Azabudai: 1974–2007
Azabudai: 1974–2007
A special dedication ceremony on December 9, 1974, preceded a gala ceremony and reception on January 25 the following year to celebrate the opening of the new Club.
US Ambassador James D Hodgson attended the January gathering, and there were efforts to have former President Gerald Ford also visit. In a letter published in The Tokyo American, the Club’s monthly publication at the time, Hodgson called the new Club a “handsome addition to the Tokyo landscape." The new facility attracted many more applications for membership from Americans, Japanese and other nationalities.
The Club would continue to carry out its mission to improve international relations and promote cultural exchange between the US and Japan. In 1975, the Boy Scout Troop 51 started at the new Club, growing from 10 to 18 members in its first year, while rental videos exploded in popularity. During the Vietnam War, the Club hosted entertainment events for American troops.
The 2002 renovation of the Recreation Building was carried out partly in reaction to a 1996 survey that highlighted Members’ dissatisfaction with some elements of the Club, including the lack of parking, inadequate facilities for families and an uncomfortable mix of casual and formal spaces.
The next year, the Club reactivated its Long Range Planning Committee (LRPC), setting itself on the path to its present home. In a special vote in May 2006, 93 percent of the membership cast ballots in favor of the LRPC’s redevelopment proposal to move the Club to a temporary off-site location while the new premises, designed by the American architectural firm Pelli Clarke Pelli, were being built.
The Club held a groundbreaking on May 9, 2007, at its site in Takanawa. Echoing a ceremony before the rebuilding at Azabudai in the early 1970s, a Shinto priest conducted a purification ritual.
US Ambassador James D Hodgson attended the January gathering, and there were efforts to have former President Gerald Ford also visit. In a letter published in The Tokyo American, the Club’s monthly publication at the time, Hodgson called the new Club a “handsome addition to the Tokyo landscape." The new facility attracted many more applications for membership from Americans, Japanese and other nationalities.
The Club would continue to carry out its mission to improve international relations and promote cultural exchange between the US and Japan. In 1975, the Boy Scout Troop 51 started at the new Club, growing from 10 to 18 members in its first year, while rental videos exploded in popularity. During the Vietnam War, the Club hosted entertainment events for American troops.
The 2002 renovation of the Recreation Building was carried out partly in reaction to a 1996 survey that highlighted Members’ dissatisfaction with some elements of the Club, including the lack of parking, inadequate facilities for families and an uncomfortable mix of casual and formal spaces.
The next year, the Club reactivated its Long Range Planning Committee (LRPC), setting itself on the path to its present home. In a special vote in May 2006, 93 percent of the membership cast ballots in favor of the LRPC’s redevelopment proposal to move the Club to a temporary off-site location while the new premises, designed by the American architectural firm Pelli Clarke Pelli, were being built.
The Club held a groundbreaking on May 9, 2007, at its site in Takanawa. Echoing a ceremony before the rebuilding at Azabudai in the early 1970s, a Shinto priest conducted a purification ritual.
