About Us
The Japan Society of Boston is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to promote cultural and economic ties and active interchange between Japanese and Americans for mutual understanding, business exchange, social connection, and friendship. We serve as a programming nexus for individuals, institutions, and businesses linked together by a strong interest in Japan and a shared recognition of the importance of the U.S.-Japan relationship.
Staff
Jessy LeClair
Executive Director
Jessy LeClair is originally from the Boston area and has spent time in Kyoto, Yokohama, and California. She has a BA in Japanese and Biology from Williams College. She received her PhD in Social Psychology from UC Santa Barbara with a focus on how culture shapes the mind. Following her passion to build community, Jessy has worked in various organizations to facilitate relationships and build bridges across cultures.
Yu Hayashi
Intern
Yu Hayashi was raised in Yokohama, Japan, and is currently studying in Boston as an exchange student. He is a business and marketing major who aims to contribute to JSB’s growth through strategic outreach. In his free time, he enjoys playing the guitar and singing.
Hayley Valk
Managing Director,
Programs & Operations
Hayley Valk is originally from Massachusetts and has spent over 8 years living in Japan. She has worked to connect Japanese innovation to the rest of the world through program management, operations, communications, and translation roles at Tokyo- and Boston-based companies. She has a BA in East Asian Languages & Cultures from Barnard College/Columbia University and is an alum of the JET Program (Shiso City, Hyogo).
Isabel Hurwitz
Intern
Isabel Hurwitz is a senior currently majoring in Asian Studies at Boston University. She is originally from Colombia and has spent time studying abroad in Kyoto, where she was able to study one of her big Japanese culture interests: Chadō. Isabel is also particularly interested in the intersection of Japanese culture and Latin American identity and aims to use her skills to foster stronger diplomatic ties between Japan and Latin America.
Julia Napier
Operations Associate
Julia Napier has a BA in East Asian Studies and a minor in Art History. She has spent three years in Japan and loves learning about Japanese pop culture, traditional culture, literature, film, and food.
Solara Patel-Elliott
Intern
Solara Patel-Elliott is a current college freshman majoring in Government and International Relations. Although she is on a gap year, she is a full-time student at North Shore Community College and is set to begin her studies at Cornell University in the fall. Solara attended the Boston Japanese Language School in Medford for 14 years and is also a graduate of Yokohama Midorigaoka High School in Japan, where she spent a year studying as an exchange student. She is deeply passionate about international relations and law and hopes to pursue a career in international corporate law in the future. In her free time, she enjoys dancing, drawing, and content creation.
Board
ADVISORY BOARD
Lawrence K. Fish
Heisuke Hironaka
Robert D. Reischauer
PRESIDENT EMERITUS
Peter M. Grilli
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
*denotes Executive Committee
Brian Chiappinelli*
Takako Edwards
Glen S. Fukushima
Andrew Gordon*
Todd Guild
William W. Hunt, Chairman*
David P. Janes
Peter Kelley
Midori Morikawa
Kiyoko Morita*
Susan Napier
James Nuzzo, Treasurer*
Rina Okawa
Bernard Pucker
Roger T. Servison*
John A. Shane, Vice Chair*
Hirotaka Takeuchi
Keiko Thayer
Yoshinori Uda
Mikio Yoshimura
Contact Us
Japan Society of Boston
50 Milk Street, 16th Floor
Boston, MA 02109
JSB History
The Japan Society of Boston began as an informal discussion group sympathetic to Japan in the Russo-Japanese War. Until it disbanded during World War II, the Society was primarily an informal social organization, and mainly hosted visiting Japanese dignitaries.
Under the leadership of the late Ambassador Edwin O. Reischauer, with his return to the U.S. and to Harvard in the late 1960s, interest in the U.S. Japan relation in Boston and the surrounding regions was revived. In the late 1970s, the Society began to expand, acquired office space, and hired its first part-time staff member. Beginning in 1980, the Society received a series of milestone grants from the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission that enabled it to hire a full-time executive director, expand its membership, increase its level of programming, and introduce new publications and other services.
The Japan Society of Boston has continued to thrive and grow, and currently offers its members and the general public a wide array of programs and informational services.
Staff
Jessy LeClair
Executive Director
Hayley Valk
Managing Director,
Programs & Operations
Julia Napier
Operations Associate
Jessy LeClair is originally from the Boston area and has spent time in Kyoto, Yokohama, and California. She has a BA in Japanese and Biology from Williams College. She received her PhD in Social Psychology from UC Santa Barbara with a focus on how culture shapes the mind. Following her passion to build community, Jessy has worked in various organizations to facilitate relationships and build bridges across cultures.
Hayley Valk is originally from Massachusetts and has spent over 8 years living in Japan. She has worked to connect Japanese innovation to the rest of the world through program management, operations, communications, and translation roles at Tokyo- and Boston-based companies. She has a BA in East Asian Languages & Cultures from Barnard College/Columbia University and is an alum of the JET Program (Shiso City, Hyogo).
Julia Napier has a BA in East Asian Studies and a minor in Art History. She has spent three years in Japan and loves learning about Japanese pop culture, traditional culture, literature, film, and food.