence to end the half with a 4-1 lead. Goals came from open play, a penalty, and a neatly worked free-kick which saw Miki T. (grade 8) and Shin combine to trick the ASIJ goalkeeper with their brains and feet.

Joining captains Miki and Mantaro K. (grade 9), every player from the loosely defined A and B teams played in this final match. Whether on for 5 minutes or 70, it is no exaggeration to say that every single Viking made an important contribution to this historic 6-4 win for Nishimachi. As the final whistle blew, the bench cleared for a team celebration beneath the scoreboard and we could finally sing one of the sweetest songs in soccer...”Campione, Campione...OLÉ OLÉ OLÉ!”

Reflecting on their first season in charge, coaches Creston Creswell and Chris Nelson believe the future bodes well for the Vikings soccer program! Creswell, who also coaches for Liverpool FC International Academy, gave the team the nickname “Pride of the Blue Roof”.

The name referenced the realization we could turn our biggest challenge, practicing soccer in an area roughly half the size of a basketball court, into a strategy of a tight, controlled passing game which was unique in the league. Nelson, a 4th grade teacher at Nishimachi, noted that all three Nishimachi goals in the critical 3-3 draw against ASIJ earlier in the season came from our strong batch of 6th Graders.

“Success doesn’t come from luck, it is a product of hard work.”

Miki T.

Grade 8, Soccer Co-Captain

16 ... The Internationalist

Radim Sinkora

R

unning: putting one foot in front of another. It sounds utterly simple, and yet it is a challenging and often painful pursuit. Despite this, there are several brave Vikings who choose cross-country running as their fall season sport at the beginning of each school year. This year a small but extremely dedicated group consisting of Gabriel C., Alexie F., Conor H., Eiichiro I., Kohko K., Maya L., Lucas R., Nigel R., and Yuken I. represented the school with admirable effort. The daily practices, early in the morning before school starts, in the oppressive heat of Tokyo’s summer, take extra commitment that not everyone is willing to give.

In competitions against other international schools within the Kanto Plain region, on the beautiful yet challenging course of the Tama Hills, our strength may not be in numbers, but in sportsmanship and results. One of the sections of the course near the finish line is aptly named Killer Hill. Waiting at the top, I am always proud and humbled by the incredible

Cross Country Running Head Coach MS Science Teacher effort I see in the students’ eyes.

For most of the runners, this was their first competing season. Along with the coaches, Mrs. Root and myself, our most experienced team member, Gabby, led the group with exemplary leadership. This was also Gabby’s last year wearing Nishimachi colors. Although all the athletes repeatedly gave their very best, this article would be incomplete without the acknowledgment of Maya’s extraordinary performance. She left her competition behind in every race she participated in. In the finals, though not feeling well, Maya crossed the finish line about two meters behind the winning competitor!

When the racing season was over, we gathered to celebrate and to reminisce. This year I asked all the runners about their best moments of the past two months. Their answers had one common thread: the end of each race. Hearing that the best part about running was when it was over, the natural follow-up question was, “So why do you do this?” Their answers, too, had a clear common

theme: the sense of accomplishment.

If asked, my answers would be exactly the same. The end of the season did not stand in the way of our enthusiastic group of runners. Most of them continue to shred the pavement during the voluntary, biweekly practices. These sessions are open to everyone, and other Nishimachi students interested in running have joined us. Our primary focus has been on aerobic endurance and core strength.

For years now, scientific research has maintained that exercise is the single most important factor in one’s immediate and long-term physical and mental health. Valid empirical studies have also shown that physical activity positively impacts short- and longterm memory, as well as enhancing focus and overall brain development.

It just may be that the students who periodically run and exercise before the school day begins do something far more important than just putting one foot in front of the other.

Spring 2019 Vol. 62 ...

17

William Dunaway Volleyball Assistant Coach ES PE Teacher

T

he 2018 Nishimachi Vikings volleyball season was a great one. Thirty-five girls came out for the team. They were led by two of our ninth graders, Kia K. and Haruka T., who were both 4-year members of the Vikings volleyball team. Haruka and Kia led with their work ethic but also in the way they supported every member of the squad from the C team all the way up through the A team. Ninth grader Ayana U.’s contribution as team manager was also invaluable to the success of the team. She was always ready to support in any way she could, from working the score book to tossing balls and hitting with a teammate.

Newcomer and ninth grader Chantal Y. settled into the team nicely in her first year at Nishimachi. Her big serve and calm personality were a big help to the team. All of the ninth graders will be missed dearly.

The A team came into the season with an experienced group of players who were ready to work hard. Many of

18 ... The Internationalist

them started with a team camp even before the school year had begun.

Their work ethic paid off early in the season as they got out to a great start defeating their first six opponents despite going to three sets in many of them. Spirit Award winner Keiko Y. (grade 7) was crucial in those threeset battles. She not only kept the team members focused on their jobs but picked them up if they were doubting themselves. When it came down to the final tournament, the A team lost a close match to Seisen in the semifinals, but they did not hang their heads. In the third place match they defeated ISSH to end the year with a win. The A team has a lot to be proud of in a season full of great memories.

The B team this year was full of girls who could have played on many schools’ A teams. They worked hard and had a lot of fun. Their love of volleyball was always on display when they were on the court. Led by our three rotating setters, Hana T. (grade 8), Sara T. (grade 6), and Rina K.

(grade 7), the B team defeated their first eight opponents, including the A teams from K International and British School Tokyo. It was a great season, and many of these girls will be starring on the A team next year.

