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Board Members
Board Members
- Carolyn A. Berry
- John Anderson
- Michael Christ
- Jill Friedman
- Masataka Hata
- Ron Herman
- John Jay
- Yuichi and Amy Katoh
- Joe Krakora
- Toshiaki Kuno
- Larry Murakami
- Shiro Nakane
- Koichi and Mihoko Nezu
- Akira (Cap) Saheki
- Arlene Schnitzer
- Holly Shimizu
- Robert Singer
- Makoto Suzuki
- Takashi Uyeno
Board Chair
Carolyn A. Berry
Chairman, International Advisory Board
Carolyn A. Berry has been a lifelong volunteer. While living in Parkersburg, West Virginia, she organized a junior women’s club, eventually holding every chair office from President to State Chairman of Dental and Mental Health; she served on the Board of the League of Women Voters and Board of the Art Academy of Parkersburg, became President of the PTA, a Boy Scout and Girl Scout leader and the only female coach for a boy’s Little League team. She has been president of the Welcome Wagon in two towns and a hospital volunteer in Ottawa, Illinois. She’s tutored students in grade school, taught piano lessons, and volunteered in the job placement office at a high school.
Carolyn is passionate about education and helping others succeed. She organized graduate and undergraduate scholarships in men’s basketball at the University of Hawaii and became a member of the University of Hawaii Founders Club after donating a million dollars for that scholarship program. The program is jointly named for her father and husband: the Withrow/Berry Scholarship Fund. The Tressa Lee Withrow/Elizabeth Susan Berry Scholarship, awarded to the Miss Hawaii Contest, is named for her mother and mother-in-law. The first scholarship awarded to Miss Hawaii was to the young woman who became Miss America that year. In 2007, she awarded scholarships to 15 graduates from South Charleston High School and was given a key to the city by the Mayor.
Carolyn has also served in the corporate world. She was the only female member of the board of Corcom; she was president and CEO of Process Electronics Corporation; and she was a surviving partner of Omicron Capital Corporation.
For the last 10 years, Carolyn has served periodically on the board of the Honolulu Symphony, offering service on the Board of Governors, the Finance Committee, the Executive Committee, and the Foundation Board. In 2001 she became chairman of the board of the symphony and, under her guidance, “and with a lot of luck,” the symphony was able to balance the budget, pay off the debt, bring the annual fund to its goal, and renew the musicians’ contract. She has helped the symphony complete several successful fund-raising challenges, and she and her husband, the late Dr. George B. Berry, Jr., have been honored to have Conductor Samuel Wong’s Chair named for them. Carolyn also serves on the board of the Hawaii Youth Symphony.
Carolyn is also an artist. Her paintings hang in business offices in China, Florida, and Michigan as well as in the home of many friends. She is also interested in architectural design and designed the home she lives in and two others that are currently being built. She is a member of the Honolulu Art Academy Fellows.
Board Members
John Anderson
Partner, Spring Creek Partners
John R. Anderson, a partner of Spring Creek Partners, has been in the venture capital industry since 1968 when he started his own firm. He is the senior partner of Anderson Enterprises, the Anderson family holding company and has been active in the acquisition and management of small to medium-sized businesses. He is the third generation in his business, originally started by his grandfather in 1915. In 1968, he started a pharmaceutical packaging company, Anderson Packaging, Inc., which became one of the premier companies in its industry. He is also the senior partner in Spring Creek Development Group, investing and developing real estate in and around the Rockford, Illinois area.
Since 1978, he has been developing a Japanese garden with Hoichi Kurisu, who lives in Portland, Oregon. The garden, adjacent to the Anderson home and office, became open to the public a few years later. Anderson Japanese Gardens is now considered one of the top gardens of this landscape style in the United States. The offices of Spring Creek Partners are located at the Garden.
Mr. Anderson graduated from the University of Wisconsin, at Madison, Wisconsin, in 1966. He was a member of the Young Presidents Organization and is now a member of the Chief Executives Organization. He and his wife, Linda, who were married in 1968, have four children. They are lifelong residents of Rockford, Illinois and Geneva Lake, Wisconsin, where they spend their summers. Mr. Anderson is actively involved in various community and business organizations in both Rockford and the Geneva Lake Area. He enjoys competitive sailing, downhill skiing, tennis, gardening, and traveling.
