Tag Archive for: Yamamori

IJA Celebrates Bounenkai End of Year Party 2025

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Last week, the Ireland Japan Association celebrated its annual Bounenkai End of Year Party together with our members, friends and supporters. The event was organised in cooperation with our Patron Member Yamamori, who is proudly celebrating 30 years in business in 2025, and was hosted at Yamamori Tengu, located in the heart of Dublin city centre.

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Welcome speech by Neil Cowhey, IJA Vice Chairperson

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A warm welcome was extended to all guests by Neil Cowhey, IJA Vice Chairperson, who, on behalf of the IJA Council, paid respects to former Ambassador Junji Shimada, who sadly passed away earlier this month, and reflected on the year’s highlights and achievements, including the Commendation awarded by the Japanese Foreign Minister to the IJA in recognition of its ongoing contribution to strengthening Ireland – Japan relations.

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“It’s been a great year for the Ireland Japan Association, and great to share so many Ireland – Japan moments together. Looking forward to even better times next year. Cheers – and Kanpai!” – Neil Cowhey, IJA Vice Chairperson.

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We were honoured to welcome Mr. Koji Hirohata, Chargés d’Affaires, Embassy of Japan in Ireland, who addressed guests during the evening.

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Speech by Koji Hirohata, Chargés d’Affaires, Embassy of Japan in Ireland

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The evening brought together the IJA community for a relaxed and festive gathering, celebrating milestones, shared successes, and the strong connections between Ireland and Japan.

We would like to thank the IJA event team – Neil Cowhey, Graham Ryan and Miyu Ishikawa – for their work and support in organising the event.

A special thank you also goes to the Yamamori team for their warm welcome, hospitality, and excellent service throughout the night, making the celebration special for everyone.

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Bank of Ireland Team Wins the IJA Ishikawa Golf Cup 2025

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The Ireland Japan Association’s Annual Golf Outing 2025 took place on Thursday, 25th September at the beautiful Foxrock Golf Club, Dublin, bringing together IJA members and friends for a fantastic day of golf, networking and celebration.

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We are delighted to congratulate the Bank of Ireland team, winners of the IJA Ishikawa Cup 2025! The Ishikawa Cup and first prize were presented to the winning team by Neil Cowhey, IJA Vice Chairperson, and Mr. Hirohata, Head of Mission, Embassy of Japan.

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IJA Ishikawa Cup 2025 winners from Bank of Ireland Team – Casey Steele and Philip Healy together with Mr. Hirohata, Head of Mission, Embassy of Japan

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Winners – Bank of Ireland Team
Philip Healy
Casey Steele
Patrick O’Connor
Devon Burns

2nd Place – NTT Data Team
3rd Place – SuMi TRUST (SMT Fund) Team

Spot Prizes
Nearest the Pin – Louise Mernagh, Mitsubishi Electric
Longest Drive – Adrian Gubbins, Mitsubishi Electric

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IJA Ishikawa Cup 2025 – 2nd place – NTT Data Team

IJA Ishikawa Cup 2025 – Nearest The Pin Spot Prize – Winner Louise Mernagh, Mitsubishi Electric with Neil Cowhey, IJA Vice Chairperson

IJA Ishikawa Cup 2025 – Longest Drive Spot Prize – Winner Adrian Gubbins, Mitsubishi Electric with Neil Cowhey, IJA Vice Chairperson

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A big thank you to all the teams – Bank of Ireland, Dillon Eustace, ElectroRoute, Mitsubishi Electric, NTT Data, and SuMi TRUST – for taking part and making this year’s tournament such a success.

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We would also like to extend our sincere thanks to our wonderful hosts at Foxrock Golf Club for their warm hospitality, and to the IJA Council members and event team, especially Neil Cowhey and Raymond Hegarty, for their commitment and support in organising this event.

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We look forward to seeing everyone again at next year’s tournament!

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A very special thank you to our tournament prize sponsors for their generous support! 