The C team showed fantastic growth throughout the season. For many of the girls, it was their first time playing volleyball. This year’s group did a great job taking on the challenges that come with learning a new sport and the skills that go with it. Their resilience was rewarded with good performances on the court. Vocal leader Futaba K. (grade 7) kept the girls focused and positive during games. Big server Erin M. (grade 7) kept the Vikings rolling during several tough games. Kiyomi M.’s (grade 7) steady passing and calm personality seemed to always show in the tense moments. With great teamwork, the C team had a winning record with only two losses for the season. The promise of these young players makes the future bright for Vikings volleyball.

T

his year for the first time Nishimachi fielded four different boy’s basketball teams, competing at the C, B, A, and JV levels. For the last two years we have had a Wednesday evening MS basketball club run by ex-professional player Vitalii Goncharenko and the MS girls’ basketball coach, Ms. Stephanie Short giving Nishimachi players the opportunity to develop their skills year round. It’s also been great to see basketball make a return to popularity at recess breaks.

The C team had a limited number of games on their schedule this season since many games occurred midweek, but there were a number of great performances nonetheless. Eiichiro I. was consistently outstanding and played on both B and A teams as the season progressed, which is a rare feat for a grade 6 player. The boys had a close loss against St. Mary’s and were a little outclassed in a short-handed loss to Christian Academy in Japan but won four out of their six games at the C team jamboree at ASIJ. The B team also made stellar improvement across the course of the season.

The start of the season saw the boys lose narrowly to St. Mary’s before being on the receiving end of a much tougher loss against K International School’s A team. From that point, though, the boys really started to gel.

By the end of the season, the B team was looking like a well-oiled machine, winning four out of six at their final jamboree. Michael S. (grade 8) was the go-to scorer when baskets were hard to come by, while Emile S.-B. (grade 8) provided relentless rebounding and stifling, physical defense.

Coming off the back of their second place in the Kanto tournament last year, the A team had high expectations coming into the season. After a strong win against Aoba-Japan International School in their first game, they had a narrow loss to eventual runner-up Britsh School Tokyo. The boys went on to have a good win against St. Maur and to defeat ASIJ at home in their best game of the season. They lost their first game of the tournament against eventual winner Yokohama International School before winning one out of two of their consolation games. Kai S. (grade 8) provided the bulk of the team’s scoring and was, at times, impossible for others teams to stop. Miki T. (grade 8) and Mantaro K. (grade 9) showed excellent improvement over the course of the season, with Miki and Oliver H. (grade 8) combining for close to 20 points off of pick-and-rolls in the final

Daniel Williams

Boys’ Basketball Co-Coach Athletic Director MS PE Teacher

tournament.

The JV B team had a nervous start in a first-up loss to ASIJ but went from strength to strength after that. Lycée Français International de Tokyo visited Nishimachi with their U15 team and were outclassed by the Vikings. In a return match against an older French school team, the Vikings prevailed in a tight, physical encounter despite only having five players. They saved their best until last, where they achieved a 20-point victory against CAJ through great passing, spacing, and finishing.

Sadly, the final, regular season game against YIS was cancelled due to illness, and the final JV B tournament was snowed out. Ryo A. (grade 9) and Yujin O. (grade 9) led the way with their hustle and consistent scoring, while the team always looked better with Davide L. (grade 9) on the floor.

Over all, it has been a great season for the Vikings with plenty of reason to be excited about the future!

Spring 2019 Vol. 62 ...

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Outreach Scholarship Program

6th Annual Outreach Scholarship Walk-a-thon/Run-a-thon November 17, 2018

Jan Opdahl Walkathon Co-Chair Alumni Parent

B

lue hair, rainbow hair, minion hats, Viking hats, patterned leggings, funky glasses, Nishimachi blue—there was a lot of spirit on display at the sixth annual Outreach Walkathon at Meiji Jingu Gaien this past November.

This year marked the first time spirit awards were given out to those with the most creative looks, and, as usual, Nishimachi students did not disappoint. With the new Olympic stadium rising in the backdrop, over 350 participants walked, or ran, around the Gaien loop, raising nearly one million yen for the Outreach Scholarship Program, which provides support to families with financial need and fosters diversity in our school community.

The walkathon could not be possible without the tireless efforts of the Development Office staff, teacher marshals, alumni parents, and generous sponsors. And, of course, many thanks go to the students who submitted wonderful designs for the T-shirt contest. Grade 4 student Eita T. won the contest with his striking image of Nishimachi Vikings walking on a möbius strip, and his design

SAVE THE DATE! Nishimachi 2018 Outreach Scholarship 16th Annual Golf Tournament is on Saturday, May 25. Sign up now via e-mail at: development@nishimachi.ac.jp Looking forward to seeing you there!

20 ... The Internationalist

appeared on all the walkathon posters and T-shirts.

Congratulations also go to Ms. Short’s kindergarten class and to grade 6—winning the Domino’s Pizza and Cookie Time party—for the most student signups.

Thank you to everyone who participated in and donated to the walkathon and to Nishimachi’s Outreach Scholarship Program. It is truly appreciated. I ask for your continued support.

Please mark your calendars for the next walkathon, Saturday, November 16, 2019. Let’s keep the Nishimachi giving spirit strong!

