2024年12月19日、ベイユ・ミュージック・センターにて「JASH BASH 2024」が開催されました。JASHはヒューストン日米協会（Japan-America Society of Houston）の略称で、ヒューストンの多様なコミュニティ、地元企業、個人を結びつけ、日米両国民の共通の利益を推進する主要な組織です。今年のJASH BASHでは、ヒューストン・バレエ団の2名による特別公演が行われました。その一人が梶谷悠里子さんで、2年前にヒューストン市長の随行団と共に東京で彼女の演技を鑑賞したことがあります。彼女は今年のJASH BASHでJ.トーマス・シーファー・リーダーシップ賞を受賞されました。また、ブラッドリー・ベイリー博士がヒューストン-日本友好賞を受賞されました。ゴンドー家族の皆様には、光と私をテーブルに招待していただき、夜の祝祭を共に楽しむことができました。心より感謝申し上げます。
JASH BASH 2024 took place December 19 at the Bayou Music Center. JASH stands for the Japan-America Society Houston. They are the leading organization that connects Houston’s diverse community, local businesses, and individuals to advance the mutual interest of American and Japanese people. At this year’s JASH BASH, there was a special performance by two members of the Houston Ballet! One was Yuriko Kajiya, who we watched in Tokyo two years ago with the Mayor of Houston’s entourage. She was also award the J. Thomas Schieffer Leadership Award at this year’s JASH BASH. Dr. Bradley Bailey was the winner of the Houston-Japan Friendship Award. Thank you to the Gondo Family who invited Koh and I to sit at their table and enjoy the night’s festivities.
We love reader recommendations and this week, we have a good one! The restaurant is called Ramen Moto and it is located at 2320 W Alabama St. Houston, TX 77098. A great location in the middle of Upper Kirby. Good to note is that is is OPEN LATE, until 1am every night, and closed on Mondays. Take note that it is not open for lunch, with hours starting at 3pm. Our reader recommends the Ramen and the Katsu Curry, but a quick check of the menu shows Ankimo, Takoyaki, Tsukemen, and an extensive Kushiyaki skewer lineup. I’m always looking for somewhere good that’s open late, so I am excited to give it a try the next time I’m out and about in town. Thanks, Dr. Joe, for the restaurant recommendation!
Wrapping up November, we have seen a bit of a slowdown in the market. Home are not moving as quickly, price reductions are more prevalent, and days on market are increasing. November was not a heavy month for expat movement so it was good timing for Mariko to go home to Japan to visit family! With the Japanese tax law changing regarding accelerated depreciation, many of our investors are nearing their full 5 years of ownership and are deciding to sell. On the market now is a condo in the Med Center, walking distance to the Metro Rail: www.har.com/54241061. We also have a great listing in Clear Lake, price just reduced to $265,000: www.har.com/941251. We also have four condos for sale inside the Ponderosa Forest complex in Dickinson. Our newest Kaneka expat decided to lease our sale listing on Golden Thistle and congratulations to Shojiro for selling his home in League City on Castle last Wednesday! Coming on the market this week is a new home for sale in League City, 2122 Emerald Cove and a home for lease also in League City, 6215 Brookdale. We will post details for both of these new listings in our next newsletter!
With Thanksgiving holiday last week, all the Annoura boys returned home and we were a family of 5 for the first time since May. It was especially exciting to see Ty, who flew home from Annapolis on leave for 4.5 days. Thank you to Stephen Yeager for picking him up at the Naval Academy and bringing him to Baltimore Airport for us! Ty arrived in uniform and was excited to change into ‘civies’ which is a word that means normal clothes for civilians. He is allowed to wear his own clothes only when he is ‘on leave’ and this Thanksgiving break was his first time to have leave. He met up with his best friends and ran around Clear Lake every day (and night) until he went back to Maryland yesterday morning. Joe returned from University of Texas last Saturday and immediately jumped on the golf course with Susan and her Kuraray friends. He spend his one week golfing almost everyday until he left on Friday night for the UT vs. A&M game in College Station. The Annouras enjoyed a few meals with Susan’s parents and the family of five also took a one day trip to Lake Livingston and hiked around the state park on Thanksgiving Day. Susan was probably the happiest of all to have all the boys home!
The Japan trip for Susan had some super awesome experiences. First, Donna Cole is personal friends with the Governor of Japan, Ms. Yuriko Koike. We were able to have a short meeting with the Governor last Tuesday in her office! When we couldn’t get into the famous teamLAB in Azabudai Hills, Governor Koike san put a call in and suddenly we had special passes! Another neat experience was getting to meet many Japanese CEO’s and Chairmen of major companies such as the Chairman of TAITO games (inventors of Space Invaders) and the Chairman of Tokyu Hotels. After Donna praised and complimented our room at the Cerulean Tower, we suddenly had delivered to our room a beautiful bottle of wine and several Japanese gifts! On a personal note, Susan was able to visit Karuizawa on November 1, exactly the same day 21 years ago that she visited Karuizawa for the first time. She was 32 at that time, pregnant with Joe, and was in Tokyo on a business trip for Love FM to interview the U.K. artist Dido, who had just come out with a new album called White Flag. Incredible memory that was! A weekend in Fukuoka was also super special. Susan got to visit with Koh’s parents, see some friends, and to check the status of the new family home currently being built on the Annoura family land in Narayamachi. Such a great trip to Japan, and so productive too! In addition to attending the powerful USJC Annual Conference, Susan also met Yamada san, Mitsuzawa san, Watanabe san, and Shimizu san. All of these folks are Japanese investors with houses in Houston that Annoura Realty manages! It was so, so fun to catch up with everyone, update them on their houses, and to talk to them face to face. Can’t believe so much was done in just 8 days! Susan’s amazing Japan trip ended today, when she arrived back to Houston this morning (and rushed immediately to Kemah for a new client’s builder orientation). Life goes on!