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Michael Christ
President, Tiffany’s Japan
Michael Christ recently retired from Tiffany & Co. His most recent role was as President of Tiffany Japan, a position he held for 5 years. His 15 year career with Tiffany included responsibility as the Group Vice President of US Retail with direct responsibility for all aspects of retail sales and operations for US and Canada based Tiffany & Co. stores.
Christ was in the luxury retail industry for over thirty years. Before joining Tiffany & Co. in 1995, he held positions with Federated Stores, Inc., including that of Vice President of Bloomingdale’s. Prior to that, he served as Vice President of Selling Services for all divisions of Federated Stores. In 1997, Christ was promoted to Vice President of the Central Region for Tiffany & Co., in 2000 he was promoted to Group Vice President for US Retail Stores.
Christ has been an active member of the Chicago community and a strong civic leader. He is past president of the Greater North Michigan Avenue Association and past Chairman of the Board of the School of the Art Institute. Christ was Vice President of the Chicago Committee for UNICEF. In addition he served on the boards of the Better Business Bureau, the Michigan Avenue Streetscape Association, the Lawson House Y.M.C.A., and the Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau. Mr. Christ has chaired many Chicago civic and charitable events, including those for Urban Gateways, the Joffrey Ballet, Illinois Eye Bank, Chicago Pow Wow, Greater North Michigan Avenue Association and Chicago House.
Christ attended the University of Notre Dame where he received a bachelor of business administration degree in finance and business economics. Following 5 years living in Tokyo Japan, Christ has set up a residence in Chicago.
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Jill Friedman
Jill, a resident of Honolulu, Hawaii, has had a keen interest in supporting the arts in her community and abroad—The Honolulu Academy of Arts and the Hawaii Opera Theatre in Honolulu, as well as having organized concerts that showcase young American musicians in cities in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines. An avid amateur gardener Jill Friedman appreciates all natural and manicured landscapes around the world. She believes in letting Nature lead the way to a more peaceful and successful life.
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Ron Herman
Landscape Architect
Landscape architect Ron Herman is responsible for designing many of North America’s largest and most intricate private gardens. He has created more than four hundred full-scale garden designs in his thirty-five plus year career in landscape architecture. Currently he is engaged in the 25-acre Japanese-style village of California software billionaire Lawrence Ellison, as well as several large estates throughout the country.
The son of a Southern California nurseryman, Ron attended North Hollywood High School and worked with his father in developing gardens for many Hollywood personalities, including Steven Allen, Phil Silvers and Jayne Mansfield. Later, at the University of California at Berkeley, he studied under noted designers Garret Eckbo and Lawrence Halprin, founders of the philosophy of landscape design that came to be known as California Style. “It was an exciting time to be at Berkeley,” says Ron. “I was inspired by the passions of public speakers, and the many new, emerging forms of expression in the arts, such as dance and film. I learned to look outside of gardens and into other art forms as a source of inspiration.”
Upon earning a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from UC Berkeley, he began pursuing projects as a design associate with Robert Herrick Carter in Los Angeles. Ron worked on such significant projects as the Century City Hotel, the Hunt Foods Headquarters and the Union Oil Headquarters. One year later, at age 22, he opened his own design office in Los Angeles. At age twenty-four, with a promising landscape design practice established, Ron decided to pursue graduate studies in Japan. “The three years of graduate work at the University of Kyoto during the 1960’s changed my direction completely. I had seen pictures of Japanese gardens and thought they were precious. Studying them firsthand opened me up to the dynamics of the Japanese form, the interplay between the formal and the informal.” Ron realized the study of historical gardens would provide the foundation necessary to mature as a designer. The experience led to a lifelong study of Japanese design. His success at the University of Kyoto led to a teaching position as Visiting Lecturer at the University of California at Berkeley. Ron taught all areas of landscape architecture, including Japanese garden history, for twenty years, while working in his design practice. He left academia in 1988 to again concentrate on residential design. He has also travelled widely in Europe to study historic and current landscapes.
The Japanese approach to garden design deeply influenced Ron. His approach to design involves manipulating space and perspective to create a feeling of expansiveness. The garden unfolds as one moves through it. Through sequencing and layering, the landscape will appear to be larger than it actually is. “I shape it and manipulate it to create a tension between the formal and informal elements of the garden.” Ron believes that two qualities, sequence and spatiality, set his work apart from others creating large-scale landscapes. “I don’t really have a signature style. I approach each job as a totally new concept, and try to fulfill the potential. However, in my work you will always see that I break down the garden into different areas, a hierarchy of spaces. You will see scenes unfold, as in a drama. When you look back through the garden, new complexities will show that weren’t apparent at first. I rarely reveal the whole garden at once.” He has kept close ties to Japan, visiting frequently on several research grants and maintaining fluency in the language. Ron has authored numerous papers on Japanese garden design and co-authored A Guide to the Gardens of Kyoto, which is often noted as an authoritative text on Kyoto’s historic landscapes.