Lalaka (Fukuma) Ogawa ‘90 Vice Chair, Nishimachi-Kai

F

ood Fair 2018 was another big success, with beautiful weather right from the beginning to the very end. The campus was packed with visitors, amongst them, many alumni and friends of the Nishimachi community who stopped by our Nishimachi-Kai café to say hello. We ran the café and the falafel booth again this year and sold a great deal of popcorn, iced coffee, wine, Cheerio soft drinks, and the delicious baked goods made and donated by alumni, alumni parents, and friends of Nishimachi. As usual, the falafel booth was very popular, with a line of people waiting to place orders throughout the day. We also sold NIS-themed merchandise, which included the popular minitotes.

Many alumni, and alumni parents, came out to help run the two booths. We would not have been nearly as successful if it hadn’t been for the tremendous contribution of our generous alumni, alumni parents, and members of the Nishimachi community, whether it be as a donation of goods or time, or both! We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the Cheerio Company and to the following individuals for their continued support: Barbara Ferrans; Chris Hathaway ‘90; Kiki Jiang-Yamaguchi ‘87; Wendy Kobayashi; Haruko (Kawai) Kohno ‘85; Kacie (Rosenberg) Leviton ‘95; Risa Mackey; Kit Pancoast Nagamura; Erica Nakayama; Mayumi Nakayama ‘90; Yoko Nakayama; Cathy Noyes; Yumiko Reed; Makiko (Takayama) Saito ‘87; Chikako Satoh; Sabrina Satterwhite ‘18; Colin Sharp ‘88; Jason Sharp ‘88; Micah Sharp ‘86; Robert Sharp ‘84; Kotoe Shirakawa ‘00; Tomohiro Shirakawa; Chikako Shumway; Rie Tanaka; Junko Terui; Mako (Hara) Tomita ‘86; Mayu Watanabe Langevin; Yuko Yamada ‘90; and Yugo Yamamoto.

With the support of active alumni community members, Nishimachi-Kai is able to carry out its mission –“To keep founder Tané Matsukata’s vision for the school alive; and to provide an opportunity for alumni to re-connect and engage with the Nishimachi International School community.” So, thank you again!

And speaking of support, we would like to thank everyone who attended Food Fair 2018 and hope that you all make it back to Food Fair 2019! It may perhaps be a great opportunity to meet our new head of school, Karen O’Neill, who is an NIS alumna herself!

SAVE THE DATE! Nishimachi-Kai Annual BBQ Saturday, June 15

Spring 2019 Vol. 62 ...

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Faces from

22 ... The Internationalist

Food Fair 2018

Were you at Food Fair 2018, but you don’t find yourself here? For Food Fair 2019, stop by the NishimachiKai Café and I will be glad to take a quick photo of you with your group!

Spring 2019 Vol. 62 ...

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Anniversary Decade Reunions Group photo on third floor of the Matsukata House.

Class of 1988 Reunion in Tokyo, October, 2018

Jason Sharp ‘88

Gonpachi dinner.

Gathering in the old library, outside Miss Matsukata’s former office.

Late night karaoke in Roppongi!

Top row, left to right, Chrissie (Kobayashi) Ito, Colin Sharp, Hunter Hale, and Jason Sharp; bottom row, left to right, Yuki Yokoyama, Yuka ukuie, Maki Suzuki, and Kei Takasaku.

Mr. Green still giving us basketball advice.

Sharp brothers (and son) working at the falafel booth.

24 ... The Internationalist

W

hen our class representative, Maki Suzuki, posted a message to an NIS class of ‘88 Facebook page about getting together in Tokyo for our 30th reunion, I was quick to say yes, regardless of the date. We agreed on October, so the group could also attend Food Fair. The reunion itinerary was straight forward: meet at, and enjoy, Food Fair, then head to some restaurant for dinner; then end the night with drinks and karaoke. Sounds good, yes?

Luckily for me, I already had plans to visit Japan with my family (my wife, Patty Vajda Sharp, who attended both Sacred Heart and ASIJ; and my three children, Emma, Genki, and Fiona) in October, so timing was perfect! My twin brother, Colin, had just visited Japan earlier in the year with his family (wife Kristen, and two children, India and Kiran) but agreed to go again by himself. It turned out my brother Robert (Nishimachi class of ‘84) was also going to be in Tokyo for work around the same time, so it was only natural for us to convince our other brother, Micah (Nishimachi class of ‘86), to join as well. Robert later informed us he had taken the liberty to sign all four of us up to work the falafel booth at Food Fair. Great! We ended up not doing much work (sorry boothmates, there were too many distractions), but enjoyed a great time seeing, and catching up with, a lot of old faces, and teachers like Mr. Green, Mrs. Anami, and Ms. Ohta.

We met outside the Matsukata House to kick off the reunion. If you haven’t been to Nishimachi in a while, though it looks familiar, a lot has changed and there’s just so many buildings now.

The Matsukata House is now closed to the public, but we were able to get a private tour from Nishimachi’s director of development, Philippe Eymard.

Present on the tour from our class was Colin and myself and family, Maki Suzuki, Frederick Chen and family, Yuki Yokoyama, Yuka Fukuie, as well as Mrs. Anami.

The ever-so famous stairs to the old junior high.

We gathered outside of Miss Matsukata’s old office (remember the Hina Matsuri doll display there?!), in the old library hallway (our mother, Judith Sharp was the librarian in those days), but it was no longer the library! (That’s in the building next door now, and it’s amazing.) From there we took a photo on the ever-so recognizable main stairs leading up to the old junior high classrooms. The school administration now occupies the second floor, and there are no longer classrooms in the main building at all. The halls of the second floor were lined with photos from every year, and aside from Mr. Zelinski’s room (which is now a tatami room), it looked pretty similar as I remembered it from the 80s—only classroom desks had been replaced with office furnitures, and lockers were missing from the hallway.

