SMAA Summer Newsletter 2024
2024 Summer Issue
2024 Summer: Congratulations to the Class of 2024!!! We joyfully welcome you to the St. Mary’s Alumni Association. St. Mary’s will be celebrating its 70th anniversary this year, and Headmaster Saburo Kagei ‘78 will be celebrating his retirement during the upcoming 2024-25 school year.
Congratulations to the Class of 2024
Message from the Chair
Dear Titans Alumni and Friends,
Seasonal greetings!
I recently had the pleasure and honor to attend St. Mary’s 60th Commencement Ceremony. Please join me to welcome the Class of 2024 as our newest members of the Alumni Association. In addition to the 78 seniors, Randy and Rachel Stenson also celebrated their final year at St. Mary’s this year. Please also join me to thank the Stensons for their incredible contribution to the school and many students they have helped to inspire and grow.
St. Mary’s will be celebrating its 70th anniversary, and Headmaster Saburo Kagei will be celebrating his retirement during the upcoming 2024-2025 school year. We anticipate many events commemorating the milestones, we will keep you posted with the schedule.
Our next SMAA event will be the Career Network Event which we are planning to host around November to align with the Boston Career Forum. Details will be shared very shortly.
Lastly, I want to thank all of you in the community who go the extra mile to keep the tradition and Titans spirit alive for this community.
Go Titans!
Yukei Kihara
Class of 1991
Upcoming Events
DC Group Meeting
Rockville, MD, 7/23/2024
Greeting Fellow Titans,
I hope you are well and getting ready for what looks to be a hot summer. For those of you not on Facebook, we have an upcoming get together scheduled for July 23rd. You are cordially invited (with your spouse if you chose so) to Niwano Hana Japanese restaurant in Rockville, MD on Tuesday, July 23rd at 6:30 PM. As an extra bonus, former HS Biology teacher, Mr. Joe Amato will be joining us. Mr. Amato is visiting from overseas and has reached out to say hello. There, you’ll hear stories of how I had asked Mr. Amato to provide students gloves to be used for dissecting, despite my refusal to touch the specimens. To this day, I’m still thankful to my lab partner (and now doctor), Tim Millington for doing all the work. Ah the memories!
Please RSVP either via email or FB. I hope to see you there!
Cheers,
Philippe, Class of ’96
West Coast Gathering at San Francisco
Gilby’s House, 9/28/2024
(from Jay Seiden '88) (pic from gathering 2yrs ago)
Please save the date… Saturday, September 28 at Gilby’s house at 6pm.
Raymond Wong will be in town to celebrate over a few cocktails and great food. Gilby Francisco '77 has generously offered to host at his house in SF. More to follow as the date approaches but please reserve your calendars and respond if you think you can make it.
Hope everyone is well, and looking forward to seeing you.
Best,
Jay
Titans Cup
Taco Country Club (多古カントリークラブ), 10/26/2024
Dear Titans and families,
This is James Ko ’82 and Jimmy Kan ’86, and we are happy to be your host (again) for this year’s Titans Cup.
This year’s event will be held on Saturday October 26, mark your calendar and spread the word around! All Titans and their significant others are welcome to participate!
Below are the details for the event:
Date: Saturday, October 26, 2024
Venue: Taco Country Club (多古カントリークラブ)
〒289-2231 千葉県香取郡多古町飯笹１３１５
TEL: 0479-70-7300
https://www.unimat-golf.jp/taco-cc/
Taco Country Club is one hour on the Higashi Kanto Expressway, and traffic in most weekend days are relatively smooth.
Meeting time: 7:30 (group photo will be taken at 7:45 so please arrive early)
Tee time: 8:45 (5 groups start from the OUT course, 5 groups start from the IN course)
Total participants: 40 (10 groups)
Cost: 26,700 yen (includes green fee, lunch, quick party and inclusive of 4,000 yen for prize cost). Prizes will be given out on site.
As always, your generous donations are more than welcome!
Please note that we do not provide transportation to/from the course, so kindly arrange your own logistics.
Feel free to contact me @ <jkan4649@hotmail.com> for any questions and looking forward to your participation!
