No sign of slowing down of the pandemic has been seen since the start of this fiscal year. AIRA has started all activities, taking proper measures to prevent COVID-19 from spreading. (No21-4)

AIRA’s FY2021 General Assembly was held taking protective measures against COVID-19.
(No.21-3)
Date & Time: 24th April(Sat), 2021 13:30～14:30
Venue: Abiko Civic Plaza Multi-Purpose Hall

The Board of Directors was held in order to promote AIRA’s business for the new fiscal year.(No.21-2)
　Date & Time: 19th April (Mon), 2021 14:00～16:00
　Venue: Abiko Civic Plaza Meeting Room No.1
　Participants: Directors and Auditors 20, Others 2, total 22 people

AIRA President Mr. Ichikawa proceeded with the meeting and the board members deliberated on the agenda which was to be submitted to the General Assembly.
Each item of the agenda was explained by the directors in change as mentioned below;
1) “FY2020 Business Report” by Vice President Ms.Kitajima
2) “FY2020 Income and Expenditure Settlement ” by Mr.Yoda, Accountant
3) “Change of Directors and Auditors” by President Mr. Ichikawa
4) “FY2021 Business Plan(draft)”
Vice President Mr. Murakoshi explained the whole plan and each director except Department of Cross-Cultural Activities explained relevant activities of each department.
5) ”Amendment of Regulations of AIRA(draft)” by President Mr. Ichikawa
As a result of the deliberations, all the items were approved.
Furthermore, Mr. Ichikawa reported about the “AIRA’s Privacy Policy” which was established last February. Then, each participant made a self- introduction and exchanged information about the latest situation of COVID-19 and international communications at companies or organizations they belong to. They expressed their hope for AIRA activities and concluded the meeting.

(Translated by Katsumi Nakajima)

Completion of preparing for AIRA’s financial statement for FY 2020 led an audit to scrutinize whether the balance of payment was appropriately executed.(No.21-1)
　Date & Time : 14th April (Wed) 2021, 14:00 ~ 15:00
　Venue : Abiko Civic Plaza, Meeting Room #2

AIRA’s activities for FY 2020 were seriously affected by the spread of COVID-19. The Japanese class opened its online classes in May, but other activities had to be cancelled or postponed. However, slowing down the spread of the disease in July made AIRA possible to resume other language classes as the public facilities became available again, with taking proper measures against COVID-19. AIRA’s activities and financial situation were hit hard by this pandemic. Vice President of AIRA Koichi Murakoshi made an explanation about the situation and Accountant Isamu Yoda reported the balance of payments.
The auditors scrutinized the books, receipts, cash, and deposit outstanding presented by the secretariat members and confirmed the balance of payment duly executed.
The auditors completed the audit without any problem.

(Translated by Ms.Hitomi Koyama)

　

Date & Time:  Saturday, March 13, 2021   10:00 – 11:30　(No.20-15)

　Participants:  Eleven students (with one family member) from seven countries and thirteen volunteer teachers

 

This year Saturday Japanese Class was held online. The students studied in small groups according to their Japanese skills and didn’t have chances to get to know other students and teachers, so on the last day of the third semester a special class “Otanoshimi-kai (fun gathering)” was planned.  All the students and the teachers got together on the screen and had a great time talking about their favorites and singing a song.

All the students showed their favorites or treasures such as:

*a photo of the sea she saw for the first time in Japan

*an electronic dictionary he uses when he studies Japanese

*photos of families, favorite foods and beautiful places from their home countries

*hand-made vegetable juice for good health

*photos of places in Japan they visited with their family(Okinawa and Hokkaido seem to be very popular!)

*a paper collage “Lion” of her own making

*an employee ID card with her daughter’s photo on its back(“The photo cheers me up when I feel tired,” she said.)

*a two-tier cake stand to serve cakes and sandwiches

The students, from primary to intermediate levels, told stories about each item in Japanese.

The teachers also talked about their favorites or treasures such as:

*a seashell believed to drive away evil

*a seashell that weighs 5kg

*a Berlin Wall fragment

*a pet (cat)

*stuffed animals

*a hand-knitted cap

*photos of flowers in the garden that she is taking care of

*a ball-point pen that has been used for 30 years

*a tamagoyaki (egg-roll) pan that has been used for 35 years and a beautiful tamagoyaki 

One teacher said what’s the most important thing for her is to have consideration for others.

All the presentations were impressive and amusing.

In the end, we sang “Kyo no Hi wa Sayonara (Good-bye for Today)” together and closed Saturday Class 2020, promising to see each other again in Saturday Class 2021 in May.　

（Translated by Chizu Yamaguchi）