It looks like the northern hemisphere world-wide is experiencing extremely hot weather this summer. I pray for a cool summer in Tokyo when they host the Olympic Games in 2020. Speaking of Tokyo, JFLA will host a traveling photo exhibition this month that contrasts the past and present of this diverse mega-city. Indeed, downtown Tokyo is currently home to many non-Japanese residents (a little over 10% of the total population), and with the ever growing number of foreign tourists wandering the streets, Tokyo seems to have become a genuine cosmopolitan city. "Really?" I am questioning myself as I write this passage. Having a diverse neighborhood may help brand the city as international, but it does not automatically make the residents cosmopolitan. It will take a lot more interactions between Japanese people and their non-Japanese neighbors than simply exchanging hellos in hallways to be savvy, or at least understanding each other's culture. That is exactly what we are trying to accomplish here in LA - encourage as much interaction in this diverse city and beyond in order to instill a deeper sense of cross-cultural understanding among its people.

No relationship, whether person-to-person or nation-to-nation, can be taken for granted. It has to be maintained by constantly inspiring each other. When was the last time you were truly inspired by someone?