AROUND THE WORLD JAPAN March, 2018 The 25th Emerald Ball Tokyo Charity Ball & Dinner took place on March 17. It was held at the Hotel Gajoen in the Meguro ward of downtown Tokyo. The 2018 Emerald Ball Tokyo committee created an island of Ireland within this traditional Japanese setting to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Guests included her Imperial Highness Princess Takamado; the former Irish Ambassador to Japan Anne Barrington; the Irish Minister for Housing, Planning & Local Government Eoghan Murphy T.D. and Father Doyle, an extraordinary Irish priest who has spread his love of Ireland through education and faith throughout Japan over five decades. Miss World Ireland 2016 Niamh Kennedy as well as Miss World Japan 2017 Haruka Yamashita also attended. The event attracted a record number of guests with 325 pa- trons in attendance. The event was not only a great night of Irish revelry but also fulfilled the important goal of raising money for the work of The Ireland Funds Japan. These funds generated were allocated to deserving causes in both Japan and Ireland. The Japanese/Irish theme continued throughout the eve- ning with an exhilarating bodhran/taiko drum performance, dancing by the Ardagh School of Irish dancers and Chowder 99% a Japanese trio of harp, gui- tar and fiddle, who played trad music for the delighted guests. The DJ, Guy Perryman, a renowned artist from a local English speaking Japanese radio station Inter FM, provided a mix of Japanese and Irish music for dancing late into the night. However, the highlight of the evening’s entertainment was without question, a stunning performance by Mundy, the renowned Irish musician. A special thank you goes out to the hardworking committee which worked tirelessly to put on this record-breaking event with Patricia Delahunt-Loing as Chair, Chris Green representing the Irish Embassy, Richard Grehan of ImageMILL who provided the design, Paddy Hogan who headed up Sponsorship & Fundraising with the help of Mary Toal, Lauren Kerr who managed all the financial & accounting functions, Susan Lawlor who provided a critical link with the Hotel, Fiachra Martin on Entertainment, Guy Strong on communication & social media and Nicola Waddington who de- fined all the culinary and beverage requirements for the event. Declan Collins with translation provided by Clare Greenan, compered the evening. Thanks to our sponsors: British Airways, Diageo, the Hotel Gajoen, Coca Cola, Pernod Ricard, PacaPaca Farms, Mercedes Benz and Life14 for photography. The Ireland Funds Japan 25th Emerald Ball Tokyo 1 4 7 2 5 8 3 6 1 The Emerald Ball Tokyo committee together with her Imperial Highness Princess Takamado (center); Irish Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government Mr. Eoghan Murphy TD and Her Excellency Mrs. Anne Barrington Irish Ambassador to Japan and her husband Mr. Ed Milano 2 Irish singer Mundy performed while on tour in Japan 3 Trad performers Chowder 99% 4 DJ Guy Perryman had the room dancing 5 Guests enjoy Dinner with rolling Irish images 6 Ambassador Anne Barrington 7 Irish dancing to Taiko Drums 8 Irish Minister Eoghan Murphy connect 2018 • 82