Today Ron’s firm, with a staff of ten, is engaged in planning and implementing thirty-six gardens across the country, reflecting a total construction cost of more than $500 million. These include Washington D.C.’s National Gallery East Wing, Oracle Corporation’s Northern California Campus and many private residences. In addition to the Ellison estate, Ron has worked on residential projects for Joe Montana, Neil Young and numerous other sports, entertainment and high-tech personalities. In the area of public landscapes, he completed the Oracle Corporation World Headquarters in Redwood City, CA, and has recently designed the East Wing garden at the National Gallery in Washington D.C. Although famed for his mastery of the Japanese form, the current projects employ a broad range of style and invention.
Ron’s work has been featured prominently in the national media, including The New York Times, House and Garden, Architectural Digest, Sunset Magazine, San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times, San Jose Mercury News, Le Point (France), The Sunday Telegraph (London), the Oprah Winfrey Show, (Millennium Mansions, aired 5/3/99, featuring Lawrence Ellison’s San Francisco residence) Elle Decor, Elle Decoration (France) German Architectural Digest, and in several books on gardens including New American Garden, (Watson-Guptill), Pocket Garden(Morrow) and New Classic Gardens (Quadrille).
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John Jay
Global Executive Creative Director / Partner, Wieden + Kennedy Portland
Jay opened the W+K Tokyo office and lived in Japan for 6 years from 1998 to 2004 as Executive Creative Director / Partner of the office. He launched the W+K Tokyo Lab, the independent music label which recently released its 12 album on CD/DVD.
He later opened the W+K Shanghai office in 2006 and assisted in the development of agency’s newest office, W+K New Delhi in 2008.
Jay also oversees Studio J, his personal creative space in Portland’s old Chinatown neighborhood. Studio J works with the Ace Hotel on special product development and projects including the co-editing and creative directing of the January 2010 issue of Arkitip, the arts and culture magazine. Studio J also opened PING, picked by GQ magazine in 2010 as one of America’s Top Ten new restaurants in America. Jay also curated “The Jelly Generation” exhibition featuring artists, designers, photographers and musicians born in the post 80′s generation in China a the Goldsmith Gallery in Portland.
He writes regularly on creativity and culture for various magazines and websites in Japan, China and the U.S. Including The New York Times style magazine blog, themomentblogs@nyt.com
Prior to moving to Portland for Wieden + Kennedy, Jay served 12 years as Creative Director and then Marketing Director for Bloomingdale’s In NYC. He was once named by I.D. magazine as one of “40 Most Influential” in design, one of “80 Influential’s in Photography” by American photographer magazine and his book, Soul of the Game was named in 1997 as one of “14 most beautiful books in the world” by the Copenhagen Museum and received the Gold Medal for the Leipzig Book Fair.
He founded the Jay Scholarship at The Ohio State University to encourage students of Asian descent to pursue a study or career in the arts. John C. Jay also serves on the board of directors of Caldera.
