東京・品川プリンスホテルにて「UW Converge Tokyo」が開催されました。

University of Washington（UW）のグローバルコミュニティが一堂に集う本イベントが、東京で再び開催されるのは今回が初めて。世界各地から卒業生、研究者、企業リーダーが集まり、未来を見据えた知見を共有するとともに、UWコミュニティの長年の絆を改めて深める特別な一日となりました。

会場は終日、“Intellectual Festival” を思わせる知的刺激と活気に満ち、世界中から集まったHuskyたちの高揚感と再会の喜びに満ちあふれていました。

プログラムは、UW President Robert J. Jones 氏による心温ますオープニングメッセージで幕を開け、教育と研究が今後社会にどのような価値をもたらしていくのかについて語られ、参加者は大きな関心をもって耳を傾けていました。

続くノーベル賞受賞者 David Baker 氏による基調講演では、「タンパク質デザイン」という最先端かつ高度なテーマが、穏やかで分かりやすい語り口によって身近なものとして伝えられ、科学の可能性や未来への期待を改めて感じさせる印象的なセッションとなりました。

その後、パネルディスカッションに移り、Microsoft Japan、Expedia、OpenAI Japan をはじめとする各界のリーダーが登壇。AIの急速な進化、グローバル経済の変化、スタートアップを取り巻く可能性などについて、多角的な視点から活発な議論が交わされました。セッション後には、参加者同士で自然と感想や意見交換が始まり、会場のあちこちで新たな対話が生まれていたのも印象的でした。

午後には、筑波大学および東北大学のリーダーも加わり、大学と産業界の連携によってどのような未来を築くことができるのかについて議論が展開されました。国や専門分野を超えても、多くの人々が共通する未来像に向かって歩んでいることを実感させる、非常に示唆に富んだセッションとなりました。

そして最後を飾った「Deans’ Roundtable」では、UW各学部のDeanたちが、AI時代における教育のあり方や大学の役割について率直な意見を交わし、未来志向のメッセージとともにプログラムを締めくくりました。

最先端かつ高度なテーマを扱いながらも、イベント全体を通じて温かく開かれた雰囲気が保たれており、参加者同士が自然につながり、新たな刺激や希望を持ち帰ることのできる、心に残る一日となりました。

Tokyo’s Shinagawa Prince Hotel set the stage for UW Converge Tokyo, a gathering where the University of Washington’s global community came together—remarkably, marking the first time in history that the event has been held in Tokyo twice. Alumni, researchers, and industry leaders from around the world reunited to share insights shaping the future and to build meaningful, lasting connections throughout this special day.

From morning to evening, the venue buzzed with the energy of what felt like an “intellectual festival,” filled with the excitement of Huskies who had traveled from across the globe.

The day began with a warm message from President Robert J. Jones, whose reflections on how education and research will continue contributing to society drew the audience in with genuine curiosity.

This was followed by a live keynote from Nobel laureate David Baker, who made the seemingly complex world of protein design feel surprisingly accessible through his calm storytelling and hopeful vision for the future—leaving the room with a renewed sense of how fascinating science can be.

The panel discussions that followed brought together leaders from Microsoft Japan, Expedia, OpenAI Japan, and others—voices that rarely share the same stage—to talk about AI’s rapid evolution, shifts in the global economy, and the expanding potential of startups. Their conversations were so engaging that participants naturally turned to one another to ask, “What did you think about that part?” sparking spontaneous dialogue throughout the hall.

In the afternoon, leaders from the University of Tsukuba and Tohoku University joined the discussions, exploring what kind of future can be created when universities and industry collaborate. The session left many with the comforting realization that even across countries and disciplines, we are often striving toward the same future. The day concluded with the Deans’

Roundtable, where UW’s deans spoke candidly about the future of AI, education, and the university’s role in the world, offering a thoughtful and forward-looking close to the program.

Despite the depth of the topics, the atmosphere remained warm and welcoming throughout, allowing participants to connect naturally and walk away with a renewed sense of hope for the future—a day that left a gentle, lasting impression.

The Board met for our (currently) monthly meeting to discuss, well, CONVERGE! There will be 4 panel discussion in the daytime program:
①Business-related
➁R&D
➂UW/Japan Partnerships
④Dean's Roundtable

Not all of the panelists are finalized yet but Home Campus has put together a pretty impressive line-up. Kudos and a huge thanks to them!

We were also informed last night that there are approximately 130 people who've registered to date. In addition, we were informed that this figure is pretty high taking into consideration we still have about 2.5 months to go. Hope to keep up the momentum in registrants!

(You need not be a Southeast Asia resident to participate. If you're a Husky who'll just happen to be in Japan and have nothing better to do - ha! - please consider joining us.)

P.S. We'll start thinking about next year's events... after Converge...

