Foreign Minister's Commendations for 2024
On August 1st, 2024, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan announced the recipients of the Foreign Minister's Commendations for 2024, which include three distinguished individuals from within the jurisdiction of the Consulate General of Japan in New York.
While many people are active in various fields of international relations and make significant contributions to the promotion of friendship and goodwill between Japan and other countries, the Foreign Minister’s Commendations are awarded to individuals and groups with particularly outstanding achievements in this regard. The commendations aim to honor those achievements and ask for further understanding and support for their activities from all segments of the public.
Ambassador Susan Marsh Elliott, President and CEO of the National Committee on American Foreign Policy
Ambassador Elliot was appointed President of the National Committee on American Foreign Policy (NCAFP), a U.S. think tank, in 2018. Since then, she has visited Japan four times to brief and exchange views with Japanese government officials on U.S. foreign policy and East Asian security issues.
Ambassador Elliott has also been active in exchanges with Japanese private-sector experts and has highlighted the importance of Japan in East Asia and the Japan-U.S. Alliance by co-hosting the U.S.-North Korea Relations and East Asian Security Colloquium (2018), the Japan-U.S.-Korea Trilateral Meeting (2019), and the Japan-U.S. Alliance Roundtable on Regional Security Cooperation (2022) for The Japan Forum on International Relations (JFIR).
John T. Carpenter, Curator of Japanese Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Since 2011, Dr. Carpenter has served as the Mary Griggs Burke Curator of Japanese Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which possesses one of the world's finest and most extensive collections of Japanese art. He has worked tirelessly to promote this subject by managing the museum’s collection, organizing numerous exhibitions, and publishing books on Japanese art forms such as calligraphy, painting, and woodblock printing.
Dr. Carpenter continues to inspire appreciation for Japanese art in New York, a city which attracts art and cultures from around the world, thereby contributing to maintaining and expanding the positive relations between our two countries as well as fostering affection among the people of the U.S. towards Japan.
Yoko Shioya, Artistic Director of Japan Society
As Artistic Director of Japan Society since 2006, Ms. Shioya has contributed to the promotion of mutual understanding and friendship between Japan and the U.S. by showcasing Japanese performing arts (such as kabuki, noh, and other classical arts, as well as contemporary theater, dance, and music) and organizing enlightening lectures by experts in these fields, all of which have been well-received by American audiences. She has furthermore initiated a program to commission new works by American artists incorporating Japanese elements (e.g., Japanese traditional techniques).
Ms. Shioya has also promoted public relations and cultural programs of Japan through her involvement in North American touring productions of Japanese performing arts and Japan-U.S. collaborative productions.
The Consulate General of Japan in New York would like to express its deepest respect to the honorees for the contributions they have made to the region.