The United States-Japan Foundation celebrated the opening of its new Washington, D.C. headquarters the evening of Thursday, December 4.
Shigeo Yamada, Japan's Ambassador to the U.S., gave remarks at the reception, which drew more than 100 representatives from the business, policy, arts, journalism, and nonprofit communities.
The reception served as a showcase for the diverse talent within the Foundation's US-Japan Leadership Program (USJLP) network. Musicians Tiffany Thompson (2025, 2026) and Chad Cannon (2022, 2023) performed a guitar/violin duet of a piece composed by Thompson, while artwork from multiple fellows was displayed on walls throughout the building. Guests browsed a bookcase full of works written by USJLP fellows and visited a listening room for a playlist of music composed and performed by network members. The sake was provided by the Tennessee brewery, Proper Sake, run by Byron Stithem (2024, 2025).
The building is managed by a new organization called the Transpacific Future Center (TPFC), which aims to provide a platform for rising leaders across diverse fields to debate public policy and social issues, network with business leaders, and act as connectors advancing not only U.S.-Japan relations but also relationships throughout the region.
USJF is the anchor tenant in the building, which TPFC plans to develop as a co-working space for other mission-aligned groups, and also as a base to provide skills development programs supporting the next generation of U.S.-Japan experts, experts in the Indo-Pacific whose work intersects with the U.S.-Japan alliance, and experts in underrepresented rural areas.
Photo credit: Jeff Song