Author: editors

Dear Member,

Following the Japanese government’s recent extension of the state of emergency until March 7, the Board of Governors will continue to comply with the government’s directive for restaurants and bars to close earlier.

During this period, recreation facilities and dining outlets will continue to close at 8pm, with last orders for dine-in food and drinks at 7pm (stay tuned for details of a brand-new delivery service).

Additionally, the Board has decided to close the Club at 9pm from February 6 to March 7.

The decision was taken after a careful analysis that showed that Club usage after 9pm has been sparse and infrequent since the start of the state of emergency last month.

Naturally, the Board and Club management continue to monitor the impact of such measures on Club finances, and we plan to host a town hall later this month to update the membership on the situation.

In the meantime, thank you for continuing to follow the Club’s safety guidelines in order to protect our community and the community beyond.

Stay safe.

Mike Benner
Representative Governor
Tokyo American Club

The opening of the new TAC property in Nihonbashi was announced today. Scheduled to open on 31 March, the new TAC is small but more conveniently located to those in business

Back in 2010, MABT started with 30+ TAC members concerned about the way the TAC was being managed and changing stories about the finances (sounds like some government budgets somewhere..). In 2020, MABT reunited as members wanted to promote transparency from the board of governors, committees, and club management after the club was shut down by two board members locking members out. Members spoke up and have been actively connecting and discussing the issues on this website and in social media groups.

We’re happy, we’re positive, and we’re TAC members. We all ‘own’ the club and we all have to be accountable to each other regarding information and decisions. There is still a lot of ‘gray’ in how the club is governed and we all want to MAKE A BETTER TAC. Members still need a voice.

We are please to announce that we decided to rebrand our TAC members group to be supporting members group for the board of governors, TAC employees, but most importantly to voice the common needs of dues paying members. Effective immediately, MABT becomes

ABTAC or A Better Tokyo American Club. ABTAC will continue to host member discussions here on www.abetteramericanclub.com

Suggestions? Let us know how we can enhance this wonderful international community in the center of Tokyo. Remember we’re TAC members, we’re professional, and we’re always positive. More on our site policies here.

New representative governor announces his position on LinkedIn job site.

After the dust settled last night, TAC has new leadership, sort of, because it’s the same leadership we had for the past 4 years. The members have what they voted for, sort of, given that two of the American candidates who appeared to have a large amount of support were nixed from the election before they could do any damage to the status quo by getting, well, elected. At least the Board & the Nominating Committee protected the status quo though, which has gotten us to where we are right now. It would be good to get feedback from the Nominating Committee to hear their reaction to not having one of their American candidates get elected to the Board. You can’t count incumbents, unless you’re desperately seeking validation.

A Curious Choice

The new Representative Governor is a curious choice. He’s clearly had his eyes on the ‘top spot’ for years. Great for people who want to volunteer, have the time to do so & then make the commitment. But the choice is….underwhelming….most likely due to the lack of choice amongst the Board. If there were ever a place for change in Governance at the Club, one would imagine that giving the Representative Governor free reign to choose the Committee Chairs, including the Nominating Committee chair (the group who puts the slate of candidates together) needs to change. Has there necessarily been collusion or something nefarious at work to maintain the ‘wa’ of the Board? Maybe not. But given the events of the past few years around who has headed committees, who has made the slate, who has not headed committees & who has not made the slate (the latter two much more important to focus on) a clear pattern emerges.

Always There For ‘You’…

The good news is that the new Representative Governor is always at the Club. Literally, he is always there. If you ever have a question or issue you have a very high chance of finding him in the Club. Any day of any week of any month of the year. In the past, once others have reached the pinnacle of the TAC volunteer experience, they’ve spent less & less time at the Club (e.g. the last 4 years). It is understandable.

The volunteer position is not one to be taken lightly. The number of complaints, feedback from ‘experts’ & a complete lack of understanding around how the Club works from a small number of members (80-20 rule in full effect) is truly astounding. The only way to head this off is to be as open as possible, give people their 15-20 minutes, & hopefully they’ll get bored & move on. Or, on the odd occasion, have an idea that can be implemented. Many, however, still have not moved on.

As such, perhaps we will see the new Representative Governor act more in accordance with how the Club was designed & not use it as his personal office. TAC used to interview potential members at their offices. It might be time to look at that policy again. Membership dues do not equal using TAC as a serviced office.

A curious choice indeed.

It has not been confirmed but it is quite likely that the successful candidates for the Board are announced in order of the number of votes received. It certainly isn’t (or wasn’t) alphabetical, given that the new Representative Governor was announced last & his last name would put him very early in the list if that were the case. Given that, is it possible that by nixing the two American candidates the powers that be cleared the path for not only the new Representative Governor to make the Board, & alas, become the new Representative Governor? It couldn’t be!

We are a social club, as we are told, when we are being told to behave. But when the elected leadership needs to get something done, electioneering, decorum & following the rules somehow seem to become optional. If you are of the opinion that the propaganda from the GMO (the vote on the loan, the ‘preferred’ candidates for the Board, etc), does not constitute electioneering then we have a bridge we’d like to sell you.

Anyway, onwards & upwards.

At the end of the day there is only one TAC. There is only one place that does what TAC does & let’s people come together the way that we do. At times such as this it is good to remember that the elected leaders are members, just like the rest of us. There is no President, it is not his company, it is not the Board’s company. In fact, there is no company. There is a Club that we all belong to, no one’s opinion is any more valid than anyone else’s. We have somehow clearly lost sight of these facts. Like many of us I had high hopes for the election yesterday. Unfortunately if your new puppy pees in your house, no matter how many times you rub his face in it he will not learn that he’s supposed to pee outside. Did the 4,000 puppies just have their faces rubbed in their own pee? Time will tell.

The ‘change agents’ among member candidates we had hope for didn’t do so well in this election. Three of the MABT 10-member recommended candidates were disqualified for electioneering. Did they ‘electioneer’? Two of them dispute that, but with them off the slate, the chances of good change may have went out the window before the vote. What members were ‘elected’? The list is here. We’ll paste the list below.

Elected Governors
American Citizens
Michael Benner
Trista Bridges Bivens
Sam Rogan
Dean R Rogers
Christina Siegel

Japanese Citizens
Tetsutaro Muraki

Other Nationalities
Anthony Moore

Statutory Auditor
Koichi Komoda

The biggest disappointment was the new representative governor. Bred in the land Alfantia (more on that here), where member lockouts are considered normal, the new RG is not exactly popular with members, or in this case club employees either. He follows his own rules as one of our team documented here. The club is his home office, you’ll always see him around. Will he attempt a third vote on the same rejected loan? We’ll soon find out. However, the most important thing for the board is this. Please make the club fun again so we don’t lose any more members or the magic of what brought us all here in the first place.

Dear Fellow Members,

I was quite surprised that after all the BOG promotion efforts to swing the vote, fewer than 50 new voters joined to sub 700 registered members. That says a lot about member enthusiasm and involvement.

Maybe the write-in BOG candidates have a chance if they present one or two compelling arguments. But the status quo is likely. The good news is that the Covid crisis and the failed loan vote have forced TAC into reducing its outrageous running costs and looking to its Reciprocal Club network for best practices and ideas. Outsourcing is also on the menu.

Members need to vote the status quo out.