CJS Advisory Board

Irwin Lavenberg serves as Chair of the Center for Japanese Studies Advisory Board. His affinity for Japan and things Japanese comes from his 26 years in research and engineering for the Sony Corporation where he participated in Sony’s early research and development efforts into High Definition television systems. During the latter part of his career with Sony, he served as Sony’s advisor to The Japan Society of Northern California. Retiring from Sony in 2003, he is the owner and curator of The Lavenberg Collection of Japanese Prints and maintains the largest private non-commercial website for Japanese prints at  https://myjapanesehanga.com/  He is a graduate of Syracuse University and a proud participant in the Senior Adult Learning program at Portland State.

Gunnar Abramson was born and raised in the Portland area and Kodiak, Alaska, the son of a commercial fishing family. He has had an interest in Japan since early childhood. His interests run the gamut from military and religious histories to the history of aviation, small arms, and maritime technology. Gunnar has an MA in History from Portland State University where he concentrated on dissident religious groups among the Japanese diaspora in Hawaii and Brazil. He received a further MA in International Relations from the University of Washington where he focused on Japanese defense policy. Gunnar teaches for the Department of Economic and Community Development at Clark College in Vancouver, WA on a wide array of historical topics. His recent projects include the writing of both a history of the Japanese diaspora in his place of residence – the Columbia River Gorge – as well as an oral history of Japan’s military campaign in the Aleutian Islands during WWII. He is also part of an effort to publish an English-language translation of a pre-war manga by renowned early manga author and artist Suiho Tagawa.

Allan Bird (PhD, Oregon) is president of The Kozai Group, Inc. and Visiting Professor at the Goa Institute of Management in Goa, India.  He previously held the Darla and Frederick Brodsky Trustee Professorship in Global Business at Northeastern University’s D’Amore-McKim School of Business and the Ei’ichi Shibusawa-Seigo Arai Professorship in Japanese Studies at the University of Missouri, St. Louis.  He was a Fulbright Graduate Award recipient to Japan. In addition to obtaining his MA from Sophia University in Tokyo, he has had full-time or visiting appointments at Rikkyo University, the Sanno Institute of Management, Osaka International University, and the Japan Self Defense Academy. He is a former president of the Association of Japanese Business Studies. Allan has had a close relationship with Japan for more than 50 years and an interest in things Japanese for more than 60.  Beyond his ties with Japan, he is a Fellow of the Academy of International Business and has served as an honorary dean and on academic advisory boards in North America, Europe and Asia.

Mary Yoko Brannen is Professor Emerita from San Jose State University and Honorary Professor of International Business at the Copenhagen Business School having been awarded an honorary doctorate in 2016.  She is a Fellow of the Academy of International Business, Consulting Editor for the Journal of International Business Studies and currently sits on the International Advisory Boards of BI Norwegian Business School, Stockholm School of Economics, and the International House of Japan. She has taught at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, Smith College, San Jose State University and Stanford University in the United States; INSEAD in France, Keio Business School in Tokyo, Japan, and Fudan University in China. Born and raised in Japan, having studied in the US, France and Spain, and having worked as a cross-cultural consultant for over 30 years to various Fortune 100 companies she brings a multi-faceted, deep knowledge of today’s complex cultural business environment.  

Walter Edwards first journeyed to Japan in 1973, the start of a lifelong involvement with Japanese language and culture that has included nearly 40 years of residence in that country. After earning a Ph.D. in Anthropology from Cornell in 1984, he subsequently taught courses about Japan in both the U.S. and Japan, ultimately joining the faculty at Tenri University in Nara, where he was professor from 1993 to 2010. His research interests run the gamut from ancient to modern; the topics of his publications include contemporary wedding ceremonies, controversies involving the imperial tombs, and mysteries surrounding the ancient polity of Yamatai and its enigmatic ruler, Queen Himiko.

