District76 10th Anniversary

D76 10th Anniversary Booklet AllD76 10th Anniversary Booklet (High‐resolution image 92MB)

D76 10th Anniversary Booklet Vol.1 D76 10th Anniversary Booklet Vol.1(2.7MB)

D76 10th Anniversary Booklet Vol.2 D76 10th Anniversary Booklet Vol.2(4.5MB)

D76 10th Anniversary Booklet Vol.3 D76 10th Anniversary Booklet Vol.3(4.6MB)

D76 10th Anniversary Booklet Vol.4 D76 10th Anniversary Booklet Vol.4(2.9MB)

History of Toastmasters in Japan

Toastmasters in Japan is said to have started in both Fukuoka and Tokyo. Although Fukuoka Toastmasters Club (TMC) was the first to hold meetings, the Tokyo TMC was the first officially chartered club in Japan in 1954.After several clubs had been chartered in Japan, the “Japan Toastmasters Council” (or JTC) was formed. This was created as a way to coordinate the activities of the various clubs around Japan. JTC also organized officer training seminars and workshops. Clubs officers in Japan had to gather at a single location to receive officer trainings. The person responsible for coordinating officers training and governance of the JTC was officially recognized as the “Japan Territorial Chairman” by Toastmaster International.

After many years of hard work by the JTC led by a series of skilled Chairmen and Chairwomen, Japan finally had enough clubs to become a Provisional District known as “District 76P.” This was accomplished in July 2000.

After becoming a Provisional District, Japan need to have more than 60 active clubs in order to become a Full District (without the “P” at the end of “76P”).  All Toastmasters members in Japan strove to strengthen and build the Toastmasters community. From the time of Provisional District was established (2000) until the time of Japan became a full District (2004), 5 new clubs were added each year on average. Since that time, the District has continued to increase the number of clubs by 5 (or more) clubs each year.

In February, 2004,  Japan was approved as a full-fledged District. As new charted club can send participates to contest and have officers attend regular training events like other clubs, the new District 76 was also awarded the same privileges as other districts. Japan could now send its champion to compete in the English language World Champion Speech Contest at the International Convention. Further, past District Governors are now eligible to become International Directors.  Thus, from 2004 onward Japan’s district leaders and speakers could meet and greet other members from other districts as peers in an ever growing international community.

In the year of service from 2011/7 to 2012/6, District 76 achieved the President’s Distinguished District Award for the first time, and moreover, became the fifth out of 87 districts in the world.

As of May 2022, District 76 has grown to 223 clubs, holds about 4,200 members. As the history of the now full fledge District 76 continues to unfold it will not be too long before a new chapter on the splitting of the District will be written.

Japan Territorial Chairman
District Status Year of Service Name of Territorial Chairman
Japan Toastmasters Council 1986-1987 Toru Mori
1987-1988 Robert Kephart
1988-1989 Takashi Kawano
1989-1990 Fumiaki Okuno – Robert Ryker
1990-1991 Takeshi Izutsu
1991-1992 Chiaki Watanabe
1992-1993 Shinya Tohda
1993-1994 Robert Glino
1994-1995 Akira Saito
1995-1996 Takashi Hayashi
1996-1997 Terry Tomita
1997-1998 Peter Fujiyama
1998-1999 Rika Oshima
1999-2000 Haresh Kirpalani
District Governor
District Status Year of Service Name of District Governor
Provisional District 2000/7-2001/6 Shintaro Inagaki
2001/7-2002/6 Keiko Omachi
2002/7-2003/6 Michael Sorey
2003/7-2004/6 Masahiko Inatsugi
District 2004/7-2005/6 L. Gibbons
2005/7-2006/6 Keiko Omachi
2006/7-2007/6 Shoko Takimoto
2007/7-2008/6 Takashi Suzuki
2008/7-2008/11 Akira Sasaki
2008/12-2009/6 Shoko Takimoto
2009/7-2010/6 Minoru Tamura
2010/7-2011/6 Seiko Matsumoto
2011/7-2012/6 Bunzo Suzuki
2012/7-2013/6 Kazuko Kawauchi
2013/7-2014/6 Kiichiro Ohmi
2014/7-2015/6 Hisashi Watanabe
District Director
District Status Year of Service Name of District Governor
District 2015/7-2016/6 Kiminari Azuma
2016/7-2017/6 Sumiko Futana
2017/7-2018/6 Kyoko Kitamura
2018/7-2019/6 Katashi Ishihara
2019/7-2020/6 Matthew Ownby
2020/7-2021/6 Yusuke Ohashi
2021/7-2022/6 Maki Matsumoto