Dear Fellow CWAJ members,
We were honored to have Her Imperial Highness the Crown Princess Akishino to visit the 66th Print Show with her friends. It was purely a private visit, so we could not make any announcements beforehand, but the visit certainly served to enhance the atmosphere. Denzen Award winners from Sukagawa City who happened to visit Hillside Forum that day were very surprised and felt honored to receive kind words from the Princess.
The 66th Print Show and the Online Gallery was a great success, thanks to the diligent work of the Print Show Committee led by Akiko Samura, Ikuko Okada and Gemma Fujitani, and the IT team led by Betty Noguchi. We were fortunate to have nine overseas members with us at the Print Show. Thank you, Anne Willoughby, Joanne Fallon, Jennie Orchard, Kit Brooks, Lindy Kerr, Marilyn Gosling, Martina Ziesse, Pat MacDonald Scott, and Sabine Schmittgen. You are the greatest cheerleaders for the Print Show, and you made all the difference in raising our spirits. The reunion gathering with the visiting overseas members on October 19 was a highlight of the week for me. For some, it was being reunited with old friends, while for others, it was a wonderful opportunity to meet new members in person, instead of through a zoom screen.
A big thank you to everyone who volunteered during the in-person show at Daikanyama as well as the Online Gallery that followed. We appreciate all the support from the members, who managed to spread the word about our show. The final figures are still to come, but I have been informed that our estimated total print and product sales before tax comes to around 20 million yen, considerably higher than last year!
A big thank you to everyone for your invaluable contributions
Best regards,
Ritsuko Watanabe
President
