President’s Address at the Last Regular Meeting for RY 2016-2017
June 28, 2017
Mr. Takehiko Okamoto
President, Rotary Club of Tokyo
At the outset, let me express my sincere gratitude to Vice President Hamaguchi, Secretary Ozeki, Directors, Committee Chairmen and members as well as all member Rotarians for your dedicated support. Looking back on this Rotary Year, RI President John F. Germ set the theme “Rotary Serving Humanity” at his inauguration and highlighted that “the ultimate goal for Rotarians to get together is to render
I must admit we began this RY with some confusion on how to accommodate the four major changes, raised during the 2016 Council on Legislations, to our Club management. I took the deliberation as a wake-up call for RI to adapt to the changing times.
Rotary Foundation celebrated its centennial anniversary this year. In 1917, the then Rotary President Arch Klumph proposed to establish “an endowment fund dedicated to charity, education and social service on a global scale.” Our member Mr. Mizuno serves as Chairman of District 2580 Rotary Foundation and we are grateful for his dedicated services.
On March the 1st, Tokyo RC hosted the Intercity Meeting for the Chuo Sub-district with the attendance of 844 Rotarians (including those who made registration only). Under the theme “How to Promote Reconstruction from the Great East Japan Earthquake in the Future,” we welcomed Mr. Shinjiro Koizumi, member of the House of Representatives, who gave a passionate speech entitled “Slow and Steady Steps Strengthen Bonds.” Members from the disaster-stricken Kesennuma RC and Fukushima Minami RC joined the Panel Discussion with representatives from five RCs in Tokyo. We learnt there still remains a number of challenging issues to overcome six years after the Earthquake.
“Tohoku Sukusuku Project” has been implemented by our Club to assist child-rearing in Earthquake-affected areas. Thanks to the tireless efforts made by the Challenge 100 Committee, our child support centers “Ayukko” in Rikuzen-takata and “Sukusuku House” in Kesennuma now play a pivotal role in connecting mothers and children and bringing them smiles.
Preparations for our centennial anniversary in 2020 are well under way, led by the Pre-Centennial Committee. We have decided the slogan “Celebrating the Centenary! PARTICIPATE to go back to basics and look to the future”. I feel other RCs look up to Tokyo RC with expectation and admiration, thanks to the significant achievements made by our senior Rotarians over many decades.
As I close my speech, I wish for further development and success of our Club in the coming RY with Mr. Morita as our new President. Thank you.
Secretary’s Address
June 28, 2017
Mr. Ryutaro Ozeki
Secretary, Rotary Club of Tokyo
As we conclude the RY 2016-2017, I would like to wrap up our initiatives and activities. Thanks to all your generous support, I could render my service as Secretary of Tokyo RC with a long history and tradition and deepen my understanding and thoughts on Rotary. Taking this opportunity let me extend my words of gratitude to President Okamoto for your excellent leadership and to Vice President Hamaguchi, Assistant Secretaries, Directors, Committee Chairmen and members for your wise guidance and dedication.
Let me first share the latest data (as of 28 June, 2017). We started this RY with 328 members and achieved a net increase of 1 to end the Year with 329 Rotarians, 2 Honorary Members and 4 female Rotarians. Thanks to the strong collaboration and support by the Membership Committee, we succeeded in welcoming 22 new members. Unfortunately, 21 members had to leave for personal reasons. For each regular meeting, we received on average 11.6 visitors from RCs in Japan and 1.3 visitors from overseas. Thanks to your hospitality, we keep attracting an increasing number of visitors who come to observe our meetings that follow the basic principles of Rotary. I hope you could all “Enjoy Rotary,” which was our Club Theme for this RY, and deepen friendship through regular meetings, Family Parties and Birthday Parties.
Reporting on our financial situation, thanks to your continuous generous support, we could raise 32.4% more than the targeted contribution to the Rotary Foundation as well as over 10 million yen for the Rotary Yoneyama Scholarship program. We have also donated 2 million yen in total to 11 projects related to social service activities.
My sincere thanks goes to Directors and members of Committees of International Service, Club Service, Vocational Service, Community Service and Youth Service for dedicating your precious time to organize and attend various meetings, study tours, forums and conferences including the Club Forum, District Convention and not to mention the Intercity Meeting as a host Club this year.
Thanks to tireless negotiations by the Challenge 100 Committee, we could extend the Global Grant and provide continuous support to areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake. We will seek ways to hand the project over to local municipalities through the coming RY. Vigorous preparations are also underway towards our Centennial Anniversary in 2020.
RY 2017-2018 will start next week with Mr. Morita as our new President. Let me conclude my speech by asking for your continuous support to the new Board Members and Officers. Thank you.