In 1990, then Tokyo resident Va Maughn served as special project director of Refugees International Japan's first Art of Dining Charity Exhibition here. It was her idea to feature personal table settings as "art on tabletops."
That kind of captivating presentation, new and original, complemented the long-established tradition of charity balls and bazaars. An instant success, it still continues as a different kind of fundraising endeavor.
In its early years, Art of Dining invited many of Tokyo's diplomatic and corporate wives to lay exhibition tables as they would at their own functions.