86 - Dinner with Ambassador and Mrs. Kanji Yamanouchi
On June 25th we had a fantastic event hosted by the Consul General of Japan, Ambassador Kanji Yamanouchi, at his residence.
One note of interest, there is a very important diplomatic tradition in Japan - the Consul General of Japan to New York, and New York alone I believe, is referred and addressed as to as Ambassador. I believe it is because the diplomatic post to New York is considered an Ambassadorship - and if you think about it rightly so.
The evening started with a Rakugo performance attended by 70 guests of Ambassador Yamanouchi. It was a great audience and very kind - the kind that laugh a lot. People were very enthusiastic when I announced our opening date for Broadway. A few in the audience were in attendance at my first show off-Broadway at the SoHo Playhouse where we ran for three weeks last November, so they know that our Broadway debut has been a long time coming!
Ambassador Yamanouchi made a great speech to kick things off (as usual). He gave me a wonderful comment, calling me both a powerful weapon and bridge for Japanese culture in the world. I have been called a bridge before but never a weapon - I kind of like it...
