Executive Committee
Meet the members of the US Karuta Network
Ara Mahar
Co-Chair
Ara started playing karuta in 2015 with Boston Nakamaro Kai after a chance encounter with another karuta player and being shocked that there was an active club in the city. Since then, they have gone on to found the Online Karuta Club, which hosted online practices throughout the pandemic, helping to bring the international karuta community together. Now, their passion is for fostering karuta within the US, expanding the number of players, and raising the standard for the sport abroad.
Betsy Rock
Co-Chair
Betsy’s kyogi karuta journey began in earnest after joining a karuta workshop hosted by Akinotakai karuta group in Otsu, Japan. She competed in the first ever world team Competitive Karuta tournament, held in Otsu in fall 2018. During the pandemic, she co-moderated the Online Karuta Club, and captained the US team to victory in the first ever online world Karuta tournament held in 2020. In 2021, she won the US tournament in Washington D.C. and was promoted to the rank of C-kyu. She currently works to introduce Competitive Karuta through workshops and other events.
Jessica
Treasurer
Jessica is an avid fan of Karuta after watching Chihayafuru. She started learning the game at the San Francisco Karuta Club in 2012. Even though there is not an active Karuta club in the Northern California region, Jessica has been keeping up with Karuta activities such as participating in a Karuta panel discussion at Japan Expo in 2013, playing the Competitive Karuta Online app, and participating in online practice sessions. Besides Karuta, Jessica also enjoys other traditional Japanese sports such as Kyudo (Japanese Archery), which she has been practicing for ~15 years.
Scott Kearney
Technical Officer
After watching Chihayafuru, Scott decided to memorize the Hyakunin Isshu as an exercise to both to play Karuta and to help with his Japanese language studies. Midway through memorizing the poems, he discovered he was local to Boston Nakamaro-kai, and became a member. Since becoming a member in 2022, he has obtained sho-dan (D-kyu) certification and has competed in tournaments in both the US and Japan.
Rachel
Board Member
Rachel first watched Chihayafuru in winter 2021 and fell in love with karuta. After studying and joining the Online Karuta Club during the pandemic, she then went on to help form the Seattle Competitive Karuta Club. Rachel hopes to continue improving her playing and reading skills while working to build a community for US karuta players.
Henry
Board Member
Henry is the founder of KarutaNYC (a.k.a. New York Karuta Kai). Henry was drawn to Karuta because of his combined love of singing and Japanese. Originally a member of the Waseda University Karuta Club in Tokyo, Henry has played numerous tournaments and has represented the U.S. at 2017 Kokumin Bunkasai and the 2018 Otsu Hikaru-Kun International Tournament. Since returning to the U.S. in 2018, Henry has committed himself to popularizing the game in America and has organized practices, panels, booths, and tournaments in partnership with organizations such as Resobox, Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, AnimeNYC, and Japan Village. Henry is currently working towards the popularization of the game on college campuses and in Japanese language education.