Greetings. Welcome to our Winter "kakehashi". In agrarian societies winter is a time of consolidation. The harvest is taken in and stored away. Firewood has been cut and stacked and now everyone begins spending less time outside in the light and longer hours inside congregated around sources of heat.

In Japan winter was traditionally a time of gathering around "hibachi" and "kotatsu" and entertaining in quiet, communal pursuits such as "origami". For me it was also a time of "hoshigaki" hanging out on bamboo poles under the eaves on the sunny side of the house. "Mochi" were made and toasted and daikon were lifted and salted to make takuan. Ah, the nostalgia!

Our AJS is also entering a period of consolidation. We have been actively changing and developing programs over the past six months and we are now starting to put them into effect. Our committee has returned to a sub-committee system to help share the workload and make our operation more efficient.

The student exchange sub-committee has developed a new program based on a reciprocal exchange for 1 term instead of the previous yearlong program. Our student-exchange officer Hiroko Fischer is now actively visiting schools, accompanied by exchangees Emma Gardiner and Monica Ahn, promoting this new program. My thanks go to Hiroko, Anne and Michael Hodgkins for the effort they have put into getting this program up and running.

The events sub-committee has developed a full calendar of events for the year. Over the autumn they helped organise a very successful ‘pitch and putt’ day, a softball day and "tsukimi". Over winter we have planned the Goodwill Golf Tournament, the Annual Dinner and the Candle Festival stall. My thanks go to Eriko Prior, Mark Gatley, Dirk Staunton and Clayton Balmain for their successful work.

The governance sub-committee has been working on developing affiliations and linkages with other societies. This is proceeding well and we are at present in advanced discussions to promote synergy and partnerships. We are also well advanced in planning for the 2010 conference. I will keep you posted about these developments but look forward to as much participation from society members as possible to help us celebrate this major event in the life of our society. My thanks go to Elaine Ward and Gail Tregear for their efforts in helping us achieve these goals.

Memberships are now due. If you joined our society before April 2009 I ask you to renew your membership and help reaffirm your support of our society. The primary asset of community groups, such as the AJS, is the members. I certainly value your support and contribution and encourage you to not only renew your membership but to also join us at the many events. They are a great deal of fun and help reaffirm the value of friendship and international relationships to our community.

Our Spring "kakehashi" will mark the start of a new era as we move to an electronic newsletter. If you prefer to receive a paper copy of the newsletter you will not only need to renew your membership promptly but also let us know of your preference. My thanks goes to Clayton Balmain for the effort and skill with which he is editing this newsletter and making this transition possible.

I look forward to receiving your membership renewal and seeing you in the near future at one of our functions.

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