Until the 1980’s, JASSW was run entirely by volunteers. Today our staff consists of four full-time professionals and our Board of Directors is headed by an elected Chair and composed of local and state leaders in business, government, education and the arts.
Office Staff
Dale L. Watanabe was appointed Executive Director in May 2012. He was born and raised in the south end of Seattle, graduating from Tyee High School. Watanabe graduated from California State University, Long Beach with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, and also earned an MBA from Seattle University. He worked for over 20 years with Microsoft as a senior business development manager, before stepping away in 2011. He served as Commander of the Nisei Veterans Committee in 2006 during the initial kickoff of the organization’s $2.5M Capital Campaign to remodel the NVC Memorial Hall, and has served on the NVC Board of Directors since 2004. “I have appreciated the opportunity to be a part of such a well-respected, long-standing organization whose mission it is to foster friendship, cultural exchange, and trade with the land of my ancestors,” says Watanabe. “Japan and U.S. trade, business and cultural exchange are important for many corporations and individuals here and in Japan. I've enjoyed working with and learning from the many JASSW members and volunteers who are dedicated to the mission.”
Born in Japan and raised in the States, Michiko has had a long relationship with Japan. After spending most of her youth in Seattle, she studied at Middlebury College in Vermont where she spent a year studying abroad at International Christian University in Tokyo and received her Japanese/Sociology undergraduate degree. After graduating, she spent the next four years in Yamagata, Japan as a prefectural Coordinator for International Relations (CIR) for the JET Program. She returned back to Seattle in September 2021 after gaining an appreciation for ryokans, snow, sake, and good food. Although Michiko has lived in various parts of the US and Japan, she considers Seattle her home and is excited to help forge and strengthen international relations between Washington State and Japan.
I was born and raised in Miyazaki, Japan and spent time in Nagoya, Aichi for university which included a one-year study abroad program at Western Washington University. After graduating from university, I worked at the Sheraton Resort in Miyazaki for 3 years. As I met and greeted many customers from all over the world while working at Sheraton, I realized that being bilingual broadened both my horizons and my perspective. As a result, I decided to change the direction of my career by accepting a position as an instructor in an eikaiwa school (private school that teaches English conversation and grammar). In this new position, I hoped to encourage my students to be interested in the world outside of Miyazaki. In addition to my work as a full-time English teacher, I also partnered with an American colleague to provide English lessons to the local community on weekends. After almost 2 years teaching, I decided to seek a more international working experience by moving to Seattle, where my father’s family is located. I hope I can bring positive insights from my previous life/work experiences to JASSW and share my immense passion for education, Washington-Japan relationships, and, most importantly, my love for my home country, Japan!
Education Staff
Elizabeth commits herself to bridging communities. She has been an Academic Adviser for first-year Whitman College students, English Teacher for over 4,000 Japanese students on the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program, Project Coordinator at the Japan-America Society of the State of Washington, and Board Member of the Japan Arts Connection Lab (JACLab), Currently, she is a fifth-year Japanese teacher at South Kitsap High School and is excited to be back with the Society as a remote program coordinator. Her other interests include onsen, theater, and karaoke.
SBEA Staff
三重県津市生まれ。
2008年の経済危機を機にシアトルへ移り、パートナーと二人でのマイクロビジネスとして「ジャパン・クリエイティブアーツ」を立ち上げ「太鼓の学校/The School of TAIKO」を運営、2014年より「Bellevue World TAIKO Festival」 をプロデュースするなど、主に邦楽を通じて日本の魅力をアメリカで伝える活動を行っている。
COVID-19の影響で、ほぼ２年間にわたりほとんど仕事のない状況での生き残り策を模索しながら過ごしている中、日米を繋げるという同じミッションの元で１００年近い活動を続けている日米協会がSBRNプロジェクトを始めることを知り、アメリカでチャレンジを続けている日本人・日系人のスモールビジネスオーナーの方と共に言語の壁を乗り越えて再生の道を見つけていきたいとの想いで、SBRN日本語支援コーディネーターとなる。
Born in Tsu City, Mie Prefecture of Japan.
