Toshizo Watanabe
David Ige
Ford Fujii
Glenn Kaino
The Japanese American National Museum (JANM) announces four new members to its Board of Trustees and Board of Governors.
Ford Fujii joined the JANM Board of Trustees and Glenn Kaino, David Ige, and Toshizo “Tom” Watanabe joined the JANM Board of Governors.
“Our new board members bring a wealth of innovation, artistry, vision, and entrepreneurship to JANM’s leadership,” said William T. Fujioka, chair of the Board of Trustees. “We greatly appreciate their commitment and dedication to supporting JANM’s mission. We look forward to working with them to tell the full story of the Japanese American community — both its struggles and triumphs — and honor the legacy of generations who came before us.”
Ford Fujii is a fourth-generation Japanese American originally from Honolulu. He spent his career with IBM in Northern and Southern California, where he worked in business development and managed global marketing and sales organizations for large Fortune 500 companies in the U.S. and Japan.
After retiring in 2015, he helped launch a medical technology startup that developed a new way to diagnose pulmonary hypertension. Since 2023, he has been an active JANM volunteer and Legacy Society member. He received his BS in Biomedical and Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California. He and his wife, Mari, reside in Irvine.
Glenn Kaino is an acclaimed contemporary artist whose practice spans across sculpture, painting, filmmaking, performance, installation, and large-scale public work. An Emmy and Webby award-winning producer and documentarian, his films have been featured at the Tribeca Film Festival and SXSW.
Kaino’s work is included in the collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Orange County Museum of Art, Hammer Museum, and Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego. His critically acclaimed virtual reality work, “Aki’s Market,” was commissioned by JANM in 2023.
David Ige served as the eighth governor of Hawaii from Dec. 1, 2014 through Dec. 5, 2022. He was the first governor of Okinawan descent in the U.S. He led Hawaii through the COVID-19 pandemic and worked to enhance the relationship between Japan and Hawaii.
In 2016 he welcomed then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for a historic meeting with President Barack Obama at Pearl Harbor. He also added two new sister-state agreements with Hokkaido and Yamaguchi prefectures, expanded sister-school relations throughout Japan and Hawaii, and initiated the first two sister-library agreements.
In 2023 the government of Japan awarded him with the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star for promoting regional exchanges and mutual understanding between Japan and the U.S.
Toshizo “Tom” Watanabe is the president of the Toshizo Watanabe Foundation, chair emeritus and former president and CEO of Nikken Global, an international home wellness products company. He also serves as the chairman of the Toshizo Watanabe Foundation and is a board member of the University of Iceland.
In 2023, he was honored with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Commendation Award in recognition of his efforts to foster mutual understanding between the U.S. and Japan and to promote the preservation of Japanese culture.
The Toshizo Watanabe Democracy Fellowship is a signature initiative of the Daniel K. Inouye Center for the Preservation of Democracy at JANM and is generously supported by his contributions.
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