FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 14, 2008
CONTACT: Dana Lewis
(415) 986-4383,
dlewis@usajapan.org
Japan Society Elects New Chairman
SEPTEMBER 14, 210, SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA: Japan
Society Appoints Steve
Matsuura Chairman of the Board
Isao “Steve” Matsuura is the new Chairman of the Board of Directors of the
Japan Society of Northern California (JSNC), the public affairs non-profit founded
in San Francisco in 1905.
Matsuura, Chairman and Founder of consulting firm MIK International,
succeeded David Lyon, Founding President Emeritus of the Public Policy
Institute of Northern California. He is the first postwar Japanese national to chair
the JSNC, the second oldest Japan-America society in North America and the
first on the West Coast.
Matsuura has spent his career in international banking, having been stationed in
London, New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. He was previously
Chairman and CEO of the then Sanwa Bank California and the then United
California Bank. Since United California’s merger with Bank of the West, he has
continued to serve as a Bank of the West Director and Senior Advisor. He has
been a Visiting Professor of Law at Osaka University in Japan since 1999, and
founded MIK International in 2007. A former Chairman of the Japanese
Chamber of Commerce of Northern California, he currently serves as Co-Chair of
the Kanrin-Maru 150th Anniversary Celebration Committee, and is a trustee of the
Asian Art Museum.
Matsuura, who has served previously as JSNC Co-Vice-Chair and Finance
Committee Chair, assumed the chairmanship effective July 1. His cabinet
includes: William Fuller, Asia Foundation President Emeritus, Co-Vice-Chair;
George Hayashi, CEO (retired) Mitsui O.S.K. Lines America, Co-Vice-Chair;
Terry Marsh, Quantal International President and CEO, Treasurer; Dr. Barbara
Bundy, Founding Executive Director Emerita of the University of San Francisco
Center for the Pacific Rim, Secretary; and Dana Lewis, Japan Society President.
Under Matsuura’s leadership, the Society is placing a special emphasis on
exploring the new, emerging role of the US-Japan relationship in a transforming
Asia, under the new vision statement: “Promoting US-Japan relations in a
changing world.”
Two new Directors have also been elected to the JSNC Board of Directors at its
September 9 Board Meeting, the first chaired by Matsuura: Mr. Masashi Oka,
President and CEO of Union Bank; and Mr. Masaki Yokai, General Manager ,
Northwest Region, USA, for All Nippon Airways Co.
JSNC is a 501(c) 3 educational non-profit, founded in 1905 to combat
misunderstandings about Japan during the period of early Japanese immigration
at the turn of the century. With only a short hiatus during World War Two, the
Society has dedicated itself to promoting US-Japan friendship and understanding
for 105 years. It currently organizes public lectures, international conferences,
networking events, and Japanese language classes around the Bay Area.
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Press Availability: Steve Matsuura is available for interviews. Please contact the Japan Society to
schedule an appointment.