We took a quick peek up into the forbidden third floor – forbidden back in the day to us kids as the teacher’s lounge—and off limits today because of concerns for earthquake safety. We headed down the narrow back stairs, but I didn’t see the old science room (remember the loft?), then went all the way down to the basement, where the darkroom used to be. It’s mostly storage now, but we saw the house’s old coal furnace, which was really cool—I had never seen that before!

Tour complete, we headed back out to Food Fair for food and drink.

That evening, the group at the food fair met up with Hunter Hale, Chrissie Kobayashi Ito, and Kei Takasaku at Gonpachi in Ginza. More good food and drink and catching up followed. Everyone was doing well, and hearing about their lives made me miss Japan. We made sure to extend the evening beyond dinner by singing Karaoke in Roppongi. I apologize for my singing voice, but, I have to say, there are some true professionals within our class. We returned back to San Francisco the next day and are looking forward to visiting again—and absolutely looking forward to our 40th reunion in Hawaii!

POSTMARKS

Faculty/Staff Michael and Jill Damplo (Michael: JH science, JH coordinatior, 1985 - 1988; Jill: JH math, 1984 - 1988) 11/15/2018

development office staff (1994-2011); Hikojiro Katsuhisa, Nishimachi headmaster (1991 - 1995); and Geoffrey Katsuhisa ‘97.

Greetings, one and all!

We hope that this update finds you well.

There have been some changes in the Damplo household.

Jill has joined Michael in the ranks of retirees. While we miss coworkers and students, we are so enjoying this new phase in our lives. Reirement has freed us up to pursue interestes that were always put on the back burner when we were teaching. Michael now has the opportunity to catalog, sort, and expand his stamp-collecting, while keeping an eye out for those special antiques and memorabilia.

Jill is balancing her reading, jigsaw puzzles and being back at the easel, painting up a storm. Our two daughters are now out on their own.

Danica is working for a human rights NGO in New York City, attending meetings and sessions at the United Nations. Brianna is working in Ohio, doing substitute teaching in hopes of a full-time teaching opportunity.

As empty nesters we hope to do some traveling in the future, visiting old haunts and new places. We would love to hear from alumni and fellow teachers. Our email address is mjdamplo@aol.com, and Jill is on Facebook.

David Green (teacher, math, PE, intermediate science, 1977-2005; JH coordinator, 1984-1985) 3/31/2019

Philippe Eymard 4/1/2019

Another great victory for Michael Katsuhisa ‘99 and the Shinshu Brave Warriors. What a pleasant surprise it was to see the Katsuhisa family together at the gymnasium!

From left to right: Nishimachi director of development, Philippe Eymard; Hiroko Lockheimer, assistant for public relations (1982-1983);

basketball team of ’79 - ’80 that won the first sports championship ever at Nishimachi. Fortunately, I did get to chat with him on the phone for a while.

It’s very special to keep in touch with so many of my former students and to be able to see the mature, responsible, and caring adults they grow into.

Maiko Ina 2/27/2019

I had the great fortune to spend time with two members of the incredible class of ’82 during my time in Florida this March.

We had dinner with Dr. Rie Aihara ‘82, her doctor husband, Meir, and their sons, Brenden (11) and Julien (15), in their beautiful home in Fort Myers. Incredible Israeli/Mediterranean food prepared by the team of doctors.

Rie is the founder of, and a physician at, Regional Breast Care in Fort Myers. I remember so clearly having dinner with Rie and Meir in Boston 25 years ago.

A few days later Rie’s classmate, Yoko Nogami ‘82, invited us to the high school she teaches at in St. Petersburg. Yoko works in a very special charter school dedicated to the visual and performing arts and is doing some wonderful work with her high school students. It was very obvious that Nogami-sensei is held in very high esteem by both students and faculty at the school. We had a great seafood lunch with Yoko in downtown St. Pete’s after school finished for the day.

Henrik Gistren ’80 was supposed to drive over for lunch from Marco Island, Florida, but got tied up with business. Mr. and Mrs. Gistren and their three sons were one the finest families we were privileged to know at Nishimachi. Henrik was on the boys

Here’s a photo of Anderson ‘25 and his sister, Abby ‘25 Lee, with their mother, Stephanie, and Nishimachi’s assistant admissions officer, Maiko Ina, taken when Maiko visited Hong Kong.

Leanne (MacDonald) Mercado (kindergarten, 1994 - 1996; grade 1, 1996 - 2000; assistant librarian, 2007 - 2008; curriculum support assistant, 2008 - 2009; ES teacher, 2009 - 2012; director of LMC, 2012 - 2018) The Mercado family went to see the Kodō taiko “One Earth Evolution” tour at Berkeley, California last month.

One of the highlights of this event was catching up backstage with one of the performers, Nishimachi alumnus, Leo Ikenaga ‘05!

Photo (from left to right): Karen Sieg (former Sanwa/UFJ bank foreign service assistant, do you all remember her?); Leo Ikenaga ‘05; Leanne (MacDonald) Mercado; her son, William Mercado ‘19; and Michael Mercado, Leanne’s husband.)

