About Idaho Japanese Association

The Idaho Japanese Association (IJA) was founded on January 1, 2008 by five volunteers in the Boise, Idaho area. In March, 2009, it was officially registered as a non profit corporation (registered name: Idaho Japanese Association, Inc.) in the State of Idaho. IJA now has five board members.

Currently, we have over 100 members and our numbers are growing. We had two BBQ picnics (in June, annually), two Japan Festivals (in March, annually), and also had a welcome reception, at the Boise Airport, for the Japanese delegation of the Special Olympic in February, last year. We also held academy winning movie "Departure" which was the first showing in Boise. In 2010, we held first New Year's Party and celebrated start of the year with Japanese sake.

Our goals are two fold.

To improve communication among Japanese people in Idaho, and promote communication among local people who are interested in Japanese culture.
To educate the general public in the Boise, Idaho area about Japanese culture.

We currently do not collect any membership fees. Financially, we depend solely on fundraising activities and donations. Regardless of their citizenship, we accept registration from anyone interested in receiving our emails (all the messages on the email list are in Japanese language).

Currently, the majority of people on our email list are originally from Japan. Japan has precious ancient history and culture. In Idaho, many Japanese traditional martial arts (ex. Judo, Aikido, Kendo, and Karate) are practiced by Idahoans. These days, many Americans visit Japan for study, business, sightseeing, and missionary service. There are more Americans who can speak Japanese fluently than you would imagine. Japanese cuisine, like sushi, has gained a huge popularity lately in the US. Some of the high schools in Boise teach Japanese language classes.

We believe Japanese culture and traditions have many things to offer to the local community. Let's have fun and enjoy learning about Japanese culture! We hope to create more opportunities to experience it in this community.

Thank you very much for your support and understanding.

January, 2010

Shigeki Tomishima, President