Table Speech


Year-end Address
¡ÈAddress at the Closing Regular Meeting¡É

June 28, 2006

Mr. Mutsuo Nagashima,
President, Tokyo Rotary Club
Mr. Hajime Asano,
Secretary, Tokyo Rotary Club

¡ÈAddress at the Closing Regular Meeting¡É

Mr. Mutsuo Nagashima,
President,
Tokyo Rotary Club

¡¡The theme for Rotary International for this year is Selfless Service. The Tokyo Rotary Club aims to create the best club by careful attention to the continuity and harmony in implementing selfless service, and by the members enhancing the good aspects of Tokyo RC.

¡¡This year, activities were carried out under the following guidelines. First, Vocational Service that is the spirit of Rotary Club will comply with CSR.
Second, undertaking activities with the motto of, ¡ÈFrom acquaintances to friends.¡É Third, achieving a net increase in membership of 3 members. Fourth, ¡ÈService is not in thinking of it, but it is important to act on it¡É, which is a coordination item for the RI Chairman. Finally, contributing to global peacekeeping activities.

¡¡A buzz session among the Rotary Club chairmen, under the theme, ¡ÈRotary and the Japanese mind¡É, was held for the first time at a regional conference.

¡¡Opinions were largely grouped into two. The first was that Rotary International has grown large, and there are many activities that are of form rather than substance, and efforts should be made to imbue some ¡ÈJapaneseness¡É into the activities. Second is the fiscal issue arising from a decline in membership, and the view was to focus on measures to strengthen membership and curb the exodus. With respect to these, from the personnel and historical aspects, it is thought that it would be best that the Tokyo Rotary Club should seek to be a leader among the Rotary Clubs in Japan.

¡¡The many phenomena and incidents that have occurred in recent years cause one to have some dismay with respect to the future of Japan. Amidst the Japanese economy, which on paper is on a recovery trend and politics which are changing to a system that will be able to respond to the new age, the direction of the state and the future of our children remain unclear. How will the youth, who will bear the responsibility in the future, think and act in the future?

¡¡We convened the first Club Forum with the theme, ¡ÈWhat can we, as Rotary, do for the development of youth?¡É, and a second Club Forum was held with the theme, ¡ÈDesirable State of Global Social Services.¡É However, while an issue about how this could be reflected in future Tokyo RC activities was raised, no practical conclusions were reached. I would like to carry this over into the next fiscal year.














¡ÈAddress by the Secretary¡É

Mr. Hajime Asano,
Secretary,Tokyo Rotary Club

¡¡I am pleased to present the status report and current fiscal year activity report for the Tokyo Rotary Club.

¡¡The number of new members was 20, and there were 14 withdrawals of membership, and the net increase in the membership as of the end of the fiscal year was 6, bringing the total membership to 341.

¡¡With respect to the stabilization of fiscal conditions, a surplus is expected to continue in the general accounts from the previous fiscal year. This has been realized with strengthened membership and the effects of administrative system review, but with respect to the future stability of finances, understanding and cooperation of the members are needed.

¡¡In the regional conference, a buzz session was held on the first day, and a panel discussion with the participation of Masato Mizuno, the past chairman, was held on the second day, and the number of members that attended or registered was 153.

¡¡In the Intra-City Meeting, Governor Tsuruma presented the CSR cases and the number of members that attended / registered was 149.

¡¡For the Club Service, successful operations were made possible by the efforts of the respective committee such as Fellowship and Family Committee, including family circle, table circle, etc., and the table speech planning committee. In addition, with the efforts of the public affairs committee, articles regarding anti-personnel mine removal in Cambodia were printed in the Nikkei and Asahi newspapers.

¡¡In Vocational Services, the second vocational service observation was held. The theme for the Intra-City Meeting was ¡ÈVocational Services and CSR¡É, and for the vocational service area it was a meaningful year.

¡¡In the field of international service, a tour of cleared land in Cambodia was made by the Tokyo RC. The Rotary Foundation was able to achieve the target of contribution of $100 per head. In the area of disaster relief, it was implemented in September for Hurricane Katrina, in November for the Pakistan earthquake, and in June for the earthquake in Central Java.

¡¡In social services, visits were made to the recipients of grants and support; and in particular, to the Japan Oral School for the Deaf, where in addition to the grant, an application for a subsidy was made to the District Rotary Foundation Committee, and ¡ÈJapanese Drums (Wadaiko)¡É that the school requested were donated by the support provider.

¡¡As above, due to the efforts of each committee and member, we are grateful that we were able to achieve, ¡ÈThe Tokyo Rotary Club wants to aim to create the best club by careful attention to the continuity and harmony in implementing selfless service, and by the members enhancing the good aspects of Tokyo RC,¡É as indicated in the guidelines for the fiscal year by Chairman Nagashima.