The Japan Society of Boston is one of our most distinguished cultural institutions. Founded in 1904, it was the first of 40 Japan Societies today, nationwide. Its founders and current members are business leaders, educators, art collectors, writers and others deeply interested in traditional and contemporary Japanese culture, and in Japanese-American ties of friendship and cooperation. In its centennial celebration last year, the Society presented Kabuki theatre for the first time in Boston (audience: 5,000). Collaborating with the Boston Early Music Festival (Catalogue ’97), it co-presented the sensational “Bach Collegium Japan” (returning in March 2006) — audience: 1,200. It has sponsored hundreds of outstanding exhibitions, lectures, cultural exchanges and educational trips to Japan, often in collaboration with other institutions (the MFA, Harvard’s Fogg, the Peabody-Essex Museums), and annual high-school competitions in Japanese language and cultural awareness. The Emperor of Japan has recognized its excellence by naming its chairman to the Order of the Rising Sun (1985), and its president to the Order of the Sacred Treasure (2003). The Society needs now to broaden its circle of supporters. Are you interested?