Best regards,
James Ko ’82 / Jimmy Kan ’86
Past Events
Sophia x SMAA meet up in SMIS
St. Mary's International School, 4/3/2024
Thank you HS counselors, Aya (Saburo’s assistant), and Saburo for the very warm hospitality and allowing us to host the Sophia x SMAA gathering along with current SMIS students. It was a pleasant experience coming back to campus, meeting with our teachers and staff members, and having valuable discussions with some of the high school students about Sophia University, transitioning to university life, and creating new connections.
Special thanks to Ioki Ichikawa '99, Matthew Kakimi '20, Yuvraj Jain '22, Shogo Kuramochi '22, Leo Ishii '22, and Luca Rampinini '23 as well for coming.
Hope we can expand this gathering with many more alumni from many different universities in the future.
"It was nice being back at St. Mary's! Although it has been almost a year since being there, it strangely felt as if I was just there a few weeks ago." - Luca Rampinini '23
SMAA Bangkok Gathering
Bangkok, 4/5/2024
Santi Jotibundhit ‘87, Chanet Rattakunjara ‘90, Federico Evangelista ‘98, Raymond Wong ‘85
“Good to finally get to welcome Raymond to Bangkok! SMAA Alumni please reach out to us when you are in town.”— Santi Jotibundhit ‘87
SMAA Honolulu Gathering
Honolulu, Hawaii, 4/18/2024
Alex Jampel '80, Raymond Wong '85, Kazu Yamaguchi '86, Chi Hoon Bang, Paul Sasaki, Richard Yamamoto '91, Shimpei Oki '02.
at Alohilani Resort Waikiki https://www.alohilaniresort.com/hotel
St. Mary's Alumni Choir
St. Mary's International School, 4/26/2024
"From the 80’s to the 2020s. Group of 35 alumni practiced just a few times over the course of a month. And we made magic.
80年代から2020年代卒のOB 35名が一同に。1ヶ月前くらいから数回の練習。結果は魔法のような体験と音色だった。" - Alex Wong-Yasui ‘99
Special thanks to St. Mary's Choir for making this happen! (Click the hyperlink to watch the performance!)
Class of ‘70 Gatherings
Tokyo, 5/10-12/2024
(Photos courtesy of Clyde Ito and verbiage from Raymond Wong)
It was a privilege for SMAA to see Class of ‘70 gathered in Tokyo between May 10-12. Inspiring to see kindness and friendship to carry on more than half decades after graduation. Great role models for our SMAA community.
With Respect,
Raymond Wong ‘85
Class of 2004 - 20th Year Reunion
Tokyo, 5/10/2024
19 alumni of the class of 2004 gathered to reunite for their 20th year after their graduation!!
“Time flies. 20 years is a significant time. History has changed. Many of us are married and have kids now. But, deep inside, we’re just the same St. Mary’s kids!” (Shu Yabui ‘04)
Attendees:
Alex Nomura, Andre Schuetz, Andy Warfield, Bunsuke Itamura, Hisaya Katsuike, Jeffrey O'Harrow, Justin Lawton, Keita Aoki, Kosuke Jimbo, Ryutaro Kawabata, Sam Han, Shu Yabui, Takeru Kato, Takuma Nakamoto, Vincent Santos, Yu Sean Maeda, Yuishiro Tsujimoto, Tim Maksimuk, Yuya Matsushita
St. Mary's Carnival
St. Mary's International School, 5/11/2024
Raymond Wong '85, Yukei Kihara '91, Paul Guifoile '73, Paul Kuo '80
Class of 2004 - 20th Year Reunion
Tokyo, 5/15/2024
The Class of 1981 gathered for our 40th this week. It was amazing to feel that vibe again, and instantly, we were back in the hallways of St. Mary’s!! The bond is real and we were all so grateful to our parents who have decided to send us to this fabulous school!! Titans forever!!
The names of the ones that attended our gatherings:
Hiroshi Alley, Cyril An, Teja Arboleda, Nicolas Chrissakis, Tom Day, Bart Graat, Kio Griffith, Laurent Guerard, Jeroen Hiemstra, Ben Huber, Asaki Iimura, Jon In Kim, Min Kim, Tae Ho Kim, Paul Leake, Alvin Lin, Dragan Majetic, Fritz Matti, Arick Ogata, Hisato Ono, Leonard Sequeira, Arthur Syin, Mario Takeda, Stephen Wesel, Greg Yermakov
Thankful to have had the following people join us!!
