Our Mission
JaNet’s work falls into four main categories: General daily life/business-related assistances; planning/organizing of cultural exchange events and programs; organizing charity and/or special events; and membership programs. Specifically, we –
1) Coordinate various seminars (educational, informational and/or cultural) for the New York Metropolitan area Japanese communities, including individuals and corporations, to offer useful and beneficial information/knowledge aimed to help them adapt to living and working in New York. For these seminars, we select a panel (or panels) for each study session, such as business owners and artists who struggled at first but eventually succeeded in realizing their dreams in the most competitive city in the world, to provide lectures, Q&A sessions and interviews. We conduct these seminars on a monthly basis. Up to 30 people participate in each seminar. Although these seminars focus on topics and matters that are of specific concerns to the Japanese community in New York Metropolitan area, and are conducted mostly in Japanese, we welcomes non-Japanese participants. Each participant is asked to pay admission fee (donation) of $15~$60. The fees are necessary to defray the costs associated with running the sessions.
2) Plan and organize cultural exchange programs and/or events such as Japanese Arts Matsuri (JAM) where public can experience Japanese culture in New York. We organize these events to provide an occasion for non-Japanese public to experience unique Japanese culture, such as traditional Japanese dance, music and food. Most performers are Japanese living in New York though from time to time, we invite well-established artists and musicians from Japan (and else where) to give special performances. All performers appear on a volunteer-basis.
3) Promote inter-community networking and encourage sharing of experiences and ideas through various programs and/or events (fund raising, charity and other special events). All works and labor needed to support the events are done on a volunteer basis – No one will receive remuneration for his/her activities and services rendered.
4) Offer our members special members-only benefits such as information-rich newsletter and special discount rates for events and seminars we provide. Our membership (the current annual membership fee: $ 40.00) benefits include: Internet newsletter, members-only events/seminars, special discount admission for events/seminars sponsored by the organization.
In order to promote our activities further, we collaborate with local Japanese free papers to provide information and articles covering our activities (seminars, events, etc.) to general public. We also publish our own internet newsletter that features past and current guest speakers and performers as well as topics that are considered to be of particular interest to Japanese communities. These information can be also seen on our website.