About Junior Chamber
(JC)
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About Junior Chamber (JC)
In 1949 during the chaotic time after the war, young active citizens of all over Japan stood up for the better society. Two years later, local junior chambers active in each district gathered together, and Japan Junior Chamber, or later Junior Chamber International Japan, was established in 1951. The founding general assembly of Japan JC was held at a conference room of the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry on February 9, 1951, and Mitsutomo Kurokawa, the president of the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry, was elected as the first president. Thus Japan Junior Chamber as the pivot of junior chamber movements was started by 7 local junior chambers and 48 chartered members. Since then, JCI Japan has taken a central role of junior chamber movements in Japan, and has developed various projects in cooperation with local junior chambers. The group of young active business leaders who has been taking actions among 704 districts in Japan to achieve the “bright affluent society” with the three beliefs of “training”, “service”, and “friendship” in mind – that is Japan JC / JCI Japan.
Features of JC
All active dignified citizens at the age between 20 and 40 years old can join Japan JC. And a member of JC must retire from the chamber when he/she becomes over 40 years old. This age limit is characteristic of the JC, and thanks to this system the organization is always kept young and energetic. The term of office of members of the JC shall be 1 year, including the president of each local junior chamber.
Members can acquire various practical experiences by taking different positions and roles every year, and eventually they can utilize the results of their self-development to their own social fields. Because the practical training you can experience through JC projects is applicable in many fields, JC members and graduates are contributing to all sectors of our society. For instance, we have active graduates taking leading roles of Japan such as Diet members, prefectural governors, and mayors.
About Junior Chamber International
JCI Japan is a member of Junior Chamber International, JCI. There are over 270,000 JCI members and over 2.5 million graduates in 112 countries. 42nd President of the United States Bill Clinton, seventh U. N. Secretary General Coffey Annan, and fifth President of French Republic Jacques Chirac are among them. Many other JCI members and graduates are active in all over the world.
Formal entry into JCI
When Japan JC was established, it was one of the biggest projects of the year to become a member of Junior Chamber International. In May of 1951, 6 representatives of Japan JC, including President of Japan JC Mr. Kurokawa, were dispatched to the 6th JCI World Congress held in Montreal in Canada. At the opening ceremony, the President of JCI at that time Lamont Rosario from the Philippines made a speech. He said, “There is no borders and no racial distinctions among junior chambers. Junior chambers are of young citizens of all over the world.
Being proud of that, we shall now welcome the delegation of Japan JC with our sincere heart even though Japan used to be our enemy country”. The news of formal entry into JCI was immediately telegraphed to Japan JC. At that time, no other Japanese organizations had joined international organizations before the San Francisco Peace Treaty sealing, except for the Rotary Club.
