Public Affairs Dinner The Japan-America Society's 22nd Annual Public Affairs Dinner and Silent Auction will be held on Thursday, December 10 at the Capital Hilton. The guest speaker is Senator Jim Webb of Virginia, Chairman, Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs. For more information, click here (PDF). The Society's Annual Public Affairs Dinner and Silent Auction, usually held in the fall, is one of the Society's signature national programs. Over the years the Dinner has welcomed and honored some of America's and Japan's most distinguished leaders. The Dinner and Silent Auction are a primary source of support for the Japan-America Society's many educational and cultural activities, which introduce Japan and Japanese culture to the residents of the Nation's Capital Region. Year Speaker 1987 Senator John D. Rockefeller IV 1988 Ezra Vogel, Professor, Harvard University 1989 Yotaro Kobayashi, Chairman, Fuji Xerox Hon. Dick Gephardt, House Majority Leader 1990 Hon. Tom Foley, Speaker of the House 1991 Yasuhiro Nakasone, Former Prime Minister 1992 Hon. Paul A. Volcker, Former Chairman of the Federal Reserve 1993 Toyoo Gyoten, Chairman, Bank of Tokyo and former Vice Minister of Finance 1994 Hon. Mike Mansfield, former US Ambassador to Japan and former Senate Majority Leader 1995 Dr. Shoichiro Toyoda, Chairman, Toyota Motors & Chairman, Keidanren 1996 Hon. Tony Lake, Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs 1997 Hon. Tom Foley, Ambassador to Japan 1998 Hon. Stuart Eizenstadt, Under Secretary of State for Economic, Business & Agricultural Affairs 1999 Minoru Makihara, Chairman, Mitsubishi Corporation 2000 Tom Friedman, New York Times 2001 Hon. Tom Foley Former US Ambassador to Japan 2002 Sadako Ogata, former United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 2003 No Dinner was held 2004 Hon. Norman Mineta, Secretary of Transportation and former Secretary of Commerce 2005 Taizo Nishimura, Chairman, Toshiba Corporation and Chairman, US-Japan Business Council 2005 Hon. Howard Baker, former US Ambassador to Japan, former Senate Majority Leader, and former White House Chief of Staff 2006 No Dinner was held 2007 Senator Daniel K. Inouye 2007 Hon. Walter F. Mondale, former US Vice President and former US Ambassador to Japan 2008 Mr. Yuzaburo Mogi, Chairman and CEO, The Kikkoman Corporation 2009 Senator Jim Webb from Virginia The Japan-America Society of Washington, Inc. 1819 L Street NW, Level 1B, Washington DC 20036 (T) 202-833-2210 (F) 202-833-2456 Email: jaswdc@us-japan.org