Paul Kuo, Michael King, Lance Stuart, Raymond Wong, Robert Vasconcellos, Mary Chu, Noriko Akiyama, Keiko Fujita, Virginia Peristeropoulou
Senior Transition Talk 2024 — May 22 & May 23
St. Mary's International School, 5/22-23/2024
On May 22nd and May 23rd, St. Mary's International School held the Senior Transition Talk for the graduating class of '24 to prepare them for life after high school and to welcome them to the SMAA.
Thank you to the alumni from the classes of '20, '21, '22, and '23, as well as the Chair and Vice-Chair of the SMAA, Yukei Kihara '91 and Yui Mitsutomi '03 for giving the presentations.
“Thank you to the St. Mary’s Counseling Team for organizing the event. I enjoyed inspiring a graduating class much more talented than mine.” - Christopher Kirch ‘22
“I’m grateful to share my college experience and advice to the graduating seniors. Presenting along with the other alumnus shows how much the St. Mary’s Alumni Association cares for their community. Thank you and good luck to the Class of ‘24 on their future endeavors.” - Karl Bodenheimer '23
SMAA Board Meeting
St. Mary's International School, 6/1/2024
The SMAA held the first in-person Board Meeting since COVID to discuss about the exciting future plans and activities.
Many thanks to the Board Members, Observers of the SMAA, and alumni who joined!
Saburo Kagei '78, Paul Kuo '80, Raymond Wong '85, Rei Tanaka '86, Matthew Wakabayashi '88, Yukei Kihara '91, Mark Stevens '91, Yui Mitsutomi '03, DK Heo '17, Leo Ishii '22, Karl Bodenheimer '23
Barry Ratzliff - ES Principle
Auliya Stevens - Director of Marketing and Communications
Lucy Takato - SMPA 24-25 President
SMAA Real Estate Personnel Lunch
Tokyo, 6/7/2024
"Lunch with SMAA RE personnel in Akasaka together with class of 2023 Satoki Minami who is currently doing internship at ESR LTD. Great catching up with Ken Ito ‘11, Roderic Curtis ‘11, and Fu Hsu Hua ‘94! Thanks for your time today!" - Chris Yusuke Slate Takahashi '01
Celebrating The Tenure of Mr. and Mrs. Stenson
Tokyo, 6/8/2024
On June 8, over 140 alumni, students, friends, and family gathered at the Tokyo American Club to celebrate the four-decade tenure of Mr. and Mrs. Stenson at St. Mary's International School.
Attendees included members from the classes of '86 to '27, representing Seisen, Sacred Heart, and St. Mary's.
The event was a surprise, and it was a success as the unsuspecting Randy and Rachel were escorted into the Manhattan III Ballroom, filled with attendees.
We sang three songs together to commemorate the occasion: "No Time," "Who Put the Bomp," and, of course, "Umi Sono Ai." Some alumni even showcased their dance moves for "Who Put the Bomp," a song performed by more than four cohorts of Show Choir over the years.
It was shared with us that Show Choir will not happen this fall. The alumni community will look to provide a place for current students to sing in SATB and preserve this great tradition.
SMAA New Delhi Gathering
New Delhi, 6/9/2024
"Thank you Vinayak Azaad '87, Manav Mehra '95, Abhishek Shinde '99, Sahil Nandal '09 for fun insightful catch up!! Hats off to Acha '10 for keeping SMAA India group connected. Delightful to share and learn about respective just experience then and now, and how alumni can collaborate and reconnect meaningfully. Hope to see you soon in Japan!" - Raymond Wong '85
Alumni Catchup
Tokyo, 7/6/2024
(Courtesy of Nofil Iqbal ‘89)
Nofil Iqbal ‘89, Paul Guilfoile ’73, and Jan Biswakarma ‘05
Great catchup, and discussing business opportunities for Japan from Nepal and Sub Continent…
Alumni Activities
Chris Yusuke Slate Takahashi '01 and Sam Han '04
ESR MOU with Kumamoto Prefecture, Yatushiro City and Mercury Capital
"ESR LTD, Mercury Capital, Kumamoto prefecture, and Yatsushiro city signed an MOU on June 12 to attract corporations interested in investing into southern part of Kumamoto and have warehouse space, manufacturing sites, R&D centers, life science centers, and other important infrastructure related facilities. ESR will help these firms come into southern Kumamoto with little initial investments as ESR will purchase the land and build the facilities for these firms on build to suit basis. These firms will lease the space once the facility’s construction is completed while receiving professional local advisory from Mercury Capital. The southern part of Kumamoto has massive potential as the Yatsushiro port is now welcoming ships from Taiwan once every four days, especially in times when TSMC and other semiconductor related firms are expanding rapidly and in mass investment amounts in the Kumamoto region.
