1. List of Locations Since 1985
Of
The Annual Joint Conferences
Of the
MIDWEST U.S.-JAPAN ASSOCIATION (MWJA)
And The
JAPAN-MIDWEST U.S. ASSOCIATION (JMWA)
By
Larry Ingraham, President, Ingraham & Associates, Inc.
July 1, 2015
1967 – 1st
conference at Chicago, Illinois
*Note: From 1990 brochure of the Midwest U.S.-Japan Association Conference:
“A HISTORY OF RELATIONSHIP BUILDING
In 1967 the Midwest U.S.-Japan Association (MWJA) began through trade mission
efforts of the Chicago Association of Commerce and Industry and the Japan
Committee for Economic Development.”
In 2015 the MWJA is comprised of the nine member states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa,
Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio and Wisconsin.
The Japan-Midwest U.S. Association (JMWA), the counterpart organization in
Japan, is composed of over 80 of Japan’s leading corporations that are represented
at each conference by their senior management.
NOTE: Conferences are usually held in September each year over a three day period
1985 – 17th
conference at Minneapolis, Minnesota
Note: In early 1985 when I was Director of the State of Indiana’s East Asian Office
located in Tokyo, Japan, I was asked by Mr. Norishige Hasegawa, Chairman of
Sumitomo Chemical, and Chairman of the Japan-Midwest U.S. Association, to arrange
for Mr. Hasegawa and Mr. Yohei Mimura, President of Mitsubishi Corporation, to travel
to Indianapolis after the Minneapolis conference to meet with Indiana Governor Robert
Orr and Lt. Governor John Mutz. Mr. Hasegawa and Mr. Mimura wanted to ask the
Governor and Lt. Governor to have Indiana join the MWJA. I arranged for the four
gentlemen to meet for lunch at the Governor’s residence, and Governor Orr and Lt.
Governor Mutz agreed that Indiana should join the Midwest U.S.-Japan Association,
much to the satisfaction of Mr. Hasegawa and Mr. Mimura. This was the beginning of
Indiana’s involvement with the annual Midwest conference.

2. List of MWJA-JMWAAnnual Joint Conference Locations since 1985
By Larry Ingraham
July 1, 2015
Page 2
1986 – 18th
conference at Tokyo
Note: This was the first conference that the State of Indiana attended as a member state,
and this was my first conference as well. Governor Orr led a large Hoosier delegation to
Tokyo for this conference that included many mayors, business leaders and economic
development officials. It has been an annual tradition since then that a large Hoosier
delegation of such leaders attends every year’s conference.
1987 – 19th
conference at Columbus, Ohio
1988 – 20th
conference at Tokyo and Osaka
1989 – 21st
conference at Indianapolis, Indiana
1990 – 22nd
conference at Tokyo and Osaka
1991 – 23rd
conference at Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin
1992 - 24th
conference at Tokyo and Osaka
1993 – 25th
conference at Grand Rapids, Michigan
1994 – 26th
conference at Tokyo
1995 – 27th
conference at Cedar Rapids, Iowa
1996 – 28th
conference at Tokyo
1997 - 29th
conference at Kansas City, Missouri
1998 – 30th
conference at Tokyo
1999 – 31st
conference at Omaha, Nebraska
2000 – 32nd
conference at Tokyo
Note: The MWJA Chair was Senator Adlai Stevenson of Illinois, and I was President of
the MWJA and responsible for planning the conference

3. List of MWJA-JMWAAnnual Joint Conference Locations since 1985
By Larry Ingraham
July 1, 2015
Page 3
2001 – 33rd
conference at Wichita, Kansas
Note: The U.S. Chair was Senator Nancy Kassebaum Baker of Kansas, the wife of then
U.S. Ambassador to Japan, Howard Baker, and I was President of the MWJA and
responsible for the planning of the conference. The conference ended on Tuesday,
September 11 – 9/11!! Many of the conference attendees were stuck in Wichita with the
grounding of the U.S. airlines. I rented a large van and took a group of Japanese and
Americans to Hutchinson, Kansas on Wednesday, September 12 to attend the Kansas
State Fair. Then on Thursday, September 13 I took a large group of Japanese and
Americans to Abilene, Kansas to tour President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s home and
presidential library. Then finally on Friday, September 14 I was able to rent a car to take
out of state, and a friend and I drove from Wichita back to Indianapolis.
2002 – 34th
conference at Tokyo
2003 – 35th
conference at Chicago, Illinois
Note: Indiana Governor Frank O’Bannon had a stroke and died while attending this
conference! The Governor had attended the conference’s opening gala reception at the
Chicago Botanical Gardens on Sunday evening, and was in high spirits and stayed until
the end of the reception to the delight of the Japanese delegation. That night, however,
the Governor had a stroke in his hotel room and died.
2004 – 36th
conference at Tokyo
2005 – 37th
conference at Cincinnati, Ohio
2006 – 38th
conference at Indianapolis, Indiana
Note: This was the first time the conference was held two years in row in the U.S. The
reason was the U.S. gubernatorial elections that year and fear that state leaders could not
travel to Japan. This Indiana conference of 2006 is regarded as one of the most
successful conferences ever as over 600 persons attended the three-day event in
Indianapolis.
2007 – 39th
conference at Tokyo
2008 – 40th
conference at Milwaukee, Wisconsin
2009 – 41st
conference at Tokyo
2010 – 42nd
conference at Detroit, Michigan

4. List of MWJA-JMWAAnnual Joint Conference Locations since 1985
By Larry Ingraham
July 1, 2015
Page 4
2011 - 43rd
conference at Tokyo
2012 – 44th
conference at Minneapolis, Minnesota
2013 - 45th
conference at Tokyo
2014 - 46th
conference at Des Moines, Iowa
2015 – 47th
conference to be held in Tokyo at Imperial Hotel on September 13, 14 and 15
*Through 2014 I have attended 29 straight conferences since being a member of
Indiana’s first Midwest conference delegation in Tokyo in 1986. For many years I was
Indiana’s corporate representative on the board of the MWJA, and then I was President of
the MWJA in 2000 and 2001. This year’s 47th
conference in Tokyo will be my 30th
consecutive one, a personal record I am very proud of!
**To register for the 47th
conference in Tokyo from September 13-15, 2015 please go
to the website for the MWJA at:
www.midwest-japan.org
Larry Ingraham
President
Ingraham & Associates, Inc.
3314 E. 116th
Street
Carmel, Indiana 46033
Office: 317-573-8296
Cell: 317-796-6965
E-mail: lingr49221@gmail.com