Events

Upcoming events

• University Awards & Presentation 'Japan is Back!' by Consul-General of Japan in Sydney Dr. Kohara

  • When
    21 May 2013
  •  
    6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
  • Location
    TressCox, MLC Centre, Sydney 16F

  Help celebrate our university awardees with guest speaker the Consul-General of Japan in Sydney Dr. Masahiro Kohara.

  AJS-NSW offers awards to outstanding students of Japanese at six NSW universities: the Universities of Sydney, NSW, Western Sydney, Wollongong, Macquarie and UTS.  This event is a special event attended by the awardees and their teachers, with wide support from the entire community encouraging the teaching of Japanese and supporting the Australia-Japan relationship.

  In addition, the Society's patron Consul-General Dr. Kohara will present on the topic of the new 'ABENOMICS' economic policies of Prime Minister Abe. The awards ceremony will be followed by a networking reception.
  

  We look forward to welcoming members and friends and especially our awardees and their lecturers to what promises to be a lively evening.
  

  Registrations are now open so sign up online (secure payment by credit card or Paypal) or post the attached form.
  

  
  

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• AJS Business Series - High-speed rail: What Australia can learn from the Japanese experience

  • When
    11 Jun 2013
  •  
    6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
  • Location
    TressCox, MLC Centre, Sydney 16F

  Register

  Any Australian who has travelled on the famous Japanese Shinkansen has marvelled at the experience and wished something similar was available here.

  Last month Federal Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Anthony Albanese released the latest report recommending that Australia proceed with high-speed rail along the East Coast - albeit on a very slow timetable. 
  

  Two speakers with detailed knowledge of high-speed rail will comment on the plan: Bryan Nye, CEO of the Australasian Railways Association (ARA) which represents the interests of all rail operators, track owners, manufacturers and suppliers in Australia and New Zealand; and Gen Okajima, Sydney office representative of Central Japan Railway Company, the developer, owner and operator of the highly-successful Tokaido Shinkansen bullet train system linking Japan’s principal metropolitan areas of Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka since 1964.

  Join AJS and JCCI members as we learn about the plan, with discussion by two well-qualified speakers. Q&A and networking drinks will follow the formal part of the evening.
  

  The report can be viewed at the Dept of Infrastructure and Transport site. Submissions on the report can be made until the end of June.

  Speaker bios:

  Bryan Nye After a career in the Royal Australian Navy, including the command of three ships, Bryan established the ARA office in Canberra in 2003. The mission of the ARA is to get the rail industry to work together to harmonise national operations and ensure that rail is a key part of future transport policy. Bryan says this is an exciting time for rail as investment and microeconomic reform continues apace.
  

  Gen Okajima joined JR Central in 1999. After earning his Shinkansen drivers license, he has lead a wide range of teams from human resources to business promotion. Prior to taking up his role in Sydney, he was the manager of the Human Resources Department of the Shinkansen Division, responsible for examining and prioritizing all projects within the division, as well as the hiring and training of employees including labour negotiations over new policy implementation.
  

  Registrations are now open. Register and pay online or download the form here.

  Supported by JCCI (Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Sydney).
  

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• 'Fukushima' with Mark Willacy, ABC North Asia correspondent

  • When
    02 Jul 2013
  •  
    6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
  • Location
    Tresscox, 16F MLC Centre, Sydney

  Hear the inside story of the Fukushima disaster of 2011, from Mark Willacy, ABC correspondent in Tokyo.

  Mark Willacy, well-known to Australians as the ABC man in North Asia, will be in Australia briefly to release his new book : Fukushima: Japan’s tsunami and the inside story of the nuclear meltdowns, and will speak at our AJS event.
  
  Fukushima, to be published in July, tells the story behind the twin catastrophes of the tsunami and nuclear meltdowns, seen through the eyes of witnesses and victims – from the mother patiently excavating the mud left by the tsunami looking for the remains of her daughter, to the former prime minister Naoto Kan, to the plant director of Fukushima Dai-Ichi, to the elite fire fighters who risked their lives to avert the ultimate nuclear nightmare.
  
  Join us to hear from Mark about his experiences in 2011 and since, encapsulated in his new book.
  
  Mark Willacy is the North Asia correspondent for the ABC, based in Tokyo. As the ABC’s Middle East correspondent in 2003, he won a Walkley Award for his coverage of the Iraq War. He won a second Walkley for his coverage of the 2011 Japan tsunami and nuclear disasters. His previous book is The View From the Valley of Hell: Four Years in the Middle East. Mark has reported from more than 30 countries for the ABC; he now lives in Tokyo with his family.
  
  Registrations will open soon.
  

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