By The North American Post Staff
Seattle City Council President Bruce Harrell will be the Seattle representative for the 2016 Japanese American Leadership Delegation (JALD) visiting Japan in March. The group will meet Japanese leaders in business, government, academic, non-profit and cultural sectors for mutual understanding and to help the Japanese to learn about the multicultural society of the United States through the experiences of Japanese Americans around the country.
The delegates this year will meet in Los Angeles at the end of this month for a pre-trip orientation and visit Tokyo and Kobe from March 5 to 12. Beside Harrell, the delegation will include:
•Bruce E. Hollywood – Fellow, White House Leadership Development Program (Washington, DC)
•Eric Shintaro Hiraga – Executive Vice President, Chief of Staff, Denver International Airport (Denver, CO)
•Stan Masamitsu – President, Tony Group (Honolulu, HI)
•Kiyo Matsumoto – United States District Judge, United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn, NY)
•Monte Del Mar (Noda) Mesa – General Manager, Guam Premier Outlets (Tamuning, Guam)
•Eric Nakajima – Director, Massachusetts Broadband Institute (Amherst, MA)
•Darren T. Nakata – Attorney-at-Law, Perkins Coie LLP (Portland, OR)
•Mark Yokoyama – Chief of Police, Alhambra Police Department (Alhambra, CA)
•Tasha A. Yorozu – Managing Attorney, Yorozu Law Group (San Francisco, CA)
The program is sponsored by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was initiated by the U.S.-Japan Council. Since 2000, 176 delegates have participated in the program to date.
Former participants from the Seattle area include: the late Kip Tokuda, Ron Mamiya, Lori Matsukawa, Sharon Tomiko Santos, Harold Taniguchi, Tom Ikeda, Elaine Ikoma Ko, Jill Nishi, John Okamoto, Phyllis Campbell, Mark Mitsui, Kelly Ogilvie, Brad Miyake and Lynn Hashimoto.