After the 2008 financial crisis, she moved to Seattle and founded the microbusiness, “Japan Creative Arts” in 2009 which provided Japanese music, arts and culture mainly though “The School of TAIKO/太鼓の学校”. In addition, in 2014 she started to produce the “Bellevue World TAIKO Festival” to introduce and promote high quality, unique Japanese culture.
She is pleased to take part in this new project to support the community in Japanese, taking advantage of her experience running a small business in the United States as a Japanese immigrant, to surviving the current challenging days due to COVID-19.
フレッド・ハリマンは１９７７年から１９９４年まで静岡県浜松市にてプロの日本語とスペイン語翻訳・通訳者として活動していました。
現在はここアメリカで引き続きプロの通訳者として活躍しています。
Fred Harriman has worked as a professional interpreter and translator of Japanese and Spanish since the time he lived in Hamamatsu City of Shizuoka Prefecture in Japan from 1977 to 1994. During his years in Hamamatsu with his wife Takayo he participated in the local community as a father of 2 daughters and a son-in-law to Takayo’s Mom and Dad. He also worked in local radio and television as well as volunteering to translate and interpret for the local non-Japanese community.
Here in the U.S. Fred has continued his career as a professional interpreter. He has also worked many years recently as a contract interpreter for the US Department of State – handling DoS program work, ceremonies, conferences, and military interpreting work. He is also registered by the Washington State Administrative Office of the Courts as an Interpreter of Japanese.
Fred remarked for this profile: “Japanese people have shown me patience and kindness throughout my life. My fellow Americans can learn much from Japanese culture and the Japanese worldview, and I hope I can play a role in bringing those to the Pacific Northwest."
初めまして、スミス美季と申します。千葉県船橋市出身です。この度、日本人移民や日系アメリカ人の小規模事業や個人事業のオーナー様の事業運営のお手伝いのため、日米協会のスモールビジネスコーディネーター（フルタイム）担当をさせていただくことになりました。私は2015年にワシントン州に参りましてから、日本とアメリカの架け橋になる仕事がしたいと思っておりました。日米協会においてこのお仕事ができることは光栄で、非常に楽しみです。
日米協会は２０２０年よりワシントン州商務省とワシントン州・スモールビジネス・リカバリー・ワーキング・グループとのパートナーシップを結んでおり、常に最新の情報を入手しています。
事業のお困りごとや知りたいことはありませんか？または皆様からのお知らせも大歓迎です。ぜひ私msmith@jassw.orgまたは、smallbiz@jassw.orgにお手伝いさせてください。お気軽にご連絡ください！皆様とお話しできる日を心待ちにしております。
Hi! My name is Miki Smith. I’m from Funabashi, Japan. I will be in charge of helping Japanese immigrant and Japanese-American owners of small businesses and microbusiness owners with their business operations in Washington. Since I arrived in Washington in 2015, I have wanted to work as a bridge between Japan and the United States. It is an honor to be able to do this work at JASSW, and I am very much looking forward to it.
Since 2020, JASSW has partnered with the Washington State Department of Commerce and the Washington State Small Business Recovery Working Group to stay up-to-date with the newest information regarding small business support. Feel free to contact me! I look forward to helping you.
Kiersten Zugg
Interns
Koki was born and raised in Hyogo, Japan. He studies Japanese ancient history in Kwansei Gakuin University in Hyogo, Japan. As an intern, he wants to communicate with staff at JASSW and a lot of people whom he gets involved with through the internship. Also, he wants to learn practical English by communicating with them.
He is interested in JASSW activities, especially JIS (Japan in the Schools). Therefore, he looks forward to joining the program as an intern.
Moreover, he is interested in the history of Japan-America Society. Through the internship, He wants to learn how Japan-America Society came to be what it is today.
