Let me begin by talking about the ATJ/AAS meeting to be held in Chicago on March 31-April 3. This year's ATJ Seminar will take place on Thursday, March 31, at the Hyatt Regency Chicago. Having read a number of the proposals for presentations, I can attest to their quality. The selection of the final seventy-five presenters was a very competitive process. We deeply thank the chair of the Seminar Committee, Professor Yasuko Ito Watt, and the members of her committee for their tireless efforts in putting together a most impressive and exciting seminar. For the details on the seminar, see the center pages of this issue of the Newsletter.

As I announced in the November issue, the renowned anthropologist Professor Emeritus Takie Sugiyama Lebra of the University of Hawaii will present the keynote address that concludes our daylong seminar. I believe this is the first time we have ever invited an anthropologist to be a keynote speaker. In an age of practical and theoretical integration, we professionals in Japanese language and literature cannot ignore culture. We look forward to Professor Lebra's stimulating address. After the keynote address there will be a reception at the Japan Information Center of the Japanese Consulate in Chicago, from 6:30-8:00 p.m.

This year four of ATJ's Special Interest Groups (SIGs) -- those for Professional Development, Japanese as a Heritage Language, Study Abroad for Advanced Skills, and Community College Teaching -- have scheduled panel or round table sessions and/or business meetings on Thursday afternoon during the seminar. A fifth SIG, Classical Japanese, will meet on Friday evening during the AAS conference. For information on the current SIGs please check the ATJ website (www.colorado.edu/ealc/atj).

The ATJ-sponsored panel at AAS is a round table discussion on Japanese language education around the world. It is scheduled to take place on April 1 from 3:15-5:15 p.m. This should prepare members for the Third International Conference on Japanese Teaching, which we are planning to hold at Columbia University in the summer of 2006.

Another important notice: on Saturday, April 2, from 7:15-9:00 p.m., there will be a panel discussion by representatives of the American Association of Teachers of Korean, the Chinese Language Teachers Association, the Council of Teachers of Southeast Asian Languages, and ATJ (myself) on the topic of "Teaching Asian Languages: What Do We Have in Common?" This session was organized by CLTA. I feel it is time for us to discuss, in addition to the features idiosyncratic to each language, the features common to us as instructors of Asian languages (and, ideally, beyond them), and this will be an opportunity to do so. Please join us.

Last but not least, Past President Professor Patricia J. Wetzel of Portland State University will finish her tenure as an Executive Officer as of April 2, 2005. She was the very first President who was directly elected by ATJ members after the Association introduced a triumvirate system. We thank her very much for her most effective leadership and for her contribution to the betterment of our organization. We will honor her at our General Membership Meeting, which will be held on Saturday, April 2, from 1:00-2:30 p.m. As a part of the General Meeting, several members of the AP Japanese Task Force will bring us up to date on the development of the AP Program. We are looking forward to a good Q-and-A session. According to Professor Yasu-Hiko Tohsaku's personal communication to me, the AP Task Force had its first meeting on December 10-12, 2004, and there will be two more meetings in March and May. At the first meeting, "the Task Force established its goals by reviewing materials and information about existing AP courses and exams in Spanish, French, and German, the draft AP Italian course and exam, and the 'Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century.' Also, it identified who would take the AP Japanese Language and Culture course and exam and what knowledge and skills should be assessed in the exam."

私がATJ会長として書くメッセージはこの号で最後です。ATJの理事会が４月１日の晩にあり、そこで、現在次期会長であるNaomi H. McGloin 先生に会長の役のバトン・タッチをします。そのあと１年は前会長として、会長の補佐をしながらATJのために働くつもりですので、引き続きご協力をお願いいたします。

牧野　成一
Seiichi Makino