The Japan-US Friendship Commission, CULCON and the Bridging Foundation mourn the loss of Speaker and Ambassador Thomas S. Foley. Ambassador Foley was a dedicated public servant who had close ties to Japan and the Japanese people. In addition to his service as United States Ambassador to Japan, he played a special role at the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission, CULCON and the U.S.-Japan Bridging Foundation. During his service from 1984 through 1992, he helped elevate the dialogue on the importance of educational and cultural exchange between the United States and Japan. In addition, he was an early advocate and champion of Congressional-Diet exchanges, and participated in exchanges supported by the Commission.

Chairman Theirry Porté said, “Ambassador Foley was an active leader of the US-Japan relationship in all respects. He was an early and strong supporter of the US-Japan Bridging Foundation because he could see the importance of bring American college students to interact with their peers in Japan. The Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission, the Bridging Foundation and CULCON will miss his energy and commitment to America’s relationship with Japan.”

We thank Ambassador Foley for his dedicated service, and will fondly remember him.

The following was entered into the Congressional Record to honor the six-year service of Mr. Thierry Porté as Chairman of the U.S. CULCON Panel as well as the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission and as Vice Chair of the U.S.-Japan Bridging Foundation. Thierry’s term ends at the end of this calendar year and we will miss him! […]

Mark Davidson, the Minister Counselor for Public Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, recently helped to plant 40 Friendship Blossom Trees in Minamisanriku-cho.

The Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission is pleased to announce the recipients of the U.S.-Japan Creative Artist Exchange Fellows for 2014: Patrick Donnelly, Writer Patrick Donnelly is a poet and author of The Charge and Nocturnes of the Brothel of Ruin. Donnelly has co-translated, along with Stephan D. Miller,  141 Japanese poems published in The Wind from […]

The Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission announced that five Japan specialists and scholars will become new members of the Commission.  They are:  Dr. Edward Lincoln, Professorial Lecturer, George Washington University; Dr. Patricia Maclachlan, Associate Professor of Government and Asian Studies, University of Texas; Dr. Deanna Marcum, Managing Director, Ithaka; Dr. Leonard J. Schoppa, Jr., Woodrow Wilson Department of Politics, The […]

Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission funding supports the US/Japan Connection, a partnership with the National Performing Arts Network (NPN) and the Japan Contemporary Dance Network (JCDN).  Now in its second year, project organizers are looking forward to the first artistic exchange taking place fall 2013.  Japan’s Faifai theatre company will visit three NPN Partners presenting Anton, Nero, […]

In commemoration of Japan’s gift of 3,000 cherry trees to the people of the United States in 1912, the United States- Japan Bridging Foundation and the United States government have partnered to gift 3,000 dogwood trees to the people of Japan. These Friendship Blossoms symbolize the friendship between our countries and people. On April 23, […]

This is a helpful comparison of the three organizations that share offices in Washington, DC – JUSFC, CULCON and USJBF. For a comparison graphic and table of mission statements, membership, contact information, etc, please click here.