THE JAPAN-NORWAY SOCIETY Org. No. 989 513 850 Contact address: post@j-ns.no
Annual Report The Japan-Norway Society for 2019 The Japan-Norway Society is a membership based volunteer organization established in November 1977. The purpose is to promote friendly relations, mutual understanding and cultural interchange between the peoples of Japan and Norway. 2019 has been a new activity-filled year for the Japan-Norway Society. We continued our efforts to connect with the business community through the Business Benkyoukai, arranging an event with Fuglen and Norwegian Rain focusing on Norwegian brands in Japan that have managed to succeed in the Japanese market. We have firmly established the traditional Mushroom hunt, which was an even greater success than the year before. Other seasonal events have been Hanami in May, Suikawari in June (both co-arranges with Sub-Japan), an Art and Peonies cultural event at the home of one of our dedicated members in June, as well as another forest walk to enjoy the autumn colours in October. The beautiful tea ceremony in the Ekeberg Park in September was also repeated this year, another new tradition we would like to continue. Tea continues to be a popular theme, with a tea and food event in November filling up in three days. The society also promoted Japanese culture at Japan day at Drammen Museum last March, and at “Stoppested Verden” in Hamar in June. Several members only tours of the Munch Museum, including an opportunity to see the very popular “Exit” exhibition was also arranged with Idemitsu Norway, in addition to the donation Ceremony for the Cherry Trees in front of the New Museum, which was attended by the Mayor of Oslo. We also arranged Suiyokai at a few new Japanese themed restaurants in Oslo. We finished off the year with another Bonenkai with Karaoke at Alex sushi in December. Communication tools In 2019 we used the following communication tools: Facebook: In 2019, we continued using our Facebook group as main channel for communication about events and we now have close to 1700 members. Facebook is also a good tool for sharing Japan-Norway related information between members and for members to make direct contact with each other. We also created a new organization page on Facebook, to be able to create events as an organization. J-NS Web: Our web-page is the source of more lasting information about our society. Information is available about who we are, our articles of association, our grants and
also relevant web-links. We also have a web calendar for our own events. The web page had 6.855 pageviews by 2.778 unique visitors. E-mail: We sent e-mail newsletter about our events as well as other important information about our society. Our recipient lists include about 200 e-mail addresses including paying J-NS members as well as other friends of our society. We have noted that some members report not receiving the newsletters. We have made a thorough review of our members lists to make sure all paying members are included. We also recommend checking junk mail. Google forms: Organizing events is the most time-consuming part of our work and in 2019 we have continued the usage of google forms to manage our events. By having participants fill out the registration form, we can more easily control the number of participants. Events We continued the high level of activity in 2019 and arranged a total of 16 events: - 7 February: Annual General Meeting and New Year Reception hosted by Ambassador Tauchi. - 27 February: Suyokai at Merkur Bar - 19 March: Business Benkyokai: “The Making of Norwegian Brands” with Fuglen and Norwegian Rain/T-Michael at Norwegian Rain's shop at Paleet in Oslo - 17 April: Free Guided Tour “The Swan Princess” at Munch Museum, supported by Idemitsu (for J-NS Members only) - 5 May: Japan-Norway Hanami, picnic at Torshov (Sandakerveien 29 D, Oslo) - 22. June: Suikawari with Sub Japan at Frognerparken - 25 June: Arts and Peonies cultural summer gathering at Wenche Gulbransen's home at Nesodden - 21 August: Suiyokai with guided tour at the Salmon. - 29 August: Donation Ceremony for Cherry Trees to the New Munch Museum - 01 September: Mushroom harvesting with a Mushroom expert at Rustadsaga, lectured by Morton Jødal - 04 September: Free Guided Tour “EXIT” at Munch Museum, supported by Idemitsu (for J-NS Members only) - 22 September: Japanese Tea Ceremony -Experience the Spirit of Japanese Tea Ceremony in the Nature- at Ekebergparken, co-hosted by J-NS and Ekebergparken, supported by Spill the Tea - 13 October: Sunday Walking tour to Finnerud in the Oslo Forest - 23 October: Flavors of Japan -Japanese tea, food and sweets tasting 2- at Oslo international Hub. - 04 December: Bonenkai with Karaoke at Alex Sushi
We also contributed to several other Japan-Norway related events organized by others. We continued the same practice as before and made most of our events open for participation also by non-members. The exceptions have been free events organized for paying J-NS members only, for example the AGM and New Year Party. The principle is to have each event break-even and a participation fee was charged to cover the respective costs. There has been a difference in participation fee for members and nonmembers. Sakura Donation to New Munch Museum After extensive coordination with Munch Museum, Botanical Gardens, Oslo kommune, and Bjørvika infrastructure, the donation in collaboration with Idemitsu Norway culminated in the planting at the foot of the pedestrian footbridge connecting the Museum and the Opera House in August. The Ceremony was inaugurated by the Ambassador of Japan, the Mayor of Oslo, and was participated by Director of Munch Museum and the President and Representative Director, Idemitu Kosan Co. Ltd and J-NS members. A plaque commemorating the donation by J-NS was also erected at the site. Cooperation with N-JS Modalities to cooperate with the Tokyo based N-JS has been discussed, and events etc are shared. Members are free to join respective events at member price. J-NS Grants We accepted two applications, and awarded one grant in 2019. Both one of last year's grant and this year's grant has been paid out. The one chosen to be awarded a grant of 10000 NOK from J-NS in 2019 were: Tradisjonshaå ndverk – utveksling mellom Norge og Japan: Forprosjekt 2019/2020 Members We see a stabilization of membership numbers and by year-end we had 84 memberships (85 in 2018). 43 (35) individual members, 33 (40) family members, 3 youth members (5) and 5 (5) corporate members. Finance Our income in 2019 has been 38 250 NOK from membership and 64 144 NOK from the various events. The funds have mainly been used to cover costs of the various events, grants, gifts and
administration. The financial result in 2019 is -15 270 NOK. Please see the financial report for 2019 for details. Key figures and notable numbers ● Decrease in both income and expenses from last year, resulting in a small deficit of 15 270 NOK. Main expenditures: AGM (15 235 NOK) and Sakura tree saplings (18 753 NOK), the latter being related to the 40th anniversary pledge. ● Despite this, event costs have gone down more than the total event income (17% vs -5%). ● There is a notable increase of expenses in the gift and dinner section due to a board dinner (171%), but small actual numbers (6 675 NOK vs 2 467 NOK in 2018). ● Still good solidity with only a small amount (7%) decrease in total equity. ● Apart from anniversary pledges and the AGM, we see some deficits in events mostly due to subsidising from the Society etc. These can be covered with the current income from membership fees. There are also events that have gained a profit due to a big amount of non-member participation. Board of Directors In 2019, the following 10 members have served as board directors: Per Bardalen Wiggen (President) Kaori Ishii Yasuko Oki Hiroshi Arikawa Eirik Johannessen Christoffer Kvernvold Anders Håan Ingrid Fjeldsenden Kazumi Yamada Tadahisa Matsuda The board met officially 8 times during 2019, but also on numerous occasions in small groups in relation to events and other matters. Oslo, 10 February, 2020 Per Bardalen Wiggen President