Photo credit: Janet Donovan
We were going to be brilliant and title this article in Japanese; however, Nobuko Sasae has had a successful career as a prime interpreter, so if the title symbols weren’t correct we’d be in trouble, so we skipped it. Our friends did the honors – in English!
“I just wanted to say that it’s been five years and in one way it has flown by; in another way, it seems like you have been here forever. I think a lot of us can’t imagine and can’t remember when Nobuko and her husband were not here in Washington,” said Pamela Reeves who co-hosted a farewell party at her DC home with co-hosts Amb. Capricia Marshall and Connie Morella. “And in those years, you really have just been the most important Washington convener, and that’s not an easy title to get here in D.C. A lot of people aspire to that, and you’ve managed it. We know when we come to your home and your embassy we’re going to meet interesting people and interesting ideas and we will be welcomed graciously and with warmth, as you always do. I don’t know if everybody knows this, but next week, March 8th, is International Women’s Day, so I cannot think of a more fitting moment to honor Nobuko and thank her for her work in empowering women and girls. And it’s not just the young women and the not so young women, but I think we all feel empowered because of your Nobuko Forum, and the issues that you’ve brought to light and the conversations you’ve allowed us to have. Nobuko, thank you for everything.”
Former Maryland Rep. Connie Morella, Nobuko Sasae and Pamela Reeves
“We’re here because we really want Nobuko to know how much we have appreciated what she has done to empower women. Many of you here were speakers there, so you yourselves did a great deal with letting others know that they can have confidence in themselves, that they were worth something, that there were travails that they were going to face, and challenges – but no guts, no glory. You’ve got to try it. If they want to succeed, you better try it,” added Morella. “If you don’t succeed the first time, right? The harder you work, the luckier you get, whatever. At any rate, she’s done so much in the way of making people realize that they can do a lot. This is a revolution. This is revolution and we all have a part in it, to make sure that we do change the culture in the United States, in the world, in Japan, so that women will be on an equal level as men are. It was Nobuko who asked good questions. She was the one who moderated and she’s the one who established it. You really have left a legacy, which I hope we will be able to continue in some way, looking to people like you for leadership. And then when you go back to Japan, you will remember us because you will continue with that legacy. We hope that you will do that.”
Connie Morella and Nobuko Sasae
“This morning I saw the outside and the ferocious wind and I thought that I would be just one person to come show up. Even if I was just one person to show up, I just could come and say ‘thank you,’ but so many people have come all the way despite the wind,” noted Nobuko. She also took the opportunity to describe her experiences with The Nobuko Forum and thanked the speakers who were so eager to share their experiences and advice with the younger audience and so willing to help and encourage them. “I was blessed with great participants. At the very last forum, I said that the whole thing was I felt empowered more than anybody else. I think that empowerment is something mutual – the same thing happens in a reverse way. I hope that this networking, this connection will further prosper in coming years. The most happy thing, I should say, was the last two forums. I found that young Japanese women came to the microphone and asked questions. At the beginning, it was designed to encourage them to speak up, but that didn’t happen at the beginning. Now at the last two forums, I even had to stop them. I hope that tradition of speaking up without feeling that they losing modesty or humility, that should continue. I really hope that will stay in their minds and they continue to behave like that even after they return to Japan.”
The ‘bombogenesis’ guests
“After the last forum was over, of course, I had a sense of relief, a sense of happiness, sense of gratitude, but very honestly, I had also a sense of loss,” Nobuko added. “I was so lonely, because it was like The Nobuko Forum was really my pet project that supported me. Then, I remembered that there was something like ‘Pet loss.’ I once read the article that in order to recover from the pet loss, the best thing is to buy another pet. I really think that what I have to do is that in the next chapter of my life, I should continue something as worthy as The Nobuko Forums. I like to continue the empowerment of women or women’s discussions in whatever the way I can do. Creating and hosting the Forum was completely transformational for me. I have been so grateful to each one of you, because you have been really the supporter, my role model, my mentor, my advisor, and without you, it never happened.” Keep an eye out the the Nobuko TV Show.
