Officers

Officers are elected for a one-year term at the Society’s Annual Meeting in April

Chair: Ellen Eskenazi, UW Japan Studies Program
Chair-Elect: Shoko Farmer, Russell Investments
Treasurer: Todd Mason, Weyerhaeuser
Secretary: Chris Cummins

Honorary Vice Chair

Governor of the State of Washington: The Honorable Jay Inslee

Board Member

Consul General of Japan at Seattle: The Honorable Hisao Inagaki**

Elected Directors

Directors are elected for three-year terms at the Society’s Annual Meeting in April




Directors to 2022

  • Sarah Okawa Ellerbrock
  • Shoko Farmer, Russell Investments
  • Mark Harman, Costco Wholesale
  • Michelle Kato, PNWJETAA
  • Hideaki Katsube, Mitsui & Co. (U.S.A.), Inc.
  • Dr. Ryo Kubota, Kubota Pharmaceuticals
  • Taylor Mills, Boeing
  • Susan Okamoto, Susan K. Okamoto Interiors
  • Rich Rawson, Davis Wright Tremaine
  • Takeo Sato, Nichirei USA LLC
  • Naoko Inoue Shatz, Shatz Law Group
  • Kenji Ushimaru, JETRO/Infra Innovations, Inc.
  • Satoko Valdes, Moss Adams, LLC
  • Gary Weiss, ANA
  • Kosei Yamada, Japan Airlines

Directors to 2023

    • Keiko Arakane, Union Bank
    • Lee Chung, JP Morgan
    • Christopher Cummins, OIA Global
    • Ellen Eskenazi, UW Japan Studies
    • Cheryl Hou, Seattle-Kobe Sister City Association
    • Toshihiro Kawachi, Mitsubishi Corp. (Americas)
    • Kanako Matsumoto
    • Ambassador Michael Michalak, Individual Member
    • Yoshi Minegishi
    • Bob Nakahara
    • Kay Packard
    • James G.W. Reed, Swan Venture Group
    • Cliff Rudolph, Parker Smith & Feek
    • James Shaw
    • Matt Smith
    • Hideo Suganuma, Kohtoku Enterprise
    • Carl Wollebek, Port of Everett
    • Naoki Yamamoto, Sojitz

Directors to 2024

    • Rita Brogan, Mukai Farm and Garden
    • Makiko Coffland, Christensen O’Connor Johnson Kindness
    • Ted Fuse, Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas)
    • Kazuhiro Hoshi, Ito En/Distant Lands Coffee
    • Masami Katayama, Starbucks
    • Mitch Kato, Jamco America
    • Jane Corddry Langill, Teatro ZinZanni
    • RADM James D. Kelly (Ret.)
    • Steven Maheshwary, WA State Dept of Commerce
    • Todd Mason, Weyerhaeuser
    • Barbara Mizoguchi
    • Joel Paget, Ryan Swanson and Cleveland, PLLC
    • Yoshie Phillips, Russell Investments
    • Akemi Sagawa
    • Yuka Shimizu, Bellevue Children’s Academy
    • Asami Tsuruta, Japan Business Association of Seattle
    • Akinori Yokosawa, Delta Air Lines



Former Board Chairs/Past Presidents***

  • Karin Zaugg Black, Port of Seattle
  • Mary Bernson, East Asia Resource Center, UW
  • Mark Calhoon, Washington State Department of Commerce
  • Mic Dinsmore, Individual Member
  • James K. Doane, Individual Member
  • Dick Dudley, Weyerhaeuser Company
  • Jim Fitzgerald, Individual Member
  • William Glassford, Individual member
  • Adam Goff, Russell Investments
  • Chris Helm, Davis Wright Tremaine
  • Hiroko Huntoon, Costco Wholesale
  • Toshihiro Kawachi, Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas)
  • Shinichiro Kawazoe, Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas)
  • Megumi Kobayashi, Individual Member
  • James R. Ladd, Individual Member
  • Don Lorentz, Individual member
  • Tomio Moriguchi, Uwajimaya
  • Dennis Okamoto, Individual member
  • Doug Palmer, Hillis Clark Martin & Peterson, P.S.
  • Andy Read, Deloitte & Touche LLP
  • Paul Rollins, Individual member
  • Linda Salomon, Gobo Enterprises
  • Sara Sandford, Garvey Schubert Barer
  • Tom Sasaki, ECORE Global
  • Samuel Shepherd, Individual member
  • Roger Williams, Individual member
  • Dennis Yamashita, Aon Corporation
  • Tay Yoshitani, Port of Seattle

** The Consul General of Japan at Seattle is automatically conferred director status without election or respect to term limit.
*** Any past chair/past president who is still an active member of the Society is automatically conferred director status without election or respect to term limit.  Any remaining past chair/past president may be conferred to Advisory Board status.


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