The three days of Grand Chapitre celebrations commenced with the Dinner of Welcome at Chez Inno, a classic French restaurant in the Kyobashi district of Tokyo, considered by many to be one of the best French restaurants in the city.

Seventy members and guests participated, including Inducting Officer Harold Small, Member of the Conseil d’Administration from the USA, and his wife, Susan, not forgetting to mention a party of members from the National Bailliage of Singapore.

The Governor of Tokyo, Yoichi Masuzoe, welcomed the esteemed group with a speech and a toast to the success of the event.

Dinner on the Friday was at Kakiden in the Shinjuku ward of Tokyo very near to Shinjuku Station – the world’s busiest railway station. Kakiden is an elegant kaiseki restaurant which serves “chakaiseki” (kaiseki preceded by a tea ceremony) in line with the Japanese tea ceremony culture. The kanji¹ characters for Kakiden were written by Yasunari Kawabata who received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1968.

The dinner began with a traditional Japanese tea ceremony, followed by a Japanese flute performance which was the perfect start for a very elegant, relaxing evening. Seasonal delicacies served included chestnuts, gingko nuts, persimmon and suppon (Japanese turtle hot pot) before the main course of Matsutaka Wagyu roast beef with matsutake mushroom – the acknowledged star dish of the dinner!

Katsuyama Junmai Ginjo sakes, the first place winner in the Junmai Ginjo contest in 2015 Sake Competition accompanied the courses.

The Induction Ceremony and celebratory Gala Dinner which followed were held at the Tokyo American Club on Saturday, October 16th. Thirty members were inducted by Harold Small supported by Bailli Délégué Saihei Makinami who is also a Member of the Conseil d’Administration.

A vibrant institution, the Tokyo American Club was founded in 1928. Recently having been completely refurbished the Club has been a hub of exchange, socializing, entertainment for more than 80 years. These principles are of course entirely in keeping with those of the modern day Chaîne.

Saihei Makinami
Bailli Délégué

¹ Kanji means Chinese letter or character. The script was invented by the Chinese and adopted by the Japanese around the middle of the 6th century AD. Kanji are ideographs meaning that the whole character conveys a meaning rather than just a sound (as in the case of hiragana and katakana letters).