It was a great start to autumn for everyone at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Japan. On September 29, we hosted the Canada 150 Maple Leaf Gala for our chamber members at the Tokyo American Club. Also attending were a number of honourable guests, including Her Imperial Highness Princess Takamado and His Excellency Ambassador of Canada to Japan, Ian Burney. e event gave us the opportunity to celebrate Canada’s Confederation and our country’s strong ties with Japan, while members were able to celebrate the past year’s work.

Looking ahead, we are planning to launch our second annual edition of the Investment Business Guide in 2018. e rst edition was published this March with the support of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) in Toronto, the Embassy of Canada to Japan, and our sponsors.

This bilingual guide is easy to access and read, and serves investors from both countries, providing regional information and incentives from both Canada and Japan. Infographics and online availability are just two of the great features we have in this multipurpose guidebook, which includes a CCCJ members’ directory.

We hope this will become the primary tool for JETRO and The Canadian Trade Commissioner Service regarding inbound and outbound attractions. The CCCJ will make the guide available to members and participants at the Canada–Japan Chamber Symposium. It ultimately represents one more example of our chamber’s efforts to create a great environment for bilateral investment and increased trade.

Now is also a great time for our members to get involved in the chamber and its decision-making. We have revitalized our committees through our monthly Hackathon, where governors and committee members gather to discuss the direction of the chamber, share information between committees and move projects forward. As a CCCJ member, you are able and encouraged to attend the Hackathon, and work with fellow members to build the chamber into an even stronger organization.

Currently, the CCCJ has a number of standing committees, including: Finance and Administration, Events, Membership, Global Diversity Management and CSR. We need your participation to make the chamber an organization that is “built by members, for members”.

This year has been an incredibly busy one for Canada and our chamber. We welcomed our newest ambassador to Japan, participated in the Canada-Japan Chamber Symposium in Sendai, offcially launched the bilingual Investment Business Guide 2017, and organized multiple chamber and large joint-chamber events, including the 150 Speakers Series.

On the committee front, we established the Global Diversity Committee and continued our advocacy push for a trade agreement between Canada and Japan. The CSR Committee raised over ¥100,000 for our CSR fund for projects such as the Tohoku Youth Project, now in its seventh year of inviting Tohoku students to work and live in our community.

As we approach the end of the year, let’s re ect on our contributions and hard work, and let’s use this momentum to continue to grow our great community and, through that community, strengthen and deepen the bilateral relationship between Canada and Japan.

The CCCJ has long been the key representative of the Canadian business community in Japan and will continue to serve members to drive up trade, investment and collaboration between our two countries.

To all our members and sponsors, I would like to send my sincerest gratitude for your endless support. A healthy chamber means a healthy business community, and I welcome all members to continue to work together as we enter 2018.