13 JAPANESE AMERICAN LEADERS SELECTED TO TRAVEL TO JAPAN IN MARCH

Thirteen outstanding Japanese American leaders have been selected for the 2008 Japanese American Leadership Delegation Program from ten cities throughout the United States. This year’s Delegation will travel to three cities in Japan, Tokyo, Kyoto, and Fukuoka, from February 29 to March 9, 2008.

This will be the eighth Delegation that will travel to Japan. The program is funded by The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership (CGP) and organized in cooperation with the Japanese American National Museum.

The goals of the Delegation Program are to improve understanding and strengthen long-term relations between Japanese Americans and Japan, and develop on-going strategies to enhance the role of Japanese Americans in advancing U.S.-Japan relations. The delegation consists of leaders from various professional fields including business, law, government, education, non-profit, and arts and culture. They are leaders who have demonstrated an interest in strengthening U.S. - Japan relations and are committed to future efforts to build linkages between the Japanese American community and Japan.

This year’s program will include a Symposium in Fukuoka City, featuring three of the Delegation members as Panelists. The Symposium is organized by the Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership and the Japanese American National Museum. The trip’s itinerary also includes meetings in Tokyo with high ranking governmental, political, and business leaders, and visits in Kyoto to a cultural master and cultural and historic sites.

2008 Delegation members include:

TOM IKEDA (Seattle, Washington) Executive Director, DENSHO: The Japanese American Legacy Project
KRISTEN DOZONO (Portland, Oregon) Account Executive, Sprint-Nextel, Portland, Oregon
JOHN TAKEO NOGUCHI (San Francisco, California) Director, Convention Facilities Department, City & County of San Francisco
TED YAMASAKI (San Francisco, California) Managing Deputy Human Resources Director, City and County of San Francisco
DAVID IWATA (Los Angeles, California) Principal Partner, LD Two Group, Inc.
STAN H. KOYANAGI (Los Angeles, California) Vice President, Senior Regional Counsel, KB HOME
LORI S. C. YOKOYAMA (Chicago, Illinois) Founder and Managing Partner, Lori S. C. Yokoyama & Associates, P.C.
SACHI KOTO (Atlanta, Georgia) Founder, Sachi Koto Communications, Inc.
WAYNE H. MURAOKA (Honolulu, Hawaii) Vice President, Armstrong Development, Ltd.
MARK YAMAKAWA (Honolulu, Hawaii) Executive Vice President/Chief Operating Officer, Queen’s Health Systems
PAUL NIWA (Boston, Massachusetts) Assistant Professor, Journalism, Emerson College
STANN NAKAZONO(New York, New York) Filmmaker, Traax Production
JOAN OCHI (Washington, DC) Director, Marketing Communications, GlobalGiving

The Delegation will be accompanied by Irene Hirano, President of the Japanese American National Museum, who has traveled with the prior seven Delegations and Consul Hiroshi Furusawa, Consul at the Consulate General of Japan at Los Angeles.