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2022 Jan Newsletter contents:

1. Message from your national officers
2. A note of Thanks
3. A small action you can take today!
   1. Request your ballots for 2022 now
   2. Calling for 2022 Team Members
   3. Support Elections Outreach
4. Upcoming DA Japan Events
   1. Speakeasy
   2. Get Out the Vote Training
   3. 5th Annual Women’s March - online
   4. Jan 29 DAJ Day: RESOLVE TO GET INVOLVED
5. Upcoming DA Global Events
   1. Texas Voter Online Assistance Helpdesk
6. Past Events
   1. Voting Rights, Swing States & Justice Inequality, joint event DA Global Black Caucus, BLM Tokyo
7. Community Interest

🌟Message from your national officers

Happy New Year!

2022 is here. Let us start with bold aspirations and plans of action. After the success of last year's thanksgiving parties, we will cautiously move towards limited in-person and hybrid events, while continuing online events to involve people throughout Japan and the region.

Let us all start with 1 simple action - review your voter registration at www.votefromabroad.org

• We have a busy year ahead of us so be part of the fun!
• We’d love to have you on our Get Out the Vote, fundraising or events and outreach team!
• Event details posted below

We have several exciting events coming up but want to make sure everyone takes the time to participate on Sat Jan 29 where we will bring people throughout Japan together for a town hall which will be preceded by a GOTV training and followed by local Shinnenkai (New Years Party) on Jan 29 hybrid, various locations.

• GOTV training 2-3:00 pm (hybrid) Find out how rewarding it is to reach American voters
• Town Hall 3:30- 5:30 (hybrid)
• Shinnenkai (location specific, in-person)
• Details below

Get out the vote (GOTV) training is a must to build a bigger team throughout Japan! Want to have an impact in the midterms - join a training, meet other cool people and be part of our team. where ever you, you are need

• Get out the vote training Jan 15 12noon online for all Japan
• Get out the vote phone banking training online - Tue Feb 8 7pm - for all Japan
• Details below

DA Japan is taking the lead with a new online program done in collaboration with DA Korea, DA China and supported by other Asia Pacific DA leaders.

• JAN THEME: The 5th Annual Women’s March Jan 20th 8pm - online (HOST: DA Japan)
• FEB THEME: Black History month, details forthcoming (HOST: DA Korea)

We look forward to seeing you all at one of these events - Together we make change happen!

❤️ From your DA Japan Executive Committee

Sarajean (Chair), Elliott (Vice Chair), Dave (Secretary), Regina(Treasurer)

Our DAJ Welcome Page has been renewed with a link to our calendar of events, HERE:.

🌟 A note of Thanks

Thank you to everyone who took part in the End of the year matching gifts fundraising campaign. We were able to raise (346,000 yen, including matching funds) due to your generous support. Your contributions will help the organization with the winter mailings to update the membership database and remind our members to re-register to vote

🌟 Request from the Executive committee

From Feb we hope to also move our Speakeasy-socializing events to in-person. But we are still looking for venues. Do you have a space - like a café or bar - that can be available to host monthly events like this? Know of one? If so, contact us at [email protected]

🌟A small action you can take today!

1️⃣ Get Ready to Register to vote in 2022

UOCAVA (The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act) guarantees that overseas voters can vote in Federal Elections if they reregister to vote/request a ballot each calendar year in which they vote. Democrats Abroad has a very easy to use web site to do this. Go to www.votefromabroad.org Do it now. Our volunteers will be following up with mailings, texts, phone calls, and postcards. Help us focus our resources on getting new voters, rather than on our current members.

2️⃣ Calling for 2022 team members:

Whatever your passion or skill, there is a place for you in DAJapan We are looking for volunteers to

• Manage our Facebook/Meta account. Create content, manage posts and engage with the DAJ community
• Work on fun events to excite more people in the DAJ community
• Organize our April fundraising party Great opportunity for people who enjoy organizing parties and entertainment.
• Organize volunteers and Get out the Vote (GOTV) tables at public events in the Kanto area. DA Japan has long had a presence at a number of public events but we need 4 -5 volunteers for each. Great opportunity for people who love going out to events.

• => why meet new people and spread the word about DAJ and voting at the same time?

• => all contributing to mobilizing the vote of US voters abroad.

We are as powerful as our members are active. Find out more! Contact your ExCom to join the team [email protected] Or fill in the Get-involved-with-DA-Japan-2022 Form HERE:

3️⃣ Donate for the 2022 elections outreach

Help us in funding the Get Out The Vote for the Midterm Elections. Hold The House and Senate! Did you know … that for just 10 dollars a month we can call more than 300 members to let them know about how to register and vote in the spring primaries? Be a monthly donor! DA-Japan National Donation Form HERE: For more info or other options please contact: [email protected]

🌟Upcoming DA Japan Events

1️⃣ Jan 13 7pm SPEAKEASY

Toast to the New Year. Bring your favorite beverage

and join friends, new and old, at the DAJ Speakeasy.

Online on Webex. RSVP for link HERE:

2️⃣ Get Out the Vote Training 12 noon on Jan 15 online for all of Japan

Find out about voter outreach and what you can do starting today!

