Event Reports

Hiroo's La Bisboccia must be one of the finest Italian restaurants in Tokyo, and it has long been a regular venue for C&O lunches. Apart from the excellent cuisine, a definite attraction from our point of view is that it isn't open to the public for lunch, which means that our boisterous presence doesn't bother anyone else. The meeting on 22nd February was actually rather less boisterous than usual as numbers were low: only thirteen members and two guests. There were no new members to be introduced, but no no-shows, either.

This was, as far as we know, only the Society’s second official bōnenkai (year-end party), the first having taken place on 27 December 2000 at Hokkaido in Shinjuku. Both events were extremely successful, so it seems likely that a bōnenkai will become a regular feature of the Society’s programme in future.

November is a busy month in Japan but nonetheless a goodly number of members (28) graced the Society's lunch on the 21st held in the New Hall of the British Embassy. Also present were a few guests (5) and, very happily, two "returnees", Mr Martin Blakeway (Trinity, Cambridge) and Mr John Brodie (Christ Church, Oxford). It was a brilliant late autumn day outside and within both wine and conversation flowed. Jane Cooke produced one of her excellent lunches (good English fare, though a lasagna lurked and at which Ms Doreen Simmons [Girton, Cambridge] was seen looking suspiciously).

C&O Poolside Party hosted by the New Chairman

Dr and Mrs Barraclough’s residence
Minooka-dori 4-5-3, Nada-ku, Kobe
(10–15 minutes’ walk from Hankyu Oji-Koen Station, last house on the left)

For many years the C&O annual golf tournament has continued to take place in early summer at Hodogaya Country Club thanks to the kind invitation of Mr Hidehiro Takaki (Gonville & Caius, Cambridge 1927) and other members. In 1998 and 99, a winter golf match also took place and in 2000, three golf matches were played in February, June and November. The C&O Presidents have always managed to take time out of their busy schedules and participated in each game.