This September, Asian Studies graduate students, Iroha Mochida (MAAS) and Amanda Spincola (MAIA), volunteered their time at the U.S.-Japan Council 2025 Annual Conference held in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi.
The theme of this year's conference was "Bilateral Strength in Action: Charting New Paths for Global Peace and Prosperity." While at the conference, they assisted with registration, media management, and overall guest experience.
During the conference, Iroha (who is from Amami, Japan) sported an Okinawan-style shirt, known as a kariyushi. This was quite the conversation starter with the Okinawan attendees, who were very delighted to hear of her scholarly and journalistic endeavors. Iroha is also a recipient of the Toshizo Watanabe Study Abroad Scholarship, which the U.S.-Japan Council funds. During the conference, she was able to meet various administrators and scholarship committee members, who invited her to attend other scholarship-related events later in the semester.
During the conference, Amanda (who grew up in Little Saigon, CA) ran into her former boss from her time at Honouliuli National Historic Site and various business leaders she knew from Southern California. One of Amanda's research interests is the Asia-Pacific Theater of WWII. As she discussed this interest with a guest, she was invited to attend some events that will occur later this year at the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum.
Given their volunteer duties, Iroha and Amanda could not attend many of the sessions, but enjoyed networking and the connections they made outside of the ballroom. One of the highlights of the conference for them was the taiko drums that opened the Thursday session, pictured below.