Rebecca Tompkins, our GoTV Committee Chair, will teach you the ins-and-outs of helping US Citizens navigate the rules to get registered and vote.

Online training from 12:00 to 1:30

RSVP HERE: for link

3️⃣ Jan 20 8-10pm 5th Annual Women’s March, online!

Abortion rights: no going back, we’ve got to act.

Jan 20, 8-10 pm JST,

Panel discussion on what has been happening, life before Roe, and why voting and policies matter. This event will include discussion, tips on actions everyone can take, and wraps up with time for networking and discussion.

Speakers

• Elizabeth Blackbourn, DA China Chair
• Linda Crawford, DA Japan Kansai Chapter activist
• Ayaka Dowdy, Editor Uprizine, feminist Zine by students at Temple University Japan Campus
• Moderator Sarajean Rossitto, DA Japan

Don’t turn back the clock: #AbortionIsHealthcare

The first in a series of Democrats Abroad Asia Pacific online events organized by DA members from Japan, Korea and China, with support from throughout the Asia Pacific.

RSVP HERE:

4️⃣ Jan 29 DAJ Day: RESOLVE TO GET INVOLVED: MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN 2022

We kick off 2022 with a day of community building, training and partying. The Sat Jan 29 program will be a mix of online and in-person events so that wherever you are in Japan, and whatever your situation, you can join. Bringing people together for

The Town Hall will include time for

1) information from your officers

2) open discussion time and

3) more information on actions we all can take to make a difference..

The Townhall will be preceded by a GOTV training and followed by local Shinnenkai (New Year's Parties) in various locations (Tokyo and Nagoya confirmed, other sites to be confirmed and information updated soon! The COVID situation permitting of course)

• GOTV training 2-3:00 pm (online and in-person in Tokyo) Find out how rewarding it is to reach American voters
• RSVP
• Town Hall 3:30- 5:30 (online and in person in Tokyo and Nagoya) find out what's happening; share your ideas and take action

The Tokyo venue will be RIVERLD EBISU, very close to Ebisu Station.

The Nagoya venue will be Imaike Studio, about 9 minutes from Imaike Station, followed by Oler Spanish Restaraurant.

The Kansai venue is still TBD.

To RSVP for the Town Hall, in person or online, and/or the Shinnenkai following click HERE:

We will send all of links and venue information you need.

Details on the New Year’s party will be forthcoming and posted on the website. LOCAL events are expected to be held in KANTO, TOKAI AND KANSAI, however as the Covid pandemic situation is changing, we will update the membership after 1/16 on what our plans are.

5️⃣ Feb 8 7pm online phone banking training

Eric Gondree, one of our most experienced phone-bankers, and chair of the Tokai Chapter of DAJ, will be hosting an online phone banking training on February 8th at 7pm.

Eric will take you through all the steps so you can join our volunteers in calling our members to make sure they have successfully registered, gotten their ballots, and returned them. Living overseas, this is among the most important work we can do to support democracy in the United States.

RSVP HERE:

🌟Save the Date! Upcoming DA Global Events

1️⃣ Sunday, January 16, 2022 Texas Voter Assistance Online Helpdesk

• 12-2pm CET / JST 8pm

Texans Abroad - the 2022 Primaries are quickly approaching and NOW is the time to get set to vote! Ballots go out on Jan. 15th and we are here to help with all of your voting questions!

CALLING ALL TEXANS!

We'll also have a breakout room for calling Texas voters using CallHub, so join us to help let our members who vote in Texas know that NOW is the time to get set to vote! You can find information on Phonebanking HERE.

Join us online - Please RSVP HERE: for the Zoom Link

🌟 PAST EVENTS

1️⃣ Voting Rights, Swing States & Justice Inequality, joint event DA Global Black Caucus, BLM Tokyo

On January 8, DA Japan was happy to support the Joint Panel Discussion organized by the Global Black Caucus & featuring speakers from Black Lives Matter Tokyo, DA Germany and DA Japan. The panel discussion focused on Voting Rights and why our votes count. Swing states (or battleground states), what they are and how the tide for the mid-terms of 2022 can change the balance of power, and why Justice Inequality in today's America highlights the importance of executing your vote. The recording will be made available soon!

2️⃣ Kyoto Meetup

🌟 COMMUNITY INTEREST

Did you know … only 8% of eligible American voters in Japan voted in 2020? Make your voices heard by getting involved no matter where you are in Japan. Please scroll down to find out more!

More than ever Democrats Abroad matters. The party has been busy focusing on passing the American Rescue Plan and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, getting a total of more than 190 million Americans fully vaccinated, and delivering much-needed relief for working families, and we have an Overseas Citizens Tax Relief Bill (see below). But Our work is far from complete as we face an uphill battle in 2022. We need to push our party from the inside and our members of congress - Democrat or Republican - no matter where we are from, to bring about social change. Want to have an impact in 2022? Get involved by contacting us at [email protected]. Or fill in the Get involved with DA Japan 2022! Form HERE: