The new officers for the term of July 2018 – June 2019 were installed on June 23, 2018. They are:

President                                      TM T. O.
Vice President Education             TM L. C.
Vice President Membership         TM E. M.
Vice president Public Relations   TM K. K.
Secretary                                     TM A. M.
Treasurer                                     TM H. S.
Seargent at Arms                         TM J. Y.
                                 

    The Out-going President TM N. N. looked back on his days as President and said, citing Kennedy’s words, “One year ago I thought what can I do for the Club and now I feel content with my accomplishment of the duty as a Servant Leader”. He expressed his sincere appreciation to the members’ cooperation.

    The New President TM T. O. made his determination clear that, he, respecting the results of “Moments of Truth”,  will make efforts to build up more attractive meetings and to invite more new members. He also requested the members to work together and to positively speak out on any matter.
                                                

    On this occasion, various awards were given to those who made outstanding activities during the last term.

    Perfect attendance:                   TM N. N., TM T. O., TM Y. H. and TM K. K.
    Most frequent speaker (8):        TM Y. W.
    Most enthusiastic Toastmaster: TM M. I.
    Acquiring Advanced Communicator Gold: TM T. I.
    Acquiring Advanced Communicator Bronze: TM A. M. and TM Y. W.
    Acquiring Competent Leader:    TM A. M.
    Club Special Award (for his dedicated commitment): TM N. N.

   From 17:00 to 19:00, we enjoyed a buffet-style party.
　                   
                             　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

                                                              Photos by TM T. I.                       By K. K.

 

    “Moments of Truth” is to discuss the current status of the Club and analyze the problems aiming further progress towards more comfortable and fruitful activities.
    It was held on June 23, 2018 with 19 attendees. The facilitator was TM N. S.

    We separated into three groups, and each group discussed 12 items in 2 categories out of six (all told 36 items) :  

Category 1   First Impression
Category 2  Membership Orientation
Category 3    Fellowship, Variety, and Communication
Category 4    Program Planning and Meeting Organization
Category 5    Membership Strength
Category 6    Achievement Recognition 

    TM M. I., TM Y. W. and TM A. U. presented the discussion results by each group, respectively.
    We realized openly our strength and shortcomings. 

    Also, we exchanged the opinions on the matters presented in advance such as more flexible operation of the meetings and more attractive events.
    Solid conclusion was not reached due to being out of time.

                                                                               By N. S. and K. K.

     No. 487 regular meeting was held on June 9, 2018 with 21 members and 1 guest. President TM N. N. called the Meeting to order and welcomed one guest. TM Y.T. presented Word of the day: “smashing” (adjective).

TMOD: TM N. N.
Grammarian: TM K. K.
Ah/Uh Counter: TM Y. T.
Vote Counter: TM P. S.
Timer: TM E. M.

Joke Session 
    Joke Master was TM A. T. His story was about a robot and its human owner. The robot was so intelligently made that it did not act as the owner wished. Because if it did, that would be bad for the owner’s health. It took TM A. T. five minutes or so to come to the punch line. His story telling technique was smashing.

Prepared Speech Session
    TMOD asked all the speakers to answer the following question: “What is your recent happy experience?”
    The First Speaker: TM T. S.
    Her answer was “My daughter and son baked cake for me.”　Her speech title was “My identity.” She made a similar icebreaking speech recently but the contents were very different. This time she talked about her sister who exerted a great influence upon forming her identity.
    The Second Speaker: TM A. U.
 　His answer was “My daughter entered elementary school this April.” His speech title was “Outsourcing my tasks.” As SAA he has to make a room reservation for the club but he has been so busy that he decided to use “Crowd Sourcing” which is a system for receiving and ordering work on the Net. As a result, in place of TM A. U., a lady living in Okinawa has been making reservation for about one year. Isn’t this amazing? Indeed we are living in the “Global Village.”
    The Third Speaker: TM Y. H.
    Her answer was “About 300 red and pink geraniums are in full bloom in my narrow terrace. They are 20 cm in diameter.“ Isn’t this amazing that she has 300 huge beautiful flowers! The title of her speech was “I will never be cheated.”
    She told us her own real experience of telephone fraud. She was brave enough to get rid of the problem and even called a police station.
    The Fourth Speaker: TM Y. T.
    Her answer was a bit longer than others. “I have received two presents from my children. My son and my daughter in law sent me a pot of carnation and a bulb of four-leaved clover from San Francisco. Also, my daughter took me to Mimi-u restaurant I like and we ate Udonsuki. After eating, she took me to a lingerie shop and bought me some lingerie to straighten up my body. They are effective.” The speech title was “Make friends with something in common.” She used her own personal experiences of making friends. She showed us some examples. I was personally happy to see TM Y. T. after a long absence. As usual we enjoyed her sense of humor very much.
                                                                                                                                                                  