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Foxrock Golf Club

IJA Ishikawa Cup 2025 – Foxrock Golf Club

IJA Ishikawa Cup 2025

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Yamamori celebrates 30th anniversary and joins IJA as a 2025 Patron Member

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The Ireland Japan Association is pleased to announce that our long-standing partner and member, Yamamori, one of Ireland’s most beloved family-owned Japanese restaurant groups, will join us as a Patron Member for 2025. We look forward to a continued successful partnership and collaboration across the business, cultural, and educational sectors.

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Founded in 1995 by the late Derek Ryan, Yamamori began as a single establishment and has since expanded into a trio of thriving restaurants and bars in Dublin city centre. Renowned for its commitment to authentic Japanese cuisine, outstanding cocktails, warm service, and vibrant atmosphere, Yamamori has become a cornerstone of Dublin’s culinary scene.

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The flagship location, Yamamori, located at 71/72 South Great George’s Street, established in 1995, remains a pioneer of Japanese cuisine in Dublin. Offering a wide range of dishes, including tempura, sushi, Japanese dumplings, and freshly prepared ramen, it has set the standard for Japanese dining in the city. In addition to its culinary excellence, Yamamori South has become known for its dedicated staff and inviting environment, ensuring a memorable dining experience for all guests.

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As the Yamamori Group celebrates its 30th anniversary in August 2025, it continues to be a beloved institution, serving the Dublin community and thriving as a cornerstone of Dublin’s dining scene for years to come.

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We are excited to further strengthen our partnership with Yamamori and look forward to a successful year ahead.

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To learn more about Yamamori businesses and the services they provide, please visit their website here or connect with them on LinkedIn.

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IJA Bounenkai End of Year Party 2024 | PHOTO GALLERY

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The IJA Council would like to extend a heartfelt gratitude to everyone who attended the annual IJA Bounenkai End of Year Party on 28th November at Yamamori Izakaya Japas & Sake in Dublin. Your presence truly made the evening special, and we hope you enjoyed celebrating the culmination of this year’s hard work.

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Catherine Grennell-Whyte, IJA Chairperson, warmly welcomed event guests and initiated the festivities with a traditional Japanese Kanpai toast.

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We would like to express our deepest appreciation to H.E. Mr. Norio Maruyama, Ambassador of Japan to Ireland and IJA Patron, for honouring us with his presence and delivering a heartfelt farewell message as he concludes his service in Ireland and prepares to return to Japan.

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Our sincere thanks also go to the IJA event team and our exceptional hosts at Yamamori Izakaya Japas & Sake for their warm hospitality and for ensuring the event was a resounding success.

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Here’s to creating more wonderful memories together in the future!

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Photos: Eddie Hughes & Miyu Ishikawa

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Cpl team wins the IJA Ishikawa Golf Cup 2024

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The IJA Annual Golf Outing 2024 tournament took place on 5th September at the beautiful Foxrock Golf Club, Dublin.
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We would like to congratulate the Cpl Team, winners of the IJA Golf Outing 2024! The Ishikawa Cup was presented to the winning team by Catherine Grennell-Whyte, IJA Chairperson and Norimasa Yoshida, Deputy Head of the Mission at the Embassy of Japan.
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L-R: Cpl Team captain Stephen Mullin, Catherine Grennell-Whyte, IJA Chairperson and Norimasa Yoshida, Deputy Head of the Mission at the Embassy of Japan.

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Iskikawa Cup 2024 winners: Cpl Team
Stephen Mullin
Johnnie O’Connor
Ian Sparling
Tom Fitzgerald
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2nd and 3rd places were awarded to NTT Data (Team 1) and NTT Data (Team 2). Big thanks to all the teams from Bank of Ireland, Dillon Eustace, ElectroRoute, Mitsubishi Electric, and NTT DATA, Inc. for joining us this year and making the tournament a great success.
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We would also like to thank our amazing hosts – Foxrock Golf Club – for their fantastic hospitality and the IJA Council members and event team who helped to organise this event: Catherine Grennell-Whyte, Neil Cowhey, Raymond Hegarty and Verity Swan.
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A special thanks go to our generous prize sponsors:
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IJA Annual Dinner 2023 | Photo Gallery

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On 12th May the IJA members, friends, and supporters celebrated and enjoyed one of our biggest events of the year – the IJA Annual Dinner 2023. This year’s event took place at one of the most beautiful and luxurious Dublin venues – Conrad Dublin Hotel.