理事会にて、定例（現在は月一開催）の会議が行われました。議題はもちろん「CONVERGE」についてです！ 日中のプログラムでは、以下の4つのパネルディスカッションが予定されています。

①ビジネス関連
②R&D（研究開発）
③UW（ワシントン大学）と日本のパートナーシップ
④学部長（Dean）によるラウンドテーブル

パネリストの全員がまだ確定しているわけではありませんが、シアトルの本校キャンパスが非常に素晴らしい顔ぶれを揃えてくれました。本校スタッフの尽力に、心からの称賛と感謝を贈ります！

また、昨夜の報告では、現時点で約130名の方に登録いただいているとのことです。開催まであと2ヶ月半という時期を考えると、この数字はかなり高いペースだそうです。このまま登録者の勢いを維持していければと思います！

（参加にあたって、東南アジア在住である必要はありません。もし日本に滞在予定の「ハスキー（UW卒業生・関係者）」で、特に予定が空いている方がいれば——あはは！——ぜひ参加をご検討ください。）

追伸：来年のイベントについては……今回のConvergeが終わってから考え始めることにします……。

https://www.washington.edu/alumni/events/uw-converge-tokyo/

The UWAAJ Board held a meeting on Monday night (Nov. 10th) and discussed... Converge, Converge, and CONVERGE! (We covered some other topics, too, of course but most of it was about Converge.) We can't believe that it'll be coming up in about 3 months. If you haven't checked out the UW Home Campus website, please do so! There's an early bird discount that ends on Dec. 1, 2025, if you'd like to take advantage of that. We hope to see many of you in Tokyo!

月曜日の夜（11月10日）のUWAAJ 理事会では、Converge、Converge、そして CONVERGEについて議論しました！（もちろん、他のトピックもいくつかありましたが、ほとんどが Converge に関するものでした。）約3か月後に迫っているなんて、信じられません。

まだ UW Home Campus のウェブサイトをチェックしていない方は、ぜひご覧ください！早期割引があり、2025年12月1日に終了しますので、ぜひご利用ください。

皆さんにお会いできることを願っています！

https://www.washington.edu/alumni/events/uw-converge-tokyo/

Event: Binging Shogun: Can Historical Fiction Be Good for History?
和心会 秋の日本文化講演会：
『将軍』をイッキ見：歴史ドラマは歴史理解に役立つか？

講演者： デイヴィッド・スパフォード准教授（ペンシルベニア大学 東アジア言語文明学部）

https://townhallseattle.org/event/david-spafford/

We are pleased to share this upcoming in-person and online lecture presented by Town Hall Seattle and Washin Kai.

Join Professor David Spafford, Premodern Japanese History at University of Pennsylvania, as he takes a closer look at the complexities of the period and unpacks why this particular moment in history matters so much — and how the hit Shogun series does (or doesn’t) help us understand it.

📅Date and Time :Monday, December 8, 2025, 6:00 pm, PT
（日本時間：12月9日（火）午前11時）

📍Location: Town Hall Seattle（オンライン参加可）

📝 Details: https://townhallseattle.org/event/david-spafford/

------

Disclaimer:
1. The website is owned by the Townhall Seattle.
2. UW Privacy Policy: https://www.washington.edu/online/privacy/
3. UWAAJ is not responsible for UW activities pertaining to the below website.

🎉 UWAAJ Youth Event復活🎉長らく開催を見送っていたユースイベントですが、本日ご参加いただいた皆様、ありがとうございました✨次回は来年2月のコンバージでお会いしましょう！

🎉 UWAAJ Youth Event is back🎉Thank you to everyone who joined and made it such a great gathering✨See you next at the Converge in February 2026!

UWAAJ's Youth Event is back on Oct. 18th! We hadn't been able to host this event for several years so this year, we're inviting not just our "youth" age group but also those who missed out and went over the age group during the years that we didn't host this. For those who missed out the past several years, this is a one time only invitation just for this year. Please join us if you can!
The invitation emails were just sent this evening to eligible UWAAJ members.

https://www.uwaajapan.com/

*To register to this event, you must send us the Google form attached to the invitation email. Responding to this post will NOT qualify you to participate.

We might have mentioned this a few months ago but Converge will be back in Tokyo in 2026! If you'd like to be kept up-to-date, sign up with UW Alumni Association per the below website!

https://www.washington.edu/alumni/events/uw-converge-tokyo/

UWAAJ, together with Japanese Students Association (JSA), hosted Husky Japan Kick Off 2025 in Tokyo. This is an annual event to "kick off" the campus life of students enrolling at the UW from this fall. 3 students joined us onsite and 1 online today. 3 JSA officers participated to share their experiences and answer questions from students on matters such as class registration, dorm application, etc.

