You are cordially invited to the 2025 Annual Meeting and Potluck on Friday, March 14 from 6:00 to 8:30 pm at the Berkeley Methodist United Church, 1710 Carleton Street, Berkeley. The church is at the SE corner of Carleton and McGee Ave.
Please bring an appetizer or a salad or a side dish to serve 6, plus something for yourself to drink. The board will supply main course dishes, dessert, tea and punch.
There will also be a silent auction at the annual potluck diner. If you have something you can donate to the auction, it will be greatly appreciated. We are trying to raise money for the upcoming student exchange and the Fern Harger Student Exchange Scholarship Fund. Items that have sold the best are:
Wine or alcoholic beverage, coffee, Japanese items, and coupons for a favorite restaurant.
We hope to see you at our annual meeting and potluck diner.
Because of the COVID-10 pandemic, the 2021 Annual Dinner was held online on Zoom. An unexpected benefit was that many of our friends from Sakai were able to attend the meeting.
Two videos were shown at the event:
- Video Slide Show: 2019 Student Exchange (Sakai Students visit Berkeley)
- Video Slide Show: 2020 Kindergarten Art
We have released them here on our website for your enjoyment.
The 2021 Annual Dinner was held at 7pm (Pacific Time) on Friday, March 12, 2021. Due to Covid-19, the meeting was held on Zoom and we had many of our friends from Sakai join the meeting.
We voted in the 2021 Board Members, gave updates on our current exchange programs and activities and showed a video slide show of the 2019 Student Exchange (when Sakai students visited Berkeley) and of the 2020 Sakai Kindergarten art.
Click here to see the Annual Dinner Agenda
Watch the film anytime Thursday, July 9th through Sunday, July 12th, 2020. Q&A will be Sunday, July 12th, 7:00 pm PST (see below for more details).
The virtual screening is a fundraiser for Berkeley-Sakai Association's exchange programs.
Information for this event can be found at:
https://www.facebook.com/events/642553896607776/
https://www.elevenarts.net/
Berkeley-Sakai Association Facebook page
Film Screening:
THE HARIMAYA BRIDGE tells the story of an American man who must visit rural Japan after the death of his son, to claim some important family items. Upon his arrival, this father discovers some of the secrets his son left behind and begins to see the world differently. The film stars Bennet Guillory (THE COLOR PURPLE), Saki Takaoka (CREST OF BETRAYAL), Misa Shimizu (OKOGE), and Danny Glover (LETHAL WEAPON).
This event brings together Eleven Arts Studios, which primarily focuses on creating film productions in Los Angeles that connect the United States and Japan, and the Berkeley-Sakai Association, a 50-year-old sister-city organization which acts upon its motto "together creating a peaceful world through friendship & cultural exchange.” The two organizations come together to create an event focused on fostering community virtually. Your screening fee will go to these organizations and allow them to continue to create content and community focused on connecting the U.S. and Japan.
Following the screening period, Eleven Arts Studios will host a Q&A with film director and writer, Aaron Woolfolk and film producer, Ko Mori, with Velina Hasu Houston monitoring and hosting the screening. Viewers of the Q&A are encouraged to ask their own questions in the comments of the Q&A live stream. Live Stream Q&A: https://youtu.be/X8ibfh0gXlg
