Reception: 5:30-6:30 p.m.
Banquet & Program: 6:30-9:00 p.m.
Dress Code: Business Attire or Kimono

Do you need Kimono dressing assistance?  Registration will be open soon. 

Mondale Award Recipient: Joann Blatchley

My first visit to Japan changed my life. In 2004, I received a Fulbright Memorial Fund for Teachers fellowship to spend three weeks in Japan, visiting schools, being exposed to Japanese culture, and traveling by bullet train to Hiroshima. I returned from that experience and wondered what else could I do continue my association with Japan and found the Saint Paul – Nagasaki Sister City Committee which promotes friendship between citizens of both countries. It was a perfect fit.

One of my first ‘duties’ as an SPNSCC board member was to make arrangements for Sachiko Yasui, a hibakusha, to speak. Highlights of my tenure as board member and president of SPNSCC include the Gift of (Cherry) Trees from the government of Japan to St. Paul in 2012 and the Return of the Sword in 2013. Our 60th anniversary in 2015 included kite flyers Seikoo and Akiko Nakamura, visits by Mayor Tomihisa Taue, the Junshin singers, city officials and ten members of the Nagasaki Bridge Club. One highlight was the Hiroshima Nagasaki Peace Exhibition at the Landmark Center, which also brought groups of school children to the exhibit and “Pictures from a Hiroshima Schoolyard.” The pandemic cancelled our 65th anniversary celebration, but exchanges resumed in 2023.

To celebrate our 70th anniversary in 2025, the Saint Paul Civic Symphony performed with their sister orchestra, the Nagasaki Symphony Orchestra. Saint Paul hosted our annual Cherry Tree Celebration, drawing some 1,000 visitors in early May. American children and youth finished the KIDS GUERNICA mural. Mayor Suzuki of Nagasaki brought a delegation of city council members, Rotarians and 16 junior high students in late August. Some twenty five Minnesotans will travel to Nagasaki for Okunchi in October.

It has been a privilege to be part of the Sister City legacy. We are an all-volunteer organization, proving Margaret Mead’s quotation: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has". Thank you.

Keynote Speaker: Kimmy Tanaka

Kimmy Tanaka grew up in Tamba-Sasayama, Japan where she gained an appreciation for history, architecture and food. She has a BA and a Master of Architecture from the University of Minnesota. She is the Senior Director of Inclusion, Outreach and Community Engagement for the Minnesota Historical Society, and previously worked as a program manager at Historic Fort Snelling where she developed programming around the history of the WWII Military Intelligence Service (Japanese) Language School. She also serves as the chair of the Twin Cities Japanese American Citizens League Education Committee.

Her co-authored articles include: Fuji-Ya, Second to None: Reiko Weston's Role in Reconnecting Minneapolis and the Mississippi River (2018) and Righting a Wrong: Eighty Years Since the Order That Put Japanese Americans Behind Barbed Wire (2022) for Minnesota History Magazine.

Mondale Scholarship Recipients 2025-2026

It is with great pleasure that JASM presents the 2025 Mondale Scholarships to Minh Thu Duong (Augsburg University), Mari Friel (St. Olaf College), Emil Johansson (Winona State University. ), and Kai Satriano (Macalester College).

Master of Ceremonies: Gaosong V. Heu

Gaosong V. Heu is a Hmong American artist, vocalist, writer, educator, and entrepreneur based in Saint Paul, MN. With over 15 years of training in Western classical voice and traditional Hmong folk music, she bridges ancestral memory with contemporary expression. She holds a B.A. in Theatre Arts from the University of Minnesota–T.C. and a M.A. in Arts Administration from Columbia University. A passionate advocate for cultural equity, Gaosong works at the intersection of art, identity, and access. She currently stars in The Late Homecomer, a national one- woman show based on Kao Kalia Yang’s acclaimed memoir, produced by New York’s Literature to Life. Offstage, Gaosong is a content creator and the Co-Owner and Creative Director of Marc Heu Pâtisserie Paris, Saint Paul’s premier French dessert destination.

Please click here to register for the Gala!

Early Bird (register by Oct. 17)

$160/ Non-member

$110/ JASM member

Regular (register Oct. 18 - Oct. 31)

$190/ Non-member

$130/ JASM member

Post-Deadline (register Nov. 1 - Nov. 9)

$210/Non-Member

$150/Member

JASM invites you to become a member! Please sign up here and then register for the Mondale Gala 2025.

JoAnn Blatchley, Recipient of the Mondale Citation – In Her Own Words

My first visit to Japan changed my life. In 2004, I received a Fulbright Memorial Fund for Teachers fellowship to spend three weeks in Japan, visiting schools, being exposed to Japanese culture, and traveling by bullet train to Hiroshima. I returned from that experience and wondered what else could I do continue my association with Japan and found the Saint Paul – Nagasaki Sister City Committee which promotes friendship between citizens of both countries. It was a perfect fit.

One of my first ‘duties’ as an SPNSCC board member was to make arrangements for Sachiko Yasui, a hibakusha, to speak. Highlights of my tenure as board member and president of SPNSCC include the Gift of (Cherry) Trees from the government of Japan to St. Paul in 2012 and the Return of the Sword in 2013. Our 60th anniversary in 2015 included kite flyers Seikoo and Akiko Nakamura, visits by Mayor Tomihisa Taue, the Junshin singers, city officials and ten members of the Nagasaki Bridge Club. One highlight was the Hiroshima Nagasaki Peace Exhibition at the Landmark Center, which also brought groups of school children to the exhibit and “Pictures from a Hiroshima Schoolyard.” The pandemic cancelled our 65th anniversary celebration, but exchanges resumed in 2023.

To celebrate our 70th anniversary in 2025, the Saint Paul Civic Symphony performed with their sister orchestra, the Nagasaki Symphony Orchestra. Saint Paul hosted our annual Cherry Tree Celebration, drawing some 1,000 visitors in early May. American children and youth finished the KIDS GUERNICA mural. Mayor Suzuki of Nagasaki brought a delegation of city council members, Rotarians and 16 junior high students in late August. Some twenty five Minnesotans will travel to Nagasaki for Okunchi in October.

It has been a privilege to be part of the Sister City legacy. We are an all-volunteer organization, proving Margaret Mead’s quotation: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has". Thank you.

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Register Today for the Mondale Gala

Please join us for the Mondale Gala 2025 to celebrate the Mondale Award recipient and take part in this special evening on Saturday, November 15th at the Oak Ridge Country Club in Hopkins.

Early Bird (register by Oct. 17)

$160/ Non-member

$110/ JASM member

Regular (register Oct. 18 - Oct. 31)

$190/ Non-member

$130/ JASM member

Post-Deadline (register Nov. 1 - Nov. 9)

$210/Non-Member

$150/Member

JASM invites you to become a member! Please sign up here and then register for the Mondale Gala 2025.