 

 

The IJA Council was delighted to welcome H.E. Mr. Norio Maruyama, Ambassador of Japan in Ireland and the IJA Patron, as well as Mr. Jack Chambers, State Minister for the Department of Transport and the Department of the Environment, Climate & Communications, as special guests and speakers at the event.

 

From left: Ms. Tsugumi Yamamoto, IJA Vice Chairperson, H.E. Mr. Norio Maruyama, Ambassador of Japan in Ireland and the IJA Patron, Ms. Catherine Grennell-Whyte, IJA Chairperson, Mr. Jack Chambers, State Minister for the Department of Transport and the Department of the Environment, Climate & Communications, and Mr. Raymond Hegarty, IJA Ex-Officio and Master of Ceremonies. Photo: Stephen Cullen, K9 Studio

 

The evening began with Sake reception, kindly supported by the IJA Council in cooperation with Retro Vino Wine & Sake. Reception was followed by welcome words from Raymond Hegarty, IJA Ex-Officio and Master of Ceremonies, and after that dinner guests enjoyed a delicious 3-course meal in the beautiful Ball Room.

 

Raymond Hegarty, IJA Ex-Officio and Master of Ceremonies. Photo: Stephen Cullen, K9 Studio

 

Catherine Grennell-Whyte, IJA Chairperson, expressed her gratitude to the IJA corporate and individual members present at the event, inviting everyone to enjoy ‘the celebration of cultures and our successes, a celebration of friendships forged through the Ireland Japan Association and of our achievements together’.

 

No association can function effectively without a strong membership who are committed to the ongoing activities, and we believe the members of this association are one of the main reasons we are so successful.  We can see the evidence of this here this evening with such a large attendance.  I would like to reiterate how much we value your individual, family, student and corporate membership participation in the many events we host and support throughout the year. – Catherine Grennell-Whyte, IJA Chairperson.

 

Catherine Grennell-Whyte, IJA Chairperson. Photo: Stephen Cullen, K9 Studio

 

Catherine Grennell-Whyte thanked the IJA Patron member – ElectroRoute – for their support to the association and a very successful cooperation. Special gratitude was expressed to the IJA Patron H.E. Mr. Norio Maruyama, Ambassador of Japan in Ireland. ‘Your patronage of the association is most gratefully appreciated and so is the support of the entire team at the Embassy,’ said Catherine Grennell-Whyte.

 

Ms. Catherine Grennell-Whyte, IJA Chairperson and H.E. Mr. Norio Maruyama, Ambassador of Japan in Ireland and the IJA Patron. Photo: Stephen Cullen, K9 Studio

 

Prize Giving this year was sponsored by the IJA Corporate members – ElectroRoute, Dillon Eustace, Oomi Travel (former Unique Japan Tours), PwC Ireland, SuMi TRUST and Yamamori,  and we would like to thank everyone for their continued support and very generous prizes. The Grand Prize this year was sponsored by our Corporate member Finnair, and we would like to congratulate the lucky winner who received a return flight to Japan – Mr. Yiannis Gkoufas.

We would also like to thank everyone at the Dublin School for Japanese Children who created and gifted beautiful Japanese origami decorations to our dinner guests, and to Mrs. Tomoko Ozaki who created stunning Ikebana flower arrangements for the event. Huge thanks to the event team at Conrad Dublin for being great hosts and providing excellent service during our event.

We would like to thank Raymond Hegarty, Master of Ceremonies, and our event team and volunteers from the IJA Council – Catherine Grennell-Whyte, Tsugumi Yamamoto, Darina Slattery, Laura Goonan, Azumi Uchitani, Eva Reavley and Verity Swan – for their time, support and help to make this year’s event such a great success. Special thanks to Eddie Hughes, former IJA Council member, for his dedication and help with the event arrangements.

