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With the support of the Consul General of Japan in Miami, the Japan-America Society of Miami/South Florida is set to be launched in Coral Gables.
The nonprofit is dedicated to connecting Japan and South Florida through meaningful exchanges and programs in the educational, cultural, business and policy spheres.
“Whether you’re doing business with Japan, curious about Japanese culture, or a Nikkei living in South Florida, the Japan-America Society provides an opportunity for you to grow personally and professionally,” said Dave Woodward, executive director of Florida delegation for the Southeast US/Japan Association and the new nonprofit’s steering committee co-chair.
Through a grant from the National Association of Japan-America Societies and the support of the Embassy of Japan, the nonprofit was created to fill a gap of a previous Japan-America Society, which was dissolved in the early 2000s. The primary forms of revenue will be annual programs, memberships and events.
“The Consul General of Japan in Miami felt strongly that we should put together a group to create a new Japan-America Society completely different than what was done before,” Mr. Woodward added, “and has no connection with that other than the fact that we are creating a new organization to fill the gap now.”
With a growing and very diverse Japanese community in Miami-Dade and South Florida, it was the right time to launch the Japan-America Society of Miami/South Florida, said Jose Fuentes, senior government relations consultant for Becker & Poliakoff and the nonprofit’s steering committee co-chair.
“An organization like this will help bring together a lot of Asian culture but mostly identifying the Japanese culture,” he said, “and bring professional and educational opportunities.”
A lot of organizations are going to participate and do things in the international and Japanese community, he said. “This organization will become a center for all these different organizations and individuals to come together, and that’s what I think makes us so unique.”