Minutes, 10-5-05

Hello All,

On Wednesday 10-05-05, there was an "exec" J-Club meeting in Mitcho's room. Tea was served. My notes might get a
little rambly, I'm sorry, but it's been a while. The following topics were covered, and I think the LAST POINT
should be read and pondered by all. 

First, Stephen brought up the Tokyo-based shamisen-breakcore group, ARTIFICIAL LOVER. He would like to bring
them from Japan to Hyde Park in the spring for a concert. At this point, it was decided that J-Club can't really
do much since we're relatively poor, but we shall keep this in mind.

Then, in an surprising turn of events, a first-year from OKINAWA showed up briefly! HIDETOSHI-kun lives in the
Shoreland, so he appeared for a bit. We hope to see him again.

Next, IRON CHEF. It was brought up in the same fashion as last year -- "Ok, let's talk about Iron Chef. Do we
have any potential judges?" But then, as we chatted, Kentaro put it frankly: "I'm not interested in Iron Chef."
Which then led to a wave of agreement, from myself, Mickey, Mitcho, and possibly Stephen, I'm sorry I can't
remember. However, nothing was decided, because many people were not present to discuss the matter. It shall be
discussed next time. SERIOUS ISSUE!

And then, something else quite serious was brought up: THE FUTURE OF J-CLUB! We discussed at length the smaller-
scale things we could do just between ourselves (the club) instead of super-big, super-costly events that
concern "bringing Japanese culture" to UChicago students. We figure that catering to UChicago Japanese students &
students with interest in Japan should be a priority over the genearl public, people who may or may not care
about lovely Japan. So, we should discuss this matter as well next time. WHAT DO *YOU* WANT TO DO IN J-CLUB??? In
my opinion, this is the biggest question at hand.

HENCE, I suggest that we all meet sometime next week. It is understood by all that many of us are busy busy busy,
but this is precisely the issue at hand -- J-Club does not seem to be a huge priority for everyone (even anyone,
maybe). But before we start saying "I have X to do, so I can't meet/eat/cook/whatever," please, let's ALL meet
just once and just figure out these ULTRA-BASIC things to get things rolling. It's fine that we're all busy, it's
fine that J-Club isn't a priority, but it exists, and we should figure out exactly *how* it's going to exist this
year -- it deserves this much.

So -- Wednesday, I am free from 6pm and on. I liked Mitcho's room, because it's got tea, Kentaro in the next room,
Hidetoshi below, Stephen somewhere in there, and Mickey & I live near it. But whatever, wherever. Keep throwing
in when you're available to meet.

DO IT FOR JAPAN IF NOT FOR JCLUB

Thank you!
Sincerely,
Kei Hotoda