by Misa Murohashi, the North American Post
Hiroshima Club held its New Year celebration at Terry’s Kitchen in Bellevue on January 26. Program at the celebration included 2019 Scholarship Award presentation by Chair of Scholarship Committee Beth Kawahara. Drew Deguchi, a student at Mercer Island High School, won the scholarship for her strong academic achievement and extracurricular activities including her role as the school’s tennis team captain, a member of the school’s Amnesty International Club and volunteer at Keiro Northwest, Food Lifeline, Safe Rides and more. She is a member of the school’s National Honor Society. Program also included a report on the International Youth Exchange Program in Hiroshima in summer 2018 by the program’s chaperone Lori Tanaka, youth delegate Ana Tanaka and youth delegate Drew Deguchi.
by Hiroshi Eto, For the North American Post
Kumamoto Kenjinkai held its New Year lunch gathering at Blaine Methodist Church on January 12. Speakers on stage included Kenji Imasaki, President of the Seattle Information Technology Japanese Professionals, who spoke about a program to teach coding across the Pacific between Seattle and Kumamoto. Japanese Consulate Ayako Tsuyada spoke about 1912 and 1924 Olympian marathon runner Shizo Kanakuri who hailed from Kumamoto and is featured in this year’s annual historic drama by the Japanese national broadcast company NHK as a lead into the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The gathering ended with lively entertainment by Kumamoto Kenjinkai members. It was nice to see such a great turnout of young and old.