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Joe Krakora
Executive Officer, National Gallery of Art
| Currently: | Executive Officer, External and International Affairs, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC |
| 1982–1985 | Special Advisor, The President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, Washington, DC |
| 1980–1982 | General Director, The Chicago City Ballet, Chicago, IL |
| 1976–1980 | Executive Vice President and Director of New Programs and Media Production, The Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center, Waterford, CT and New York, NY |
| 1974–1976 | Director, Dance Program, The National Endowment for the Arts, Washington, DC |
| 1969–1974 | Executive Vice President, The City Center Joffrey Ballet, New York, NY |
| 1967–1969 | Associate Director of Strategic Advancement, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, New York, NY |
| 1961–1964 | Resident Director and Designer, Pit and Balcony Theatre, Saginaw, MI |
Executive Producer: |
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| Films/Television: | The Dance Masters Television Series, 1979 Cabaret Television Series, 1979 O’Neill: The Man and the Mask, Television Series, 1979 Reflections: The Story of the Exhibition Treasure Houses of Britain, 1985 Treasure Houses of Britain Series, 1985 Matisse in Nice, 1986 Light of the Gods, 1988 Collecting America: Folk art and the Shelburne Museum, 1988 Daimyo, 1988 Paul Gauguin: The Savage Dream, 1988 Feast of the Gods, 1990 Suleyman the Magnificent, 1987 Art of Indonesia: Tales from the Shadow World, 1990 Voices in Celebration, 1991 Masters of Illusion, 1991 Ginevra’s Story, 1999 Vermeer: Master of Light, 2001 Trinity, 2001 Empire of the Eye: The Magic of Illusion, 2003 Paul Mellon: In His Own Words, 2007 |
| CD-Roms: | Vermeer, CD-Rom Bellini, CD-Rom |
| Festivals/Performances: | Tish Brown Dance Festival, 1991 Noh Theatre, National Gallery of Art Washington D.C., 1988 Edo Festival, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Winter 1998–1999 Sculpture Garden Jazz Festival, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., May 1999 China Festival, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Winter 1999–2000 |
Director: |
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| Vermeer: Master of Light, 2001 Emmy nomination for Director Emmy winner for Special Effects Trinity, 2001 Empire of the Eye: The Magic of Illusion, 2003 Paul Mellon: In His Own Words, 2007 Emmy winner for Director |
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Previous Affiliations: |
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| Artistic Director: | O’Neill Choreographers Conference O’Neill Composer/Librettist Conference |
| Executive Editor: | Design for Arts in Education |
| Consultant: | National Endowment for the Arts National Endowment for the Humanities Martha Graham Dance Company Circle in the Square Theatre Connecticut Commission on the Arts Foundation for the Extension and Development of American Professional Theatre New York State Council on the Arts Alliance of Independent Colleges of Art Creative Artists Network |
| Trustee: | Bennington College Alliance of Independent Colleges of Art Cultural Policy Institute Association of Professional Schools in the Performing Arts Management Shelburne Museum Maryland Institute College of Art American Friends of the State Hermitage Museum, Inc. |
| Member: | Joint Commission on Dance and Theatre Accreditation Advisory Committee, National Fellowships in Performing Arts Management Advisory Committee, National Survey on Giving and Volunteering, Independent Sector Chicago International Theatre Festival Committee, National Steering Committee for Issues in the Arts, American Council for the Arts Committee for Cultural Property, USIA |
| Advisor: | American Center in London Washington Dance Exchange Historic Georgetown Foundation Getty/Metropolitan Museum of Art on Film Program |
| Co-Founder: | Fund for New American Plays |
| Co-Founder, Director: | National Corporate Fund for Dance |
Education: |
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| 1964–1967 | Graduate student at Union Theological Seminary specializing in religious drama |
| 1961 | B.A. Theatre Arts, Denison University |
Toshiaki Kuno
Chairman, President & CEO, Tokyo Recycling Corp.
Toshiaki Kuno, one of the pioneers in the industry of Japan’s waste management, is the founder, Chairman and CEO of Mimasu Corporation located in Ibaraki, Japan. Mr. Kuno established Mimasu Corporation in 1977 and the company has grown to acquiring and operating intermediary and final disposition plants in the Northern Kanto area. Besides Mr. Kuno’s operations at Mimasu Corporation, he has established Sankyu Corporation, specializing in intermediary disposition plants and serves as advisor to several companies in waste management.
Mr. Kuno received his Bachelor of Economics, College of Commercial Science from the Komazawa University.
Mr. Kuno enjoys playing golf and reading on his spare time.
Larry Murakami
General Manager, Trader Vic’s at Hotel New Otani Tokyo
Larry Murakami, a 30 year resident of Tokyo, has spent 21 years in management at the Hotel New Otani. The hotel, located in the heart of Tokyo, features a stunning Japanese garden that attracts visitors and guests year-round. Born and raised in San Diego, California, Murakami is the general manager of Trader Vic’s of San Francisco American restaurant, now celebrating 37 years of hospitality at the New Otani.
Murakami received his Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from UCLA. He is passionate about his work and serving Trader Vics’ famous cuisine to locals and foreign guests.
Akira (Cap) Saheki
Chairman, International Association of Japanese Gardens
A resident in Portland since 1956. The last position held with a Japanese trading company was the General Manager of Portland Branch, for whom worked from 1945 through 1971. Joined with Fibrex & Shipping Co., Inc. as Executive Vice President in 1971, and became the president of Fibrex & Shipping Co., Inc. in 1978. He naturalized in 1987.
Fibrex & Shipping Co., engaged in the trading of forest products of logs and lumber including wood chips in domestic and export market.