Table Topics Session
    The master was TM M. I. She asked us the following questions.
    1. Would you tell us your tips to spend rainy days happily?
    2. Have you ever been to Ajisai-dera、famous for its hydrangea?
    3. How do you like to eat UME (UME: apricot), like UMEBOSHI, UME liquor, UME 
       sour or whatever?
    4. If you were to be given three-month holidays, what would you like to do?
    5. What is the most impressive memory for you in the last five months?

Evaluation Session
    General evaluator: TM K. T.
    The first evaluator was TM H. S.
    The second evaluator was TM M. K.       
    The third evaluator was TM T. A.
    The fourth evaluator was TM K. I.

Award Presentation
    The TMOD award: TM A. M. He is one of the best listeners in our club. He gives his
                      feedback by laughing a lot. This I believe helps the speakers very much. 
                      He deserves the prize.
    The Best Table Topics Speaker: TM N. S.
    The Best Evaluator: T. A.
    The Best Prepared Speaker: Y. T.   
                                                         
    At the end of the meeting, our guest Ms. Y. N. showed her intention of joining our club. We were very happy to hear that.
    After the meeting, we had TM P. S.’s orientation.

                                                                                  By N. N.

    No. 486 regular meeting was held on May 26, 2018.
    President TM N. N. called the Meeting to order and welcomed two guests. TM M. I. presented Word of the day: “crystal clear (adjective)”. The speakers used this word often during the meeting.

TMOD: TM M. K.
Grammarian: TM A. T.
Ah/Uh Counter: TM M. I.
Vote Counter: TM H. S.
Time: TM Y. U.

Joke Session
    Joke Master TM K. T. told five funny short stories about elderly persons.

Prepared Speech Session
    TMOD asked all speakers to answer to the question. “Please say something about Mother’s Day or Father’s Day.”
    First Speaker: TM K. K.
    His answer was “Mother’s Day started in 1907, 2 years earlier than Father’s Day. Mother always comes first”.
    The title of his speech was “Different Viewpoints, Different Concepts” He compared which is stronger iron or paper from different viewpoints. It was so interesting and so logical.
    Second Speaker: TM J. Y.
    Her answer was “Talking to my parents on those days and asking whether they are working happily and sleep well is our communication”.
    The title of her speech was “Feel your feelings”. She avoided using notes and appealed her idea to the audience on her experience of anger.
    Third Speaker: TM T. K.
    Her answer was “I was expecting presents from my son and daughter, but I got only telephone and e-mail on this Mother’s Day”.
    The title of her speech was “Presenting an award to one lady”. She presented award to TM A. A. and introduced her contribution to our club with dignity and grace.
    Fourth Speaker: TM M. H.
    Her answer was “I treasured a so lovely handmade Mother’s Day card from my daughter when she was a young child. Now she is a mother of two. Time flies!”
    The title of her speech was “Mother! Come Back!” She tried the first speech of Pathways before its evaluation and feedback. Her vocal variety and body speaking were expressed well.

Table Topics Session 
    Table Topics Master was TM Y. W. He gave the following 5 table topics based on “Which is important for you A or B?”
    1. Left hand or right hand?  
    2. Good health or money?
    3. Tokyo Disneyland or Tokyo Disney Sea?
    4. A cleaver man or a good looking man?
    5. Money or love?
                                                
Evaluation Session
    General evaluator: TM Y. H.
    Four evaluators evaluated each speaker’s speech.
    TM T. O. evaluated TM K. K.’s speech.
    TM E. M. evaluated TM J. Y.’s speech.
    TM A. M. evaluated TM T. K.’s speech.
    TM N. N. evaluated TM M. H.’s speech.

Award Presentation
    The TMOD Award: TM K. K. for his giving a speech at short notice.
    The Best Table Topics Speaker: TM K. T.
    The Best Evaluator: TM N. N.
    The Best Prepared Speaker: TM K. K.
                                                                             
After the regular meeting we had Mr. P. S.’s Declaration and Induction Ceremony.

                                                                 By M. K.