Acknowledgments
No words can express our appreciation to Canon U.S.A. and the Consulate General of Japan in
New York for their generous support and warm encouragement.

We are absolutely indebted to the late Mr. Kinya Uchida, who was the President and C.E.O. of
Canon U.S.A. when we submitted our proposal back in 2004. Without his kindness, understanding, and
trust in our capacity and mission, this essay competition would not have been a reality. This led us to
institute the Uchida Memorial Award in 2013. This essay competition could not have continued until now
without the support of Mr. Joe Adachi, Chairman and C.E.O. of Canon U.S.A. His willingness to
encourage younger generations to broaden their horizons through this competition has been invaluable to
us. Mr. Uchida and Mr. Adachi also served as an honorary judge for this competition. We also appreciate
many senior administrators at Canon U.S.A., Mr. Dennis Amorosano, Mr. Richard Booth, Mr. Lee Farrell,
Mr. Yukiaki Hashimoto, Mr. Mason Olds, Mr. William Reed, Mr. James Sharp, Mr. Toshio Tachibana, Ms.

Ana Tavares, and Mr. Joe Warren, for presenting awards and for offering warm encouragement to the
award winners. Kindest assistance offered by Ms. Debra Epstein, Ms. Elissa LiVecchi, Ms. Mindy Miller-
Roesch, Ms. Emily Reynolds, Ms. Dawn Shields, and Mr. MikeVirgintino has been very valuable for us as
well. We appreciate Ambassador Shigeyuki Hiroki, Ambassador Sumio Kusaka, Ambassador
Shinichiro Nishimiya, Ambassador Motoatsu Sakurai, and Ambassador Reiichiro Takahashi, for offering
the Consul General of Japan Special Award for each and every annual competition. We also appreciate
them for serving as Honorary Judges starting with the 2010-2011 competition and for recognizing our top
winners at their official residence starting with the 2011-2012 competition. The special recognition at the
Ambassador’s residence with a formal luncheon created a once-in-a-lifetime precious memory for all
invitees. Similarly, we are grateful to the Directors of Japan Information Center at the Consulate General of
Japan, namely, Mr. Koichi Ai, Mr. Fumio Iwai, Mr. Yasuhisa Kawamura, Mr. Jiro Okuyama, and Mr.

Akira Sugiyama, for presenting awards and for offering warm encouragement to the award winners.

Thoughtful assistance provided by many consuls, including Ms. Noriko Iida, Mr. Toshihiro Kaneko, Ms.

Kumi Matsumoto, Ms. Kanako Nozawa, and Mr. Hisashi Takashima, is very much appreciated as well.

This program received support from many people at Stony Brook University. Dr. Shirley Kenny,
the former President of Stony Brook University, read all award-winning essays, as an Honorary Judge, and
congratulated their authors in person at every award ceremony until she retired. This tradition was
continued by top administrators of Stony Brook University, Dr. Mark Aronoff, Ambassador Harsh Bhasin,
Dr. Nancy Goroff, and Dr. James Staros. Special appreciation goes to the members of the Professional
Education Program (PEP), in particular Mr. Charles Backfish, Ms. Patricia Dixon, Dr. Dorit Kaufman, and
Ms. Lauren Kaushansky for their encouragement, assistance, and promotion of the competition through
their networks.

The contributions of the friends and members of the Japan Center at Stony Brook (JCSB) also
deserve acknowledgement. The generous financial support from many people, in particular from Mrs.

Toshiko Uchida, has been extremely helpful in enriching the program. Dr. Iwao Ojima and Ms. Yoko Ojima
have been contributing to numerous crucial aspects of the operation and continuation of the program. Dr.

Eriko Sato has been serving as the Organizing Committee Chair, overseeing all aspects of the operation.

Dr. Sachiko Murata has been serving as the Chief Judge, guiding the two levels of screening. Our second-
screening judges have been Stony Brook University’s faculty members: Ambassador Harsh Bhasin, Dr.

Mary Diaz, Dr. Clifford Huffman, Dr. Richard Larson, Dr. Janis Mimura, Ms. Eva Nagase, Dr. Sheldon
Reaven, Dr. Gregory Ruff, and Dr. Eriko Sato. Among them, our special appreciation goes to Dr. Clifford
Huffman, who served for this function in every single competition thus far. Our initial screening judges are
current or former educators in relevant fields, former JET (Japan Exchange Teaching Program)
participants, and/or selected members of the Japan Center: Ms. Carolyn Brooks, Dr. Marlene DuBois, Ms.

Jessica Fareri, Ms. MaryAnn Hannon, Ms. Melissa Rose Kavanah, Dr. Chiyoko Lord, Ms. Patricia
Marinaccio, Ms. Joan Miyazaki, Ms. Eva Nagase, Dr. Francesca Nakagawa, Ms. Chikako Nakamura, Mr.

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Shingo Omori, Dr. Atsuko Oyama, Ms. Mitsuko Post, Mr. Gerard Senese, Dr. Eriko Sato, and Ms. H. Mae
Sprouse. The evaluation and input provided by the judges in both groups have been most valuable.

Furthermore, their warm interactions with each awardee in person during the post-ceremony reception has
been truly meaningful for this program. The professional music performance and the raffle during the
reception have been arranged by Ms. Yoko Ojima and Ms. Roxanne Brockner, respectively. The assistance
provided by the intern students coordinated by Ms. Eva Nagase and Dr. Eriko Sato for the entire program is
also acknowledged.

Last but not least, we appreciate the teachers and administrators who encouraged their students to
participate in this competition. They have broadened their students’ horizons greatly.

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