Japanese Garden Activities
Joined Japanese Garden of Oregon in 1982 and elected a board member in 1985. He was elected as President in 1995 and the chairman of the board in 1997. Resigned the Chairman of Board and the Board member in 1998.
He formed the International Association of Japanese Gardens, Inc. in 1991 and became the president and he maintains the same position up to the present. The object of this organization is to encourage and promote Japanese gardens and inter-cultural communications by celebrating and studying of Japanese gardens throughout the World. Symposium in Portland in 1995.
Other Activities
- Japan America Society of Oregon. Serving as a Board Member since 1962
- Rotary Club of Portland, holding perfect attendance record since 1980
- Other various Japan related organizations including Sapporo Portland Sister City Association.
- Japan Emperor decorated him with Order of The Rising Sun in 1996 for his contribution to Japan/US relations in cultural and economic fields.
Arlene Schnitzer
No individual personifies the Portland arts community more than Arlene Schnitzer. A native Oregonian, Schnitzer was the founder and director of the legendary Fountain Gallery of Art from 1961 until 1987. Through the Foundation Gallery, Schnitzer pioneered a nationwide appreciation for art produced in the Pacific Northwest, while simultaneously supporting regional artists and developing a commercial and critical market for their work. In the process, Schnitzer and her husband, Harold, amassed a major collection of Pacific Northwest art, much of which is destined for the permanent collection of the Portland Art Museum.
Schnitzer has been a consistent supporter of the arts. In addition to her former trusteeship of the Portland Art Museum and Reed College, she was an early supporter and board member of the Portland Center for the Visual Arts during its life as an influential cutting-edge arts venue. She served on the board of the Oregon Symphony and is perhaps most popularly recognized as the woman whose name graces the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, affectionately known to Portlanders as “The Schnitz.” The city of Portland recognized the Schnitzers’ major gift toward the Portland Center of the Performing Arts by naming the concert hall in her honor.
Schnitzer has received many public service awards, among them the Distinguished Service Award from both the University of Oregon and Western Oregon State College and an Doctorate in Humane Letters from Portland State University. She was given the Aubrey R. Watzek Award from Lewis & Clark College and an honorary bachelor of fine arts degree from the Pacific Northwest College of Art. Schnitzer and her husband were honored with the prestigious Portland First Citizen Award in 1995.
Schnitzer has also been in the public eye for decades as a tireless advocate for social causes. From 1968 through 1980, Schnitzer produced public service television programming as well as hosted her own program on public broadcasting, taking pride in focusing on controversial social concerns such as homosexuality, child abuse, abortion rights, and the death penalty – issues that were not widely discussed at the time.
Through the efforts of the Harold & Arlene Schnitzer CARE Foundation, Schnitzer has remained involved in the Northwest Academy, Oregon Health & Science University Foundation and the Center for Women’s Health at OHSU, and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Portland, among many other organizations.
Written by Linda Tessner, Director & Curator of Ronna & Eric Hoffman Gallery of Contemporary Art at Lewis & Clark College.
Holly Shimizu
President, United States Botanic Garden
Ms. Shimizu received her Associate of Science degree in Horticulture and Landscape Design from Temple University, a Bachelor of Science degree in Horticulture from Pennsylvania State University, and her Master of Science degree in Horticulture from the University of Maryland. In April 2009 she received an honorary Doctor of Science Degree from Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland.
Prior to assuming her current position, Ms. Shimizu was the Managing Director of the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Richmond, Virginia. She previously served as Assistant Executive Director of the U.S. Botanic Garden, as well as having worked at the U.S. National Arboretum, where she was Curator of the National Herb Garden. Ms. Shimizu has also worked in public gardens in England, Germany, Belgium, France, and Holland and has led plant tours in many parts of the world.
Since returning as Executive Director of the US Botanic Garden (USBG) in November 2000 she has led the Garden in many new and exciting directions. The Garden was recently accredited by the American Association of Museums and has received numerous awards. With a staff of 66, Ms. Shimizu strives to ensure that the USBG is continually improving and serving the American people in the way that George Washington envisioned in 1796. Under her leadership the garden has experienced a renaissance with opening of the National Garden in 2006, the published history titled, A Botanic Garden for the Nation, and continued creation of innovative exhibitions and inspiring gardens. The U.S. Botanic Garden has gained national recognition for work in sustainability, plant conservation, hosting the American Public Gardens Association exhibits and national meeting in 2007, One Planet, Ours! in 2008, as well as its national partnerships with botanical institutions.
