A General Meeting, chaired by the Society’s President, Sir Stephen Gomersall (Queens’ Cambridge 1966), was held at the New Hall, British Embassy on Thursday, 13th March, 2003, starting at 6:30 p.m. It was attended by 38 Members. The agenda was as follows:

Report on current membership and C&O activities over the past 3 years
Presentation of financial statements for the past three years and the draft budget for the coming three years (2003 ~ 2005)
Presentation of proposed amendments to the Constitution
Election of Honorary Secretaries and Treasurer for 2003 ~ 2005
Election of Members of a Special Committee to prepare a programme of events for the Society’s Centenary in 2005
The General Meeting opened with a speech by the President, in which he emphasized the unique character of the Society as compared with other alumni and British-related organisations in Japan and reaffirmed the Embassy’s support for the Society’s activities.

Mr Teruhisa Nakamura (Worcester Oxford 1964) then gave a brief report on the current membership (Honorary Members: 4, Ordinary Members: 242, as of the end of February 2003) and on the events held over the last three years, outlining the events themselves and the moderately declining trend in attendance, except for the early summer Spouses’ Party hosted by the President.

This was followed by a presentation of financial statements, delivered by Mr Yuhiko Yasunaga (Wolfson Cambridge 1980), who took over the Treasurer’s duties from Mr Masaharu Kurata on 18th February 2003. The Treasurer pointed out that the Society’s cash flow position is robust, even when the anticipated additional expenditure on the Centenary programme (yet to be agreed) is considered, and expressed the hope that the budgets for the forthcoming years would remain within the confines of the limited cash balance and annual subscription fees to be collected from Members.

The lengthiest item on the agenda was a proposal by the outgoing Committee to amend the Society’s Constitution. The proposed amendments and additions were outlined by Mr Timothy Minton (St John’s Cambridge 1977), and two further additions were proposed from the floor following his presentation. One of the major amendments is that, in future years, one General Meeting shall be held triennially (in lieu of an AGM). The revised version was approved by the unanimous vote of those Members in attendance and may be viewed here.

The next item on the agenda was the election of the Society’s Officers for 2003 ~ 2005. In addition to the President (Sir Stephen Gomersall, HM Ambassador to Japan), the following Committee Members (Honorary Secretaries) were elected by the unanimous vote of those present:

Mr Buhei Okumura (Trinity Cambridge 1954)
Mr Teruhisa Nakamura (L) (Worcester Oxford 1964)
Mr Timothy D. Minton (L) (St John’s Cambridge 1977)
Mr Huw R. Williams (Clare Cambridge 1980)
Mr Yuhiko Yasunaga (*) (Wolfson Cambridge 1990)

Note: (L) Secretaries with responsibility for the Society’s official links with the Oxford and Cambridge Alumni Offices.
(*) Treasurer.

The final item on the agenda was the election of Members of the Special Centenary Committee, whose responsibility it will be to prepare an appropriate programme of events to celebrate the Society’s Centenary in 2005. The following Members were unanimously elected by those present:

Prof. H. David Turner (Christ’s Cambridge 1961)
Dr Louis Nthenda (St Antony’s Oxford 1964)
Mr Takashi Uyeno (Linacre Oxford 1968)
Mr Guy Heald (Queens’ Cambridge 1969)
Mrs Shigeko Tanaka (Wolfson Cambridge 1987)
Dr Gerhard Fasol (Trinity Cambridge 1978)
Dr Motori Hirose (St Catherine’s Oxford 1986)
Miss Nobuko Yamazaki (New Hall Cambridge 1993)

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7.15 p.m. and was followed by a cheese and wine party.

Honorary Secretaries