While I was studying in St. Mary’s, I never really thought about how my relationships with my classmates will have impact after entering the workforce.
After entering the workforce, I met many SMAA alumni and realized how the vast network is out there.
I met Sam at Seisen about a year ago as both of our daughters go there and we realized we had many common grounds in the businesses we were in.
It was quite interesting and joyful for me to reconnect with Sam who’ve I have known during my high school years.
I remember Sam being a freshman when I was a senior and that he had some strong character and good spirit.
It is really grateful that I was able to reconnect with Sam and get this project to this level and thanks to the St. Mary’s network
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Yoshinobu Takahara (class of 1991) who taught me the ABC’s of real estate investments at Asia Pacific Land which was the best training I got in real estate. Where I am at now is because he gave me this training.
ESR recently closed a JPY 10,000M project with PGIM where Shin Olsan (class of 2014) took the lead.
I have sincere appreciation to him also.
As above, the SMAA alumni network is very extensive and strong. More importantly, reliable and can be trusted. There is something special about it.
I am very happy to have attended and graduated from St. Mary’s and I hope I can get involved in more interesting projects with the strong SMAA networks." - Chris Yusuke Slate Takahashi '01
Paul Yonamine '75
Interview With Paul Yonamine '75 by Toyo Keizai
This interview goes over Paul Yonamine's life, along with how he became an important figure connecting Japan with the US after WWII through family values and the teachings from his mentor.
It also gives an interesting account into his connection with the famous Hitachi Tree.
The interview shows the importance of having gratitude, modesty, and grit that shaped who he is now.
If you would like to read the interview, please use the link below!
https://toyokeizai.net/articles/-/742978
Alumni Campus Visits
Ken Giesecke — Class of '94
3/4/2024
Shammi Datta — Class of '86
3/6/2024
Raymond Wong '85 & Paul Kuo '80
4/7/2024
"While I visit the campus often, I feel privileged and special taking pictures in front of Alumni Wall which was installed in 2020, especially with Paul Kuo '80, another former SMAA Chair who was also supporting the Alumni Wall effort. So happy to see so many alumni coming back to campus taking pictures with smiles and reminiscence. Keep on coming!! Raymond Wong 85"
Chris Cruz — Class of 2000
4/7/2024
Always happy to represent SMAA.
It was a pleasure to be back. Thanks to Mr. Kagei, Shu Yabui, Mr. Brit Ofstedal for showing me around the old stomping grounds. Surreal experience to show my kids where I grew up 25 to 30 years later!
Best of luck to the entire SMAA community! Wishing you all success health love and peace.
Dr. Gusztav Bienerth & Tom Molina — Class of '72
4/15/2024
"I spent 4 years at St.Mary’s which was a life-changer, which I wanted to share with my children. 3 grown-up daughters and my son aged 15.
This was my way to celebrate my 70th birthday 😊
I was of class 1972, but left after the freshman year, returning to Hungary.
I did not speak a word of English when arrived --- I finished with good marks, basketball experience and with lifelong friends as Tom Molina.
My 4 years at St.Marys definitely supported my professional carrier, which includes/included:
- Senior Partner PwC Central and Eastern Europe
- President, AmCham Hungary
- Deputy Chairman, Budapest 2024 Olympic bid
- Minister for Tourism, Hungary
- Ambassador of Hungary, etc.
