Meet and greet our new GM!

The FCCJ is pleased to announce that Thomas Kermabon will join us as general manager from Monday,June 30.

Mr. Kermabon is coming to the club from the Prescott Hotel in San Francisco where he has been general manager for the past two years. The 164-room hotel is on Union Square includes Wolfgang Puck's Postrio restaurant. His career includes a stint at the Westin Miyako Kyoto, where he was front office manager for all of 2002, so his new job marks a return to Japan.

On Tuesday night from 18:30 to 20:30 there's a chance to say hello and chat with him at an informal event that is open to all members. If you plan to attend please inform the front desk so we can gauge numbers. If you don't have a chance to make it then please look for him around the club from Monday onwards.

Martyn Williams
FCCJ President

A few words by Thomas Kermabon

Minnasan, hajime mashite - Thomas Kermabon desu.
Dozo yoroshiku, onegaishimasu.

It is with great enthusiasm and excitement that my family and I will relocate to Tokyo from San Francisco. It was immediately clear to me that the opportunity to become the next General Manager of the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan represented the perfect marriage between my personal and professional interests. I am very fortunate and truly appreciative to have been selected. Having lived and worked in Kyoto and vacationed extensively across Japan annually since 1997, I am thrilled to be able to settle in Tokyo, finally. My wife Takako, a Tokyo native, and my two sons Kaito and Yamato, ages 2 and 1 respectively, are poised to reconnect with their heritage in Tokyo and Japan's wonderfully unique cultural offerings.

I look very forward to getting to know all of you, serving the best interests of this esteemed organization, supporting improvements for members and staff, and us all having some fun along the way. I'd like to sincerely thank the President and Board of Directors, the GM
Search Committee, and the FCCJ's members for their hand in my appointment.

May the future hold success, happiness, and good health for us all.

Domo arigato gozaimasu.

Sincerely,

Thomas Kermabon, 19 June, 2008