Ms. Shimizu is well known through her work as one of the hosts of “The Victory Garden,” a gardening show broadcast on public television stations internationally. In addition, she can often be heard on National Public Radio and has written and lectured extensively in her field. Her awards include: The American Horticultural Society, Professional Award in 2008, The Architect of the Capitol Honor Award in 2007, National Garden Clubs, Inc., Award of Excellence in 2007, The Garden Club of America, Honorary Member in 2005, The Architect of the Capitol’s Award for Leadership in 2004, Temple University, Outstanding Alumna Award in 2004, Germantown Academy, Outstanding Alumna Award in 2003, American Horticultural Society, Distinguished Lecturer Award in 1997, International Herb Association, Otto Richter Award for Outstanding Educator in 1996, The Herb Society of America Award for Outstanding Achievement in Horticulture in 1986, and Pi Alpha Zi Horticulture Honor Society in 1976.
Ms. Shimizu currently serves on the Board of Botanic Gardens Conservation International, U.S., based at the Chicago Botanic Garden. She is an Advisory Committee Member for Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, and on the Advisory Committee of the American Botanical Council, Austin Texas, as well as a Board Member of the American Horticultural Society, Alexandria, Virginia.
In addition she has served as Director at Large for the American Public Gardens Association, as a panel reviewer for the National Academy of Sciences: U.S. Agency for International Development, Bureau for Economic Growth, Agriculture, and Trade, as Honorary President of the Herb Society of America, and National Chairman of Botany and Horticulture. She has also been an International and National flower show judge.
Ms. Shimizu resides just outside DC in Maryland with her husband Osamu, who is a Garden Designer, and their dog Petey. Both of their children are now seasoned gardeners.
Robert Singer
Curator, Japanese Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Robert T. Singer has been Curator of Japanese Art at LACMA since 1988. He oversees 14 annual rotating exhibitions of paintings, prints, ceramics, and netsuke in the museum’s Pavilion for Japanese Art. His exhibitions at LACMA include Treasured Miniatures (1994), Hirado Porcelain of Japan from the Kurtzman Collection (1997), Van Gogh and the Japanese Print (1998), The Max Palevsky Collection of Japanese Woodblock Prints (2001), Munakata Shikō: Japanese Master of the Modern Print (2002), and Kamisaka Sekka (2004). For the National Gallery of Art in Washington, in 1998 he organized and curated the extraordinary exhibition Edo: Art in Japan, 1615–1868, which drew 251,144 visitors. He has published and lectured widely in English and Japanese for over 30 years. He is currently working on an exhibition of Zen painting and calligraphy which will open at LACMA in May of 2011. Rob Singer is the only non-Japanese to serve on the Board of Trustees of any Japanese museum, and he serves on two of them: the Namikawa Cloisonne Museum of Kyoto and the Nomura Museum of Kyoto. His current project is coordinating the gift to the museum of the Gerber Collection of Japanese Cloisonne, 220 objects, the best of its kind in the world. In the last three years LACMA has been by far the most active museum in the world in the acquisition of Japanese art in all areas: sculpture, painting, archaeology, calligraphy, lacquer, ceramics, and cloisonné.
Makoto Suzuki
Chairman, Landscape Architecture, Tokyo University of Agriculture
Professor, Dr. Suzuki teaches at the Department of Landscape Architecture Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture (also known as NODAI), and his research interests include the history of modern landscape architecture, the critical examination of modern garden design and the Japanese gardens outside of Japan. His current subjects of teaching are History of Landscape Architecture, Garden Design, and Works of Landscape Architects.
His books and articles include the following: Genealogy of the Japanese Garden Outside of Japan (2007), East meets West: World Wide Influence of Japanese Gardens (2006), New Rocks, New Water: Transforming the Japanese Garden (2006), Karesansui as a Vocabulary of Modern Landscape Design (Art and Landscape, 2001), The Conception of Territorial Gardens (2000), Genealogy of Modern Japanese Garden Design (1998), Civic Landscape (1997), and The Image and View of Japanese Gardens in the Minds of Westerners (1997).
He is currently chairing a committee with the Japanese Institute of Landscape Architecture on “Japanese Gardens outside of Japan”. He was a former visiting scholar at the Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning, University of California, Berkeley 1999-2000 and a visiting professor at Ball State University in 2002. His memberships include JILA, ICOMOS, and IFLA.