Thank your Br.Andrew, Peter Gaskin and many other teachers, my friends and St.Marys Tokyo" - Dr. Gusztav Bienerth
Tony Hanada (Chien) — Class of '05
4/17/2024
"My experience at St. Mary’s was substantial in shaping me into the person I am today. It was therefore very special to come back with my family to meet Mr. Kagei, see the new campus and run into some familiar faces. Having gained so much from our fine institution, I continue to explore different ways I can give back and also look forward to my sons joining our community one day. Go Titans!" - Tony (Chien) Hanada ‘05
Rohan Monga — Class of '02
4/18/2024
"It was nostalgic to come back to St. Mary's. 13 years spent here resulted in amazing memories and lifelong friends, so the memories keep compounding! Great seeing Mr. Kagei, and also my JV Basketball Coach Mr. Clarkson who told me we won Far East Basketball last year. GO TITANS!!" - Rohan Monga '02
Howard Hodges — Class of '65
4/21/2024
"Thomas Wolfe in his book entitled “You Can’t Go Home again" reflects my situation. Both of my Japanese residences are gone: Our old traditional Seijo-machi home, complete with tatami mats & sliding shoji screen dividers, has been substituted by a modern one; at least the other was replaced by a major Tokyo park: Yoyogi.
And if that wasn’t enough, my old middle school (St. Mary’s International School) has MOVED. I had attended 5th grade (boarded) & 6th before attending 7th at Yoyogi Elementary on Washington Heights [US Army base that became the 1964 Olympic Village & now Yoyogi Park.] My former school is still under the influence of a few remaining French-Canadian Catholic order of ‘brothers.’
All that’s left of the old school grounds has been taken over by a secure NTT Data Center. However, although the building is gone (there are photos on the web), two key places for me are left: The old recess area (where I lost my fair share of menko cards) and the long driveway with its original walls still standing. As a child, I remember standing behind a line with others at the bottom of the hill, then trying to snatch a long wooden staff from a holder, then running up the hill a bit with it (I wish I could recall the game rules.)
The headmaster was glad to see an “old boy” (an apt title since it’s been 65 years since I attended) and let me review some old yearbooks. As a sort of a consolation prize, he had me pose next to the alumni wall of photos, pointing to my (hypothetical) class of 1965, had I stayed until HS graduation.” - Howard Hodges '65
Alex Wong-Yasui and Jae Woo Kim — Class of '99
5/9/2024
Keita Aoki — Class of '04
5/27/2024
20 years after his graduation, Keita Aoki visited the new campus with his son!
“It was great to have a campus tour with my son today by my friend and graduating classmate Shu, or now called ‘Mr. Yabui’ by his students! Although the campus is different from when I attended, it was quite an experience of sharing my high school stories to my beloved son. I hope to share more stories as he gets older.”
Shun Fujisawa — Class of '22
5/28/2024
"After graduating from St. Mary’s back in May of 2022, Hikaru Shimada ‘22 and I started ARIN with a vision to redefine what beauty means in today's world. We introduced the concept of "Smart Beauty," stepping away from the misleading "clean beauty" trend, focusing instead on products that are scientifically backed, high-quality, and democratically rated.
We kicked off our journey with Lumena, a global cosmetic review platform. This platform was born out of a need to bring transparency back to the beauty industry. We wanted to create a place where reviews are genuine, free from the influence of sponsored content. By doing so, Lumena directly challenges the industry’s common deceptive marketing practices that prioritize profits over the well-being of consumers.
It has been almost two years since we began this journey, a period that has taken us to many places around the world. Last December, we traveled to the Philippines, considering it as the initial launch site for Lumena to gauge the app's value to the country. Now back in California and balancing our college education, we are more determined than ever to ensure that Lumena launches successfully in the Philippines, becoming a pillar of transparency and quality in the beauty industry.
Helping us in this endeavor are our fellow SMIS alumni, Luke Robottom ‘22 and Mikhail Titov ‘22. We can not thank St. Mary’s enough for all the network and help it has provided us along the way."
Class of '88 Matthew Wakabayashi (L) and '90 Naritoshi Minami (R)
5/31/2024
Isaac Shane and Aron Erdos — Class of '23
6/6/2024
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