Jan. 7 - A three-hour seminar on U.S.-Japan aerospace and commercial collaboration was co-organized by the U.S. Export Assistance Center Seattle with support from the Port of Seattle and FedEx, as well as New Routes Outreach Tour Sponsors Boeing, Weyerhaeuser, United Airlines and Microsoft.

Jan. 7 - Ambassador Roos gives welcoming remarks at the outset of the Denver leg of the four-city New Routes Outreach Tour. Pictured foreground at left is Ms. Kristi Schwartz, Chair of the Denver District Export Council, one of the co-organizers of the dinner.

Jan. 8 - Ambassador Roos gives a keynote address at the "Japan Matters" Luncheon for 150 business leaders, organized by the Japan America Society of Colorado. The Ambassador highlighted the boost to U.S.-Japan trade, tourism and investment to be brought by United Airlines' direct service between Denver and Tokyo, which will begin March 31. Other speakers included Denver Mayor Michael Hancock and U.S. Representative Diana DeGette.

Jan. 8 - Colorado Governor Hickenlooper offers remarks at a dinner in Denver hosted by New Routes Outreach Tour sponsors Metro Denver, Level3 Communications and Asia Investment Partners. U.S. Representative Diana DeGette is seated to Ambassador Roos' right.

Jan. 9 - Ambassador Roos and his four-member Embassy delegation received a VIP tour of the manufacturing plant of San Diego's top exporter, Solar Turbines, from Sr. Counsel and San Diego & Imperial DEC Chairman Bo Reed. Joining the tour (second from right) is San Diego-area U.S. Representative Susan Davis. The Tour included other site visits to Boeing's Everett plant, Terumo BCL, Hitachi Data Systems and Autodesk's San Francisco client gallery.

Jan. 9 - The BCIU co-organizers of the tour produced excellent promotional materials including city-specific pop-up banners and 25-page booklets for each of the four stops on the Tour, as well as an information-filled website at www.bciu.org.

Jan. 10 - The City of San Jose hosted Ambassador Roos to a dinner attended by Mayor Reed, U.S. Representative Anna Eshoo, and San Jose State University Chancellor Mohammad Qayoumi.

Jan. 11 - The 787 Dreamliner, which served as the platform for the inaugural trip to Tokyo from San Jose as well as enabling all the new direct services celebrated by the Tour, is pictured on the tarmac shortly before take-off. Notable mid-way on the aircraft's fuselage was the logo of the TOMODACHI Initiative, a public-private partnership launched by Ambassador Roos to support the U.S.-Japan relationship through youth educational and cultural exchange.

Jan. 10 - Ambassador Roos tours the Autodesk Gallery of amazing ideas brought to life with their design software. Later that day Catherine Doyle, manager of the Global Clean Tech Program (pictured center), joined the Ambassador at a roundtable discussion on clean tech and innovation at San Jose City Hall.

Jan. 10 - At a display of cutting-edge architectural works made possible by Autodesk design tools, Ambassador Roos singled out Shanghai's World Finance Center building, which was developed by Japan's Mori Building Company.

Jan. 11 - ANA is proud to support the TOMODACHI Initiative and it displayed the TOMODACHI logo for the Ribbon Cutting ceremony at the departure gate of Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport.

Jan. 11 - The Tour culminated at the Norman Y. Mineta Airport, where another new direct flight to Tokyo's Narita Airport on the Boeing 787 was inaugurated before a crowd of several hundred, including several dozen media representatives. Among the speakers at the ceremony, including a traditional toast with Japanese sake, were: Ambassador Roos, San Jose Mayor Reed, former U.S. Transportation and U.S. Commerce Secretary Mineta, Consul General of Japan in San Francisco Inomata, and ANA Board Chairman Ohashi.