How many people do you know who have been awarded the prestigious “Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays” from the emperor of Japan?
It was zero for me until last week when I met Douglas Erber, the just hired executive director of the Sister Cities of Long Beach, the first since that organization started in 1963.
“This is a historic step for the Sister Cities,” said Richer San, chair of the Long Beach Sister Cities board. “Doug is the right leader for this moment and brings over 20 years of experience in building cross-cultural partnerships, engaging civic and business leaders and elevating international programs.”
In 1984, Douglas Erber poses with his host mother in Anjo, Japan during a Sister City student exchange program. (Photo courtesy of Douglas Erber)
In 2009, Douglas Erber speaks from the podium at the 100th anniversary event for the Japan American Society of Southern California. He served as president for 17 years. (Photo courtesy of Douglas Erber)
In 2019, Douglas Erber, wife Mieko, son Ryan and daughter Katherine pose with the famed Japanese race car driver Takuma Sato. Sato won the Indy 500 twice and is in the Long Beach Grand Prix Hall of Fame. (Photo courtesy of Douglas Erber)
In 2021, Douglas Erber received the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays medal from the Japanese consul general at a ceremony in Los Angeles. (Photo courtesy of Douglas Erber)
Douglas Erber, the newly named executive director of the Sister Cities of Long Beach. (Photo courtesy of Douglas Erber)
Show Caption
1 of 5
In 1984, Douglas Erber poses with his host mother in Anjo, Japan during a Sister City student exchange program. (Photo courtesy of Douglas Erber)
Susan Redfield, Sister Cities president, said, “We’re thrilled to welcome Doug. His track record will accelerate our work across all of our Sister Cities as we prepare to launch our ninth.”
Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson said Erber’s hiring will strengthen the city’s international ties and will open doors for cultural exchange, education and economic opportunity.
“His hiring marks an exciting new chapter in advancing the city’s role on the global stage, especially with the coming of the Olympics to Southern California in 2028,” Richardson said.
Mary Barton, a longtime Sister Cities supporter, said this was the right time for a leader with a professional background in the international arena.
“We can feel proud of what our volunteers have done, for sure,” she said. “But it’s a changing world, and it’s best to be savvy about how we approach it. When the Olympic athletes and their fans descend on Long Beach from around the world, it will be great to have our own cadre of seasoned ‘global citizens’ to greet these visitors.”
Since President Dwight Eisenhower founded the national Sister Cities program in the 1950s, its mission has been citizen diplomacy, Barton said. “It seems to me that the world needs that type of people-to-people relationship more than ever right now,” she said.
Erber, a Long Beach resident and former president and executive director of the Japan America Society of Southern California, said he was excited about working to increase international understanding, friendship and global cultural awareness in Long Beach.
“I’m passionate about building international partnerships and meaningful relationships among the citizens of Long Beach and citizens of Sister Cities,” he said.
Erber was born in Hollywood, but his family moved to Huntington Beach where he graduated from Huntington Beach High School.
He began working on developing his international skills at an early age. When he was 18, he applied for a student ambassador exchange program through the Sister Cities Association of Huntington Beach with the city of Anjo in Japan. Anjo is located near Nagoya and not too far from Yokkaichi, Long Beach’s first sister city.
“The people of Japan touched me,” Erbe told me. “I eventually learned to speak Japanese and taught English at middle schools in Anjo.”
Asked the greatest thing that happened to him since his first Sister City exchange in 1984, Erber quickly replied, “I met my wife, Mieko, through Sister Cities! She was born and raised in Anjo.”
Erber graduated from Cal State Long Beach and eventually began his long career with the Japan America Society of Southern California.
When the Great East Earthquake struck Japan in 2011, Erber and the Japan America Society launched a Japan Relief Fund to raise disaster funds for victims.
The quake and resulting Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant disaster resulted in more than 19,000 deaths. The epicenter of the 9.1-magnitude quake was 80 miles off Japan’s coast and resulted in tsunami waves that wiped out much of Japan’s Northeast coast.
In 2021 Erber was awarded Japan’s rare Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays, for his decades of contributions to cross-cultural understanding, social affairs and international goodwill.
The award, a beautiful medal, was to be presented in person by the Emperor of Japan, but because of travel restrictions brought about by COVID-19, Eber received the award in Los Angeles from Akira Muto, consul general of Japan in LA.
“It was the greatest honor in my life,” Erber said. “I consider Japan my second country. What I did there changed my life.”
Erber and his wife have two children: Ryan, a graduate of the Sato Academy of Mathematics and Science in Long Beach who is now at Stanford University, and Katherine, a student at the Sato Academy of Mathematics and Science.
Of all the public high schools in Long Beach, it seems fitting that the Erber children attended Sato Academy named after the Japanese-American Eunice Sato.
She served as mayor of Long Beach in the early 1980s when the job was rotated among the council members and before it became an elected position. Sato was the first female mayor of Long Beach. She passed in 2021 at the age of 99.
Erber said he is looking forward to finding ways to strengthen the Long Beach Sister Cities program.
“Fundraising will be one of my top jobs,” he said. “We can lift all the boats in the Sister Cities so they can all thrive together. Long Beach is a great global city, so diverse and culturally active. I love this opportunity.”
Here are the Long Beach Sister cities
Yokkaichi, Japan (the oldest, started in 1963)
Qingdao, China
Sochi, Russia
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Mombasa, Kenya
Taoyuan, Taiwan
Bacolod, Philippines
La Paz, Mexico.
Erber encourages donations to support Sister Cities of Long Beach by clicking online: sistercitiesoflongbeach.org