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1969

Takeo Tan (PE teacher, 1978 2009) 1/14/2019

50th

Leslie (Zyto) Celentano LeslieZCelentano@gmail.com Bruce Moran moranb@saccounty.net

Jesse Astalos jesse.astalos@gmail.com

Beryl (Horn) Hosack Berylhosack@gmail.com

Erin Robinson (MS principal, 2013 - 2015) 12/11/2018

Mark and Lisa Melnick markmelnick0204@yahoo.com

1971 1972

1963 Ann (Sado) Honjo atoz.sado@gmail.com

1966 Mari (Otagawa) Parker mari.parker2@gmail.com

Judith (Almstadt) Guyer judithguyer@mac.com

1978

Thomas Bruneheim 3/11/2019

Stephanie Farrior stephanie.farrior@gmail.com

26 ... The Internationalist

1979

40th

Hanako Muto bluesky_blueocean@fd6.so-net. ne.jp

1980 While visiting Tokyo, Thomas was walking by Nishimachi with his wife and son, when he ran into a fellow Swede, Martin Jobeus ‘84, who also happened to be a Nishimachi alum.

They have never met before, but they sure made it look as if they had known each other from their Nishimachi days.

Megumi Oka 2/27/2019

Tanya (Nebenzal) Rude tanyapete@earthlink.net Henrik Gistren 11/12/2018 After establishing offices and longterm contracts for forestry products from Brazil to all corners of the world (ten years in the U.S., six years in Hong Kong, and ten years in Brazil), I now happily reside in Marco Island, Florida.

1981 Tony Gillion tgillion@puredew.co.nz Nir Platek nir.platek@gmail.com

1967 1968

Deborah Krisher-Steele debbie@cambodiaschools.com

Galen Flint galenflint@gmail.com

Fumiko (Saneyoshi) NishinoFriedewald fnf55@hotmail.com

Arthur Balfour abalfour@cvvmaxsgarage.com

Galit (Platek) Fuhrer galit@emjoi.com

Lynn Astalos lynnastalos@gmail.com

Akiko Tanaka atanaka@mail1.meijigakuin.ac.jp

Alumni

1976 1977

1973 I thought I’d share a family update for the Internationalist. We welcomed our newest family member, Koa Jomei Escoe, on October 30. Orion is really enjoying his new role as a big brother.

I’ve attached a family photo with our little guy.

45th

1975

1970

Here is a recent photo of me taken at a park near my home in Atlanta, Georgia.

1974

Paul Anderson anderson@asialeverage.com

Marla Petal mpetal@imagins.com

of the Matsukata family. The photo is now on display in the lobby by the front office in Matsukata House.

45th Mimi came back to Tokyo and visited Nishimachi. She presented the alumni office with an original photo

1982 Osamu Francis osamu_francis@hotmail.com Henry Buddy Marini buddymarini@gmail.com

POSTMARKS

1983 Nancy Hashima nhashima68@gmail.com Gioia Marini marinigioia@yahoo.com

1984

35th

Robert Sharp robert@robertsharp.com 10/18/2018

Haruko had a wonderful time at Food Fair meeting with her former teachers and friends. In her first photo, from left: Mrs. Helen Matsuki, Haruko, Tokuya Sano ‘86, Chie (Imai) Kuroda ‘84, and Mrs. Ginny Anami. In the second photo, from left: Haruko with her daughter, Mitsuki ‘24, Chie (Imai) Kuroda ‘84, Junko Sumiya ‘83, and Ailing Chang ‘83.

Matthew Joseff 1/7/2019

Maki Ando in Tokyo quite a bit.

1988 Maki Suzuki makilisasuzuki@gmail.com Audrey McAvoy audreymcavoy@gmail.com

1989

Danya (Norris) Clark danyanorris@hotmail.com

30th

Seth Gilbert 3/4/2019

In October of this past year, the perfect storm occurred. All four Sharp brothers descended on Japan and attended the Nishimachi Food Fair!

Individually, we all visit Japan fairly often. But it has been since the late eighties that we’ve all been in Tokyo together. Nishimachi is more than a school we attended decades ago.

It is part of our DNA. All six Sharp children attended NIS; our mother, Judith Sharp, was librarian for nearly a decade, and our father was on the board of trustees for many, many years. What a homecoming it was!

1985

Nobumichi Hara nobumhara@gmail.com Frederik (Riko) van Santen Rikovansanten@gmail.com

Haruko (Kawai) Kohno 2/28/2019

My wife, Jessica, and children (Kayleigh Jordan (20), Elliott Kenzo (three and a half), and Vivienne Quinn (one and a half), moved back to Tokyo after about 40 years for my job. We will be living in Nishi-Azabu for at least a year but my visa is for five years, so we will see what the future holds!

1986 Makiko (Hara) Tomita makikotomita@gmail.com Andy Hill jandy.hill@gmail.com

1987

Alexander Nalevanko alex_nalevanko@yahoo.com Isaac Bess 11/12/2018 After 18 years in San Francisco, and seven years working at YouTube, my wife, Donna, and I moved with our daughter, Agnes (age 2), and our dog Gnocchi (about 8), to Los Angeles, where I took a position at the firm behind the popular mobile video app TikTok. I am also pursuing an EMBA at U.C.L.A. and the National University of Singapore. More importantly, I still share Golden State Warriors season tickets with fellow NIS alums Edward ‘87 and Kevin ‘91 Smith and Jason Sharp ‘88. I travel to Asia frequently and am lucky to link up with Kiki Jiang Yamaguchi, Bapi Ghosh, Makiko Takayama, Akiko Mita, and

This year I returned to Japan. I came alone for the first time. While I was scared, I knew I could call friends if I got into trouble. On this trip I ate so many 4 a.m. bowls of soba I’m writing a guidebook called How Not to Find Love in Tokyo and Where the Best Soba Is. It’s destined to be a bestseller. You’ll see. Other than eating alone (a lot), I visited Mt. Fuji for the first time. I saw the tippiest tip of Fuji-san almost everyday day as a kid but this was the first time I got to visit. No words can capture the power of that mountain.