This year has become a challenging year for international students. We all hope that the students are able to get their visas and start school at the end of September. Those of us at UWAAJ wish them the best and hope they enjoy life in Seattle and at the UW.

(We've received permission from the students to post pictures here on this page.)

🎉 UWAAJ Reunion 2024 🎉

A big thank you to everyone who joined us for this year’s annual gathering. This reunion was special as we celebrated the strategic collaboration between Japan and UW in AI and semiconductors🤝🌏

We were honored to have President Ana Mari Cauce, Provost Tricia Serio, Deputy Chief of Mission from the US Embassy, and our local strategic partners. Stay connected, and we look forward to seeing you at future events🐾⭐️

On July 20th, the Japanese Student Association at the UW (JSA) and the UWAAJ hosted the kick-off event to welcome new students joining UW this fall!🌿📚✨We wish our new Huskies an amazing, safe adventure in Seattle! *Pics posted with permission. 

7月20日、東京にて今年の秋からUWに入学する新入生へのキックオフイベントを開催しました🌟UWでの新生活が素晴らしいものとなるよう願っています！

Thank you to all the Huskies who joined us for the reunion yesterday 🎉 We're so happy to finally resume our annual gathering and see everyone.

2019年ぶりのUWAAJ Reunion 2023にご参加をいただきました皆様、ありがとうございました。久しぶりに皆様と再会ができ嬉しく思います🎉今後ともUWAAJをよろしくお願いいたします。

19 undergrads will be attending the UW from this fall and 6 of them (plus 4 mums and dads) participated in our annual Kick Off (formerly called Send-off) on Jul. 8. 2 JSA officers presented what should be very useful information to the students-to-be and there were LOTS of questions during the mingling session.

(3 UWAAJ Board members were present to assist with the logistics.)

We wish the students well and hope that they enjoy their stay in Seattle while staying safe. We also hope that we'll see them back for our events in the future!

(We have their prior permission to post their pictures on this page.)

For those of you interested in, please check out the event happening on 19 April by Washinkai!

Visions of the Katsura Imperial Villa

和心会による春の日本古典文学講演：桂離宮のビジョン

📍 April 19, (日本時間4月20日)

🕛 7:00 PM-8:30 PM PT/11:00-12:30 JST 

🗒Register:
https://events.uw.edu/event/0b7ea2f7-6935-42d8-b51d-c41cbc6f64b4/summary

📍Check out the latest updates on the Tateuchi East Asia Library renovation project🎓

https://www.washington.edu/give-to-libraries/tateuchi-east-asia-library-renovation/

It's confirmed! The Converge series of activities will be hosted by UW Alumni Association Indonesia as "Converge Jakarta" this year!

The dates are Aug. 12 (Sat.) ~ 15 (Tue.).

*For those of you who reside in Japan, Aug. 11 (Fri.) is a national holiday. This is Obon Festival weekend.

We're not too sure of the venue and other details but will send an email to UWAAJ members as soon as we confirm the information.

In the meantime, you can register to UWAA to receive information directly from Home Campus.

https://www.washington.edu/alumni/events/uw-converge-jakarta-2023/

We've heard through the grapevines that Ana Mari Cauce (UW President) and Frank Hodge (Dean of Foster School of Business) are scheduled to participate. Other speakers and participants from Home Campus are currently being confirmed.

Happy New Year! Wishing you, your family and friends a very prosperous and healthy year.

We have some news to share. Converge 2023 will be hosted by UWAA Indonesia in Jakarta (Converge Jakarta 2023). The date and venue are yet to be confirmed, but we've been informed that it will held in August. Converge events will be held on a Saturday, while excursions may take place on the dates following Converge activities.

We will send UWAAJ members (who are on the member list) an email as soon as the date and other details have been confirmed. For information directly from Home Campus, please access the following.

https://uwalum.com/converge

※For UW alumni, exchange students, and those who studied or worked at the UW (visiting scholar, professor, etc.) even for a quarter, and wish to join UWAAJ, please email us at info@uwaajapan.com.

(There is no fee to become a member.)

🎓Welcome to the University of Washington, Class of 2026✨The Japanese Student Association at the UW (JSA) and the UW Alumni Association Japan (UWAAJ) hosted the first in-person send-off event since the pandemic. We wish them the best and hope they'll enjoy Seattle. Thanks to Japanese Student Association at University of Washington officers for a great orientation🎊

パンデミック以来、初の対面イベントとして、UWAAJは、ワシントン大学日本人生徒会と共催で、今秋からUWに入学予定の新入生へのオリエンテーションイベントを東京で実施しました。

最新の情報や現役学生とのネットワーキングの機会を提供する事で、少しでも不安を解消しUWで楽しい学生生活が送れるよう願っています。