Last year, the Kyoto South Rotary Club celebrated its 70th anniversary with all members working towards the club policy “Be Resilient – Grow with a Flexible Mind.” Since its foundation on March 11th in 1954, the Rotary Club of Kyoto South established the fine traditions, which have been handed down to younger generations. As a result, our club has grown steadily over the past 70 years from 35 members to the current membership of approximately 250 members, which is, despite of the fact that the Rotary has been experiencing a worldwide membership decline. I believe this is due to the example set by our senior members, who were and have been a role model not only for us but also for other clubs to follow.

In order to continue to grow, we need to maintain these fine traditions and stay proactive, while making changes to fit into the times. The 2024-2025 RI presidential theme set by President Stephanie Urchick is “The Magic of Rotary”. This does not mean waving a magic wand and casting a spell to work magic. It is about various projects we undertake impacting people and changing the world for the better. Things we do on a daily basis will lead to magic.

The district slogan announced by Governor Masaru Nakamoto is “Sustainable Rotary! Learn Together, Act Together.” This means that we should go back to where Rotary was originally started and think what we can and should do accordingly.

Responding to this slogan, it is my intention that we will continue to shine as a Rotary club in this rapidly changing world, while staying true to the Rotary’s origin. Here is the club policy for this year:

NEXT STAGE - See a Happy Future Brought By Continuous Efforts

I believe that by continuously taking action, we can turn barren fields into flower fields, and then we will start to see a new scenery. It is understandable that we want to take a little break after our 70th anniversary, but let us not halt here. As legend says that the carp rose up the waterfall and became a dragon, let us make this year a year of a new, powerful step forward, so that we can see a scenery of abundance when we celebrate our 100th anniversary.