I took a bus to Fujiyoshida and stayed overnight at a small hotel close to the Chureito Pagoda. The night before my hike up those stairs, I shared, and sat in, an onsen with a man so tattooed I can only guess he was a member of the Yakuza.

I couldn’t have asked for a more pleasant and gentle person to bathe with.

The next morning after a 30-minute walk in the dark, I found the stairs leading up to the view I’d come for. I had read it was 396 steps. Let’s just say I divided that into 132 breaks.

Basically, I was out of breath after

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every three steps. It was horrible.

While trying not to die, I noticed signs claiming monkeys inhabited the nearby forests. They encouraged visitors not to feed them. Now I love monkeys (name a human that would publicly admit they don’t), but I saw none. Even though I was there to see Fuji-san, the fact that monkeys theoretically could appear at any moment BUT DIDN’T kind of took the fun out of things.

When the sun finally rose and I saw the true size and beauty of Mt. Fuji, I froze. As I said, there aren’t words that can capture the experience so I won’t even try. But I challenge you to repeat my journey.

Mami (Jiang) Nakano 2/28/2019

Mayumi Nakayama 2/27/2019

1991 Donna Willoughby

1992 Seth Gilbert ‘89 had an impromptu trip to Tokyo in December because he missed Japanese food so much.

While aimlessly wondering the streets of Tokyo, Seth confessed to us that he fell in love with the warm and/ or cold green tea from vending machines. We all practically advised him to move to Tokyo and commute to L.A. for work. We met up in Shinjuku for lunch, where he had his tenth bowl of ramen of the trip. Seth gave nice, brotherly advice to Koa Kellenberger ‘16 about life in L.A., and to my daughter Erica, he shared the ins and outs of running a stand-up comedy joint in Tokyo.

1990 William Hammell william.hammell@gmail.com Akiko Popiel akikopopiel@hotmail.com

Kenji Chikada kenji_fc@hotmail.com Mika Tamura mikatamura@hotmail.com Fumiaki Tosu 11/1/2018 So great to be back after so many years! I have such good memories of my years here. All the great teachers and friendships formed. Singing “Let There Be Peace on Earth” every week...

1993 Monica Arias m_arias00@hotmail.com Mia-Margaret Laabs mmlaabs@gmail.com

My daughter, Erica, graduated in March 2019 from Sophia University in Tokyo. On the faculty at Sophia was David Slater, the father of one of Erica’s classmates from ASIJ (who also happens to be a Nishimachi alum), Sophie Slater ’11. Erica didn’t have an opportunity to take his

In Memory Bernard (Bernie) Krisher, journalist, philanthropist, and founder of World Assistance for Cambodia; father to Debbie KrisherSteele ’78 and Joseph Krisher ’80; grandparent to Adam Steele ’16. Mr. Krisher was the link between Nishimachi and the Kirivorn school; he helped Nishimachi assemble the funds to finance the project. March, 2019 Taeko Matsuda, a generous and longtime donor to the school; mother to Lina Sato ‘73, Kumi (Sato) Kanak ‘74, and Kimihiro Sato ‘81; grandmother to Daniel ‘02, Mia ‘03, and Saiji ‘05 Kanak and Sayoko Kumamaru ‘05, February, 2019

28 ... The Internationalist

Emma Tamaoki genki09@me.com

Cordelia Crockett cordyny@hotmail.com

Mami stopped by to say hello to her sister, and Nishimachi’s admissions manager, Kiki Jiang-Yamaguchi.

Anna Westerlaken 10/29/2018 After working as a television and events producer for the last 17 years in and around Amsterdam, we just moved back to Tokyo this August. It’s amazing to be back in my favorite city and great to see Nishimachi during the Food Fair.

class, but here is a photo of her at the graduation with David Slater.

Ploff Miryam Ploff 12/4/2018 Miri, her mother, and son, Noah, visited Nishimachi for the first time since she graduated. Here’s a photograph of Miri with Nishimachi’s admissions manager, Kiki JiangYamaguchi, who is also Miri’s sister, Devra’s, classmate.

1994 Alison (Todd-Smith) Garen alison.garen@gmail.com

1995 Regina Sieber regina.sieber@gmail.com Kacie (Rosenberg) Leviton kacie_r@hotmail.com

25th

POSTMARKS Jean (Richardson) Goodman 11/16/2018 Married to Dr. Alex Goodman. Busy with two young children, Ivo (nearly 4) and Dulcie (nearly 2) and working in obstetrics and gynecology currently at Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital.

MeiLing (Chen) Kyte 2/28/2019

Amanda Benson 2/28/2019

Mitchell Abe 3/19/2019

Amanda visited Nishimachi with her husband, Jason Nagtalon.

Reina Punjabi Boaz 2/27/2019

MeiLing visited Nishimachi with her new baby boy. She posed for a photo with Nishimachi’s marketing & communications manager, Kacie (Rosenberg) Leviton ‘95.

And in March, MeiLing visited Mumi Ghosh ‘95, while she was visiting her family in Australia with her son.

