Mr. Takashi Shinozuka, Consul-General of Japan in Atlanta, presented the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures a grant for $30,000 to further Japanese education in the UAB College of Arts and Sciences.

In his role as Consul-General of Japan in Atlanta, Shinozuka is responsible for strengthening relations between and Japan and the United States, specifically in the four states in his jurisdiction: Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Unfortunately, on the day of the scheduled reception and award presentation, Hurricane Florence was making landfall and Shinozuka was required to stay in Atlanta to provide assistance to Japanese citizens affected by the storm. But he was connected to the reception via Skype and gave remarks praising UAB and the department for their support of Japanese-language and cultural education.

In Shinozuka's absence, Mark Jackson, a local businessman and Alabama's Consul-General to Japan, shared remarks and presented the check to Provost Pam Benoit, Ph.D.; Dean Robert Palazzo, Ph.D.; Chair Julian Arribas, Ph.D.; and Yumi Takamiya, Ph.D., assistant professor of Japanese—all of whom spoke at the reception. Additional speakers included alumna Jolie Thevenot, who graduated with a minor in Japanese and is the director of the Japan-America Society of Alabama (JASA), and Bezawit Eyob, a current student and instructor of Japanese who is pursuing her minor in the language. Thevanot and Eyob gave their remarks in both Japanese and English.