"Workshop" is an unduly modest term for the broad international organization that JAWS has become, but it does still capture the spirit of common interest and collegiality that marks our exchanges and gatherings. We hope to continue this spirit in what will be the first-ever meeting of JAWS in the United States. We thus want to extend a special welcome to US-based Japan anthropologists, and we hope it is an opportunity to draw more American-based scholars to the JAWS association.

Yale's Council on East Asian Studies has generously offered a grant from its own funds to assist with the local costs of organizing and hosting the gathering. We will certainly be able to cover the receptions and meals costs for all attending (there are no registration fees), and we will endeavor to meet as much of the accommodation expenses of formal participants as our budget allows.