najasconference

Remembering Shigeaki Mori: Paper Lanterns Comes to New Orleans

Wed, 22 Jul 2026 19:15:31 GMT

Some stories take decades to surface, and even longer to be properly honored. Paper Lanterns, the 2016 documentary from director Barry Frechette, tells one of them. The film spent five years in production uncovering a little known fact from the Hiroshima bombing: twelve American airmen, shot down during a bombing raid, were among the casualties that day.

At the center of that story is Shigeaki Mori, himself a survivor of the bombing, who spent 35 years researching and identifying those twelve American POWs so their fates would not be forgotten. His work ensured their names were eventually added to the Hiroshima Peace Museum, giving their families in the United States the answers they had waited decades to receive. Mori passed away on March 14, 2026 at the age of 88, leaving behind a legacy built on remembrance, reconciliation, and peace.

That legacy continues to resonate. Paper Lanterns was screened as recently as this year at the United Nations in Geneva, nearly a decade after its release, a sign of how much the film still has to offer audiences unfamiliar with Mori's work.

NAJAS is bringing that story to New Orleans as well. Attendees of the July 29 opening reception will have the opportunity to see the hour long film in its New Orleans debut at the Lapis Center for the Arts at NOMA. NAJAS is grateful to producer Nobuko Saito Cleary and Larry Greenwood, both of the Japan Society of New Orleans, along with director Barry Frechette, for making this special screening possible.

JERA Joins NAJAS as Conference Premier Sponsor

Mon, 22 Jun 2026 16:59:25 GMT

NAJAS welcomes JERA as our Premier Sponsor for our 2026 Network Conference in New Orleans.

JERA needs no introduction to many, especially in Houston, where the firm is a generous benefactor to Japan-America Society of Houston. We are pleased that those less familiar with Japan's top power producer and one of the world's largest LNG buyers, will learn more in New Orleans. The firm is making huge bets on the energy futures of Louisiana/America and Japan, up and down the energy value chain, from natural gas production, processing and export, to power generation and, excitingly, low-carbon new fuels, to include ammonia and hydrogen, as well as renewables.

Take a look at JERA Targets 0-emissions Thermal Power and look for a 3-part documentary on their vision of "Energy for a New Era," the second of which covering the path-breaking Blue Point Low-Carbon Ammonia Complex, developed by CF Industries in joint venture with partners such as JERA and Mitsui & Co.

UBE Corporation America Joins the Wave of Japanese Investment in the Gulf Coast

Fri, 07 Oct 2022 14:22:50 GMT

Among the companies driving the recent surge in Japanese investment into the United States is UBE Corporation America Inc, which will appear as a gold sponsor at the NAJAS national conference in New Orleans this month.

UBE's presence at the conference reflects a broader pattern taking shape across the Gulf Coast, where Japanese firms are investing into projects spanning the energy value chain in Louisiana.

UBE Corporation America Inc. will join fellow sponsor JERA Americas on the conference's energy programming, lending its perspective from global policy conditions to the realities of getting large scale projects built on the ground in Louisiana and the U.S as a whole.

As the conference brings together experts, sponsors, and member societies from across the country, UBE's participation reflects the current wave of Japanese investment that extends well beyond any single company or project; reshaping how Japan and the United States work together on energy and industrial development

JERA Americas Anchors Japanese Energy Investment in Louisiana

duda@neonone.com — Fri, 07 Oct 2022 14:19:39 GMT

Anchoring Japan's Energy Stake in Louisiana

JERA Americas is stepping into a leading role as Japanese companies expand their footprint in U.S. energy markets. As premier sponsor of the National Association of Japan America Societies conference in New Orleans, the company will headline two panels focused on the energy sector: one examining policy frameworks and global market conditions, the other spotlighting flagship projects with particular attention on Louisiana.

That focus on the Pelican State is not incidental. JERA Americas holds a joint venture stake in upstream gas assets in the South Mansfield Shale Field, part of a broader Japanese push into Haynesville resources across Texas and Louisiana. Combined with Mitsubishi's recent acquisition activity in the same basin, Japanese entities now control roughly 30 percent of production from one of the country's most prolific gas fields.

For Japan, securing upstream gas assets offers something beyond a simple investment return. It provides long term, stable, and cost competitive energy feedstock, along with added leverage in global pricing markets at a time when energy security has become inseparable from broader strategic security.

JERA Americas is also a member of the Japan America Society of Houston, reinforcing its presence across the Gulf Coast energy corridor. As conference attendees gather in New Orleans, JERA Americas' work up and down the energy value chain will be central to conversations about where U.S. Japan energy collaboration goes next.

US-Japan Energy Collaboration

duda@neonone.com — Fri, 07 Oct 2022 14:18:43 GMT

Where US-Japan Energy Ties Are Deepening

JERA Americas and UBE Corporation America Inc. are our premier and gold sponsors. Beyond them, Japanese capital and expertise are showing up across nearly every layer of the U.S. energy landscape right now, from Osaka Gas USA turning landfill gas from Archaea Energy into a low carbon export product, to Glenfarne Group's grabbing pipeline and export project in Alaska, to major players like Mitsubishi and JAPEX expanding their upstream footprint and rethinking how they manage long term supply versus in an increasingly volatile market.

That same restlessness is showing up on the capital and technology side too. JERA, Japan's largest LNG buyer, is exploring a U.S. listing to grow its international footprint, while elsewhere in the ecosystem, Sumitomo Corporation of America is quietly advancing next generation battery chemistry aimed at bringing costs down. None of it is happening in isolation. It reflects the same push to strengthen energy security and diversify where capital and supply come from.

Taken together, JERA and UBE represent two important pieces of a much larger picture, one that runs from Gulf Coast export terminals to Arctic pipelines to next generation battery chemistry. With 40 member societies across 30 states, we think NAJAS is exactly the network to keep following where all of this goes next.