Kacie (Rosenberg) Leviton 2/27/2019

I went to Hong Kong during the fall break in October and had lunch with current Nishimachi staff and former Nishimachi parents. Here’s a photo of all of us having lunch. Photo (top, from left to right): Stephanie Lee; Leslie Wise, grade two teacher; Maiko Ina, assistant admissions officer; and Holly Schwartz; (bottom, from left to right): Leslie’s daughter, Sophie; Kacie; and Tuyet Kerrigan.

1996 Andrew Blanshard Lilian Wouters lilian.wouters@gmail.com

Jojo (Jolin) Mu, Sachiko Popiel, Hanako Shimizu, Lilian Wouters, Chigusa Yamaguchi, and Reina Punjabi took a mini-NIS reunion trip to Miami in February 2019. We had an amazing time reminiscing about the childhood memories we shared from NIS. Sachiko flew in from Seoul; Chigusa flew in from Tokyo; Jojo flew in from San Francisco; and Lilian, Hanako, and Reina from New York City. Attached are two photos from our Miami trip.

Reina will be relocating to Tokyo this fall, and her daughter, Kimi, will start kindergarten at Nishimachi!

His mother writes: Michi Abe (Nishimachi 1987 -1992) completed a 166-kilometer (100 miles!) trail race with 8,200 meters of elevation gain across the mountains outside of Chiang Mai, Thailand, in November 2018. He finished twenty-first out of 150 runners in 37 hours, 8 minutes.

Whew. He raised over US$6,000 to build female toilets for a school in the Mae La refugee camp on the Thailand/Myanmar border through a GoFundMe campaign for the race.

Michi has lived in Chiang Mai for the past 13 years and has a health food business specializing in high protein energy bars made from cricket powder. www.facebook.com/ ProProPerformance/ Michi married Charlie Hill from the U.K. four years ago.

Mayu (Kawada) Langford 2/28/2019

1997 Eric Vandenbrink eric.vandenbrink@gmail.com Andrew Schrag ansdy@hotmail.com

1998

Michelle James michellejames@gmail.com Kanho (Hirotaka) Son hirotaka.son@gmail.com

I got married on February 22 to the love of my life, Douglas, on the island of O’ahu, Hawai’i, where we have an organic farm and a couple of other businesses together. Overflowing with gratitude to the friends and family who came from near and far to celebrate, especially my Nishimachi family, Meg Fukuzawa ‘98, Anri (Teshigahara) Watanabe ‘98, Tiffany (Ito) Saito ‘98 and Alina Wolhardt Gordon

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‘00, my unofficial bridesmaids! Thank you so much for everything you did for us. And for the guest appearance

by Kaoru Tozaki Wang ‘98 in my surprise video for my husband. Would love to get in touch with NIS friends.

Please reach out on Instagram @ paradisehealingfarms In the first photo (from left to right): Anri; my husband, Douglas; myself; Meg; and Tiffany. In the second photo (from left to right): Alina; myself; Douglas; Alina’s son, Leo (ring bearer); and Alina’s husband, Jay. Thomas Richardson 11/16/2018 Tom married Mai Takenaka in May 2018 in Osaka.

Anri (Teshigahara) Watanabe 3/8/2019

2002 Vicky Fang victoria_jwp_fang@hotmail.com Momoko Cunneen 2/27/2019

© 2019 Guinness World Records Limited

I’ve been working at Guinness World Records as the designer in the Japan office, and I will have ten full years working here in December. Time flies! I got married about two years ago to John Satou, and my brother, Shaun ‘04, is also married with a baby boy, who will be turning a year and a half soon. Shaun is working at EA (Electronic Arts) which is a game company so he’s doing really well too.

Hope all is well at NIS.

2003

Kayla Cahoon kaylacahoon@yahoo.com Kayla Cahoon 2/5/2019 Anri attended Mayu Kawata Langford’s wedding in Honolulu with her Nishimachi classmates Meg Fukuzawa and Tiffany (Ito) Saito. In the first photo (from left to right): Meg, Anri, and Tiffany. In the second photo (from left to right): Anri, Meg, Mayu, and Tiffany.

1999

Alexander Fuchs, Noel Billet, and Kahn Fukui; (bottom from left to right): Shinnosuke Barakan, Sachi Montgomery, Fay (Marie’s husband), Marie Suzuki, Kanako Nakarai, and Keiko Oshima.

In October, the class of 2003 had a mini-reunion in Joshua Tree, a national park about two hours outside of Los Angeles. Alyssa, Zach, Sachi, Mia and I are all currently living and working in L.A. Kanako flew in from Seattle, Sarah from Baltimore, and Juliet from New York City. We walked around the national park and saw the famous Joshua trees during the day, and then came back and made a big pot of curry asa if we were back at Kazuno, reminiscing about good times at Nishimachi. Photo (left to right): Zach Griffen, Sachi Montgomery, Kayla Cahoon, Juliet Papantonio, Alyssa Yoneyama, Kanako Nakarai, Sarah Thomas, and Mia Kanak.

2004 Alyssa Smith aizumi.smith@gmail.com

15th

2005 Hikaru Yamagishi hikaru.y@gmail.com Tomoko Aratake arataket@gmail.com Saiji Kanak 3/14/2019

20th

2000

Stopping by Nishimachi for the first time in years was amazing. Seeing familiar faces like Mr. Williams’ (my eighth grade basketball coach) brought back great memories.

Walking around the school reminded me of how special NIS truly is.

