Toastmasters International District 76 Japan(English Site)

Dear Fellow Toastmasters throughout District 76

I hope that you are all off to a very successful and prosperous New Year.
At the same time, our thoughts continue to be with those who suffered hardest as well as with those who continue to suffer from the savage acts of Nature some ten months ago.
Looking back over the past six months, the successful Fall Conference with its slogan of "Thousands Points of Light" comes back alive as the highlight of the period.  Not only was it wonderfully carried out but it also embodied clearly the spirit of camaraderie and hospitality among and between members.   I personally cherish this spirit as an important ingredient  that sets Toastmasters apart from many other groups world over.  I felt and continue to feel so proud to be a part of this organization.

Our District's target this year has clearly been set at achieving the Distinguished District Status.  While there remain challenges to overcome, we are on the right track toward reaching the target.  In my opinion, the Distinguished District Status is not, in fact, a target but rather a result.
"A result of what?" You may wonder.  If many clubs achieve the Distinguished Club Status, the District will almost automatically become the Distinguished District.  The club activities are at the core of the District activities and Distinguished Club Program or DCP is the indicator as to whether a club is, indeed, providing a positive and mutually supportive learning environment to all of our members.   We will keep talking about DCP.  In fact,
Toastmasters International will take up this DCP as the key indicator to show whether the Toastmasters activities are being carried out successfully or not at any given locale.

While the slogan of “Thousands Points of Light” had a clear core meaning, it has also served as a reminder of the fact that the element of diversity is becoming an increasingly important consideration in our activities.  The number of Japanese language clubs is increasing quickly and there are encouraging prospects of us seeing a greater number of corporate clubs in the near future.  In this sense, we are moving into a really exciting time of Toastmasters activities in our District.

Let’s work and learn together to become the better speaker and leader we want to be at this exciting period in time. I look forward to many occasions at which we can meet and talk about all those exciting things about Toastmasters that are taking place locally, nationally and internationally.

All the best to you all.