 

Photo Gallery | IJA Annual Dinner 2023

Photos: Stephen Cullen, K9 Studio

(If you were a guest at the IJA Annual Dinner 2023 and would like to receive an access to full photo gallery from the night, please email your request to: info@ija.ie)

 

 

IJA Annual Dinner 2022 | Photo Gallery

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On 17th June the IJA members, friends, and supporters came together to celebrate and enjoy one of our biggest events of the year – the IJA Annual Dinner 2022. This year it took place at one of the most beautiful Dublin venues – Radisson Blu St. Helen’s Hotel.

 

The evening began with Sake reception, kindly supported by our corporate member – Retro Vino Wine & Sake. Reception was followed by welcome words from Catherine Grennell-Whyte, Master of Ceremonies, and after that guests enjoyed a delicious 3-course meal in the beautiful Le Panto Suite.

 

Catherine Grennell-Whyte, Finnair/ATTS, Master of Ceremonies

 

Speeches were given by Raymond Hegarty, IJA Chairperson and Mr. Makoto Honda, Counsellor, DHM, Embassy of Japan.

 

 

Prize Giving this year was sponsored by the IJA Corporate members – Bank of Ireland, Cpl Resources, Dillon Eustace, KWE Ireland, Retro Vino, Unique Japan Tours and Yamamori. The Grand Prize this year was sponsored by Finnair, IJA 2022 Travel Partner, and we would like to congratulate the lucky winner who received 2 return flights to Japan.

 

Grand prize winner received 2 tickets to Japan from Finnair/ATTS.

 

It was great to see everyone back together after so long. We are happy for you attending the event and look forward to seeing you again in coming events. – Tsugumi Yamamoto, IJA Vice Chairperson

 

We would like to thank all our members and friends who attended the IJA Annual Dinner this year, and special thanks go to our 2022 Travel Partner – Finnair, and all our Corporate members for their continued support and very generous prizes.

We would also like to thank Dublin School for Japanese Children who made beautiful origami decorations for our dinner guests, and to Mrs. Tomoko Ozaki who created Ikebana flower arrangements for the event. Huge thanks to the event team at the Radisson Blu St. Helen’s Hotel for being great hosts and providing excellent service during our event.

We would like to thank Catherine Grennell- Whyte, Master of Ceremonies, and our event team and volunteers from the IJA Council – Raymond Hegarty, Tsugumi Yamamoto, Darina Slattery, Laura Goonan, Jonathan Kelly, Hiro Ino and Eddie Hughes – for their time, support and help to make this year’s event such a great success.

More photos from the IJA Annual Dinner 2022 are in the photo gallery below. Please click on the image to enlarge it.

 

Photos: Kevin O’Neill, Laura Goonan, Darina Slattery, Eddie Hughes, Raymond Hegarty and Jonathan Kelly 

A night of Japanese sake tasting

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Our first ever online ‘Sake Tasting Night’ took place on 29th April. The event was a huge success and we were pleased to welcome many IJA individual and corporate members to enjoy and learn the basics of sake from the comfort of their homes.

The evening included not only sake tasting but our guest speakers Colin Murray, Retro Sake, and Graham Ryan, Yamamori, took everyone on a virtual tour and introduced to the origins and history of sake, the wide variety of sake types and its production in Japan.

During the event participants had a chance to taste 6 different types of Japanese sake:

* Hatsumago “Kimoto Tradition”, Honjozo
* Kikumasamune Junmai “Koujo”, Junmai
* Kikusui Junmai Ginjo, Junmai Ginjo
* Rihaku “Dreamy Clouds”, Junmai Nigori
* Dassai 45, Junmai Daiginjo
* Fukuju “Plum Sake”, Plum Sake

We had a wonderful experience hosting this event and we would like to thank everyone who joined us and made it a tremendous success!

 

Event was organised in cooperation with RetroVino Wine & Sake and Yamamori Restaurant Group.

The IJA would like to thank Eddie Hughes, IJA Council, for his help and support throughout this project and event.

*Photos: taken by event participants
IJA Annual Dinner 2020

30th IJA Annual Dinner | Photo Gallery

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On 14th February the IJA members, friends, and supporters came together to celebrate and enjoy one of our biggest events of the year – 30th IJA Annual Dinner 2020. This year it took place at one of the most beautiful and iconic Dublin venues – The Shelbourne Hotel.