Harukako Ikeura haruikeura@hotmail.com

2006

Lina Takahashi Maiko Nakarai nakarai@post.harvard.edu

Reimi Okuyama ro7n@virginia.edu

2001 Hilary Papantonio papa441@gmail.com

30 ... The Internationalist

Back in September, 2018, Marie Suzuki got married in Tokyo, with several members of the class of 2003 in attendance. Congratulations, Marie! Photo (top from left to right):

Jennifer Blagg jblagg90@gmail.com

2007 Akiko Watanabe akikooo24@gmail.com

POSTMARKS

2008

2012

Sarah Haber sarahmachiko_jp@yahoo.com

Cynthia Uruma urumacindy3@gmail.com

Moeko Nakada moeko93@yahoo.com

Miriam Weiss miriam.k.weiss@gmail.com

2009

10th

work in the food and beverage industry. She currently works at the Maya del Sol restaurant in Oak Park, Illinois.

2015

2013

Mai Hahne mai_hahne@hotmail.com

India Whatley flwcceo@gmail.com

Nathan Lorentz 11/23/2018

Kim Hahne kimhahne98@gmail.com

Paula Heile paula.heile@gmail.com Ayana Nakamichi ayanamazhar@gmail.com Maya Platek platekmaya@gmail.com

Naomi Stock 4/1/2019

Great to be back! I had a nice day reminiscing with teachers from back in the day. Here is Nathan in the gym with middle school PE teacher, Dan Williams.

2010 Katherine Whatley whatleykatherine@yahoo.com

2011 Deidre (Narumi) Hsu deidre_hsu@mac.com Vitaly Banov vit.ban@hotmail.com Antonio Malacad 3/26/2019

2016 5th

Mrs. Hirata, mother of Kayoko ‘04 and Shelley ‘08 Hirata, arranged for a belated seijinshiki (Coming of Age Day) photo shoot for Naomi and invited her classmates Alpha Nagai ‘13 and Natsuha Watase ‘13 to participate.

2014

5th

Sally Maeda sally.maeda1999@gmail.com Ma’ayan Nahmani maimainahmani@gmail.com Kengo Aoshima 2/28/2019

Ryone Ohmae ryone.omae@gmail.com Charles Doherty 12/4/2018 His father writes: Charles is a senior at St. Ignatius College Prep in Chicago, Illinois. His interests include viola, robotics, and ice hockey. He is a two-time all-state goaltender on the St. Ignatius ice hockey team. He is currently in the college application process.

Christopher Doherty 12/4/2018 His father writes: Christopher is a junior in Company C at the Culver Military Academy in Culver, Indiana.

His interests include playing drums in the jazz band and ice hockey. He has played on two consecutive Indiana state ice hockey championship teams.

In his role as operations sergeant for Company C this fall, he was responsible for training all the new cadets. He cherished this work and received accolades for his training skills.

2017 It’s good to finally visit the school after all this time. I’m glad to be part of the Nishimachi family and to reconnect with all my former classmates.

Ellison Stanley 3/26/2019 It’s great to be back after seven years! Attending NIS was such a memorable experience, and I really miss being here and a member of the NIS family.

Kengo posed in the Nishimachi lobby with the director of development, Philippe Eymard.

Kengo was selected as one of the first players from Japan to play in the Arnold Palmer Cup ever. He will play this year’s cup in Arkansas in June.

Emma Doherty 12/4/2018 Her father writes: Emma is living in River Forest, Illinois, and is pursuing

Mia Moran miafrancesmoran@gmail.com

2018 Kakehiro Koike kakehirok18@gmail.com Renge Shirai rengeicel@gmail.com

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Upcoming Events r You s k r Ma ndar Cale

Outreach Scholarship 16th Anniversary Golf Tournament Saturday, May 25th, Chiba Birdie Club Graduation Friday, June 7th, Nishimachi International School Nishimachi-Kai BBQ Saturday, June 15th, Nishimachi International School Contact the Development Office if you would like to join, or would like more information on any of the events above.

ARE YOU A GOLFER?

Sign-Up For Outreach Scholarship 16th Golf Tournament Saturday, May 25, 2019, Chiba Birdie Club ‘I-golf-only-at-Outreach-golf kinda golfer’ to ‘I-golf-more-than-I-work kinda golfer’ For more info, or to sign up, e-mail: development@nishimachi.ac.jp

GRILLERS AND PREP CREW WANTED FOR BBQ! Nishimachi-Kai Annual BBQ Saturday, June 15, 2019 Nishimachi-Kai Seeking:

BBQ prep crew (morning)

Novice to expert grilling crew (day-time) We supply gloves and tongs!

Nishimachi-Kai needs your help to make the upcoming BBQ event on Saturday, June 15th a success!

Please e-mail: alumni@nishimachi.ac.jp to sign up for shifts.

Connect with Us! @NishimachiOfficial

Nishimachi International School

@NishimachiOfcl

Nishimachi International School Official Alumni

Nishimachi Annual Fund

Nishimachi International School inspires many of us, students and parents alike, with its dedication to educating responsible world citizens. Your continued support of Nishimachi is greatly appreciated. Support the Nishimachi Annual Fund. < http://www.nishimachi.ac.jp/gift >

DID YOU KNOW THAT NISHIMACHI HAS AN OUTREACH SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM, THE GOAL OF WHICH IS TO PROMOTE DIVERSITY AT THE SCHOOL?

32 ... The Internationalist

Please contact us if you know of a student who might qualify or if you would like to make contributions to enhance the program.

(Office of Admissions / Development Office) < admissions@nishimachi.ac.jp -or development@nishimachi.ac.jp >

Nishimachi International School - www.nishimachi.ac.jp