The evening began with Sake reception, kindly supported by Embassy of Japan in Ireland and our corporate member – Retro Sake. Reception was followed by speeches from Ms Darina Slattery, IJA Chairperson, Mr Peter Sherrard, CEO of Olympic Federation of Ireland and H.E. Mr Mitsuru Kitano, Ambassador of Japan in Ireland.

Darina Slattery, IJA Chairperson

Peter Sherrard, CEO of Olympic Federation of Ireland

H.E. Mr Mitsuru Kitano, Ambassador of Japan in Ireland

IJA Annual Dinner 2020

Read here: Ambassador Kitano’s full speech at the IJA Annual Dinner 2020.

The guests enjoyed a delicious 3-course dinner in the beautiful Great Room followed by Prize Giving sponsored by the IJA Corporate members – AIB, ANA, Bank of Ireland, Dillon Eustace, KWE Ireland, Mitsubishi Electric, Retro Sake, SuMi TRUST, Unique Japan Tours and Yamamori. The Grand Prize this year was 2 return flights to Japan sponsored by Finnair, IJA 2020 Travel Partner.

 

(Please click on the images to enlarge)

Photo gallery in video format can be viewed here!

 

 

We would like to thank everyone who attended the IJA Annual Dinner this year. Special thanks go to our Patron member – AIB, our Travel Partner – Finnair, and all our Corporate members for their continued support and very generous prizes.

Our thanks go to the Dublin School for Japanese Children who made all the beautiful origami decorations for the dinner tables and to Mrs Tomoko Ozaki who created a wonderful Ikebana flower arrangement for the event. We would also like to thank The Shelbourne Hotel for hosting our event and providing excellent service before and during the dinner.

We would like to thank our Master of Ceremonies – Mr Raymond Hegarty, and our event team and volunteers – Mr Donagh Morris, Mr Graham Ryan, Ms Paula Kelly, Ms Tsugumi Yamamoto and Mr Yasuyuki Ozeki  – for their time, support and help to make this year’s event such a great success.

Photos/Video: Donagh Morris

IJA Annual Dinner 2019 brings together IJA members, friends and supporters

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Each year, IJA Annual Dinner brings together our members, friends, and supporters to celebrate and enjoy one of the biggest and most enjoyable events of the year.

The evening began with a reception at The Westbury Hotel, Dublin, followed by speeches by Ms Darina Slattery, IJA Chairperson, H.E. Mrs Mari Miyoshi, Ambassador of Japan in Ireland, Mr Mark Egan, Head of Competitions and Performance, and Ms Catherine Grennell-Whyte, Finnair.

The guests enjoyed a delicious 3-course dinner in the beautiful Grafton Suite which was followed by Prize Giving sponsored by IJA Corporate members – AIB, A&L Goodbody, ANA, Bank of Ireland, Dillon Eustace, KWE Ireland, PM Group, SuMi TRUST, Unique Japan Tours and Yamamori. The Grand Prize this year was 2 return flights to Japan sponsored by Finnair, IJA 2019 Travel Partner.

(Please click on the images to enlarge)

We would like to thank everyone who attended the Annual Dinner, our Corporate members for supporting this event and sponsoring amazing prizes. Big thanks to our Patron member – AIB – for continuous support and our Travel Partner – Finnair – for sponsoring the Grand Prize.

Our thanks go to the Dublin School for Japanese Children who made all the beautiful origami decorations for the dinner tables and to Mrs Tomoko Ozaki who created wonderful Ikebana flower arrangements for the event. We are thanking the Embassy of Japan who provided Japanese sake for the event reception, and The Westbury Hotel for hosting our event and providing excellent service before and during the event.

We would like to thank Mr Raymond Hegarty who agreed to undertake MC duties at the event, and our event team – Ms Paula Kelly, Mr Hiro Ino, Mr Donagh Morris and Mr Karl O’Reilly who helped before and after the event, and made sure that everybody can enjoy a wonderful relaxing evening.

Photos: Donagh Morris

 

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