Doug Etzel has spent over 30 years working in enterprise software in Asia, including 18 years living and working in Japan. Doug served as President of the Asia region for leading software companies including Vignette, Netezza (acquired by IBM) and Veeva Systems (NYSE: VEEV). Doug is a native Oregonian with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Oregon State University and an M.B.A. from U.C. Berkeley. A chance trip to Osaka prior to his senior year at OSU got Doug interested in Japan. After graduating from OSU, he spent a year as an Engineer trainee with Seiko Epson in Nagano. Upon his return to Portland, Doug studied Japanese at PSU under Mari Noda while continuing to work at Epson. With help from Larry Kominz, Doug received a scholarship which allowed him to return to Japan, study at Waseda University for 1 year, and launch his career in software.  

Robert Innes retired to the Portland area in 2007 after a Foreign Service career that included nine years in the U.S. Embassy, Tokyo.  A Portland native, he received a B.A. from Oregon State, an M.A. in Asian Studies from Oregon, and a Ph.D. in Japanese and Southeast Asian history from Michigan.  He attended Waseda University's International Division as an undergraduate, and did dissertation research at Tokyo University's Historiographical Institute.  In the Army, he completed basic and advanced Vietnamese language courses before going to Vietnam in 1971-72. He has taught Modern East Asia and the History of Vietnam at PSU.

Tatsuo Ito was born and raised in Nagoya, Japan, and is a graduate of Nagoya University with a degree in Physics. He currently serves as Executive Vice President of SEH America, which is part of the largest producer of semiconductor silicon in the world, Shin-Etsu Handotai (SEH), and an integral part of the ShinEtsu group in Japan. Prior to coming to the US for the second time in 2004, Tatsuo served as plant manager in SEH Malaysia and in two Japan plants overseeing start-up of new production. He now travels to Japan multiple times a year on business, but enjoys living abroad, which affords him the enriching experience of fully embracing a different culture. He believes in celebrating the cultural diversity and camaraderie between the US and Japan.

Karen Wilde Goddin is the founding principal of Goddin Consulting, LLC, a trade consultancy that promotes global engagement, international education, and international trade partnerships.  Throughout her 30-year professional career, Karen served in senior executive roles in international trade in both the federal and state government. These endeavors include tenures with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration in Washington, DC and the State of Oregon’s economic agency, Business Oregon.  She also served as the Executive Director of the US-ASEAN Business Council, a trade and investment group based in DC, and as the Executive Director, Pacific NW International Trade Association (PNITA) in Portland, Oregon.  Karen has travelled extensively to Asia, including over 20 visits to Japan.

Leonard Lynn lived in Japan a total of about seven years, including stints as a Fulbright Fellow at Tokyo University and as Japanese Ministry of Education Visiting Professor at Hitotsubashi University. He is Professor Emeritus of International Management at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH, where he was Chair of the Department of Marketing and Policy Studies for twelve years. He is a past president of the Association of Japanese Business Studies and served on the American Advisory Committee of the Japan Foundation for eight years. He has written or co-written three books with a large Japanese content and several dozen research articles. In 2010 Leonard returned to Portland, where he was born and raised. He is currently involved in research projects funded by the National Bureau of Economic Research and Sloan foundation on the globalization of engineering.

Verne Naito is a vice president in Naito Corporation, a family owned and managed business.  He oversees property management, real estate investments, financial management, and new business development.  In its 92-year history, the company has been an importer, distributor, retailer, and real estate developer.  Mr. Naito’s father’s family immigrated to America in 1917.  His mother’s family immigrated in 1906 and farmed in the Los Angeles area until WWII.  Mr. Naito has held board and advisory board positions in numerous nonprofit and business organizations including: the Asian Pacific American Chamber of Commerce; the Harvard Business School Alumni Association of Oregon; the University of Portland, Center for Entrepreneurship; the Japanese American Citizens League Portland Chapter; and the Portland Japanese Garden Society.   Mr. Naito received his BA from Pomona College and MBA from Harvard Business School.

Kyoko Okuno was born and raised in a small town called Toyota City where Toyota Motor Corporation was founded.  During her early career, she worked at Japan Airlines then decided to study abroad at Lewis & Clark College.   She developed a simple desire to be able to eat delicious Japanese food even when she was overseas.  Her desire grew stronger as she spent more time outside of her home country.  Since then, for 40 years, she has been engaged in the food and beverage industry as well as the hospitality industry with her husband who shares the same passion. She has mainly worked in Seattle, Portland, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Gabe Rosen grew up a picky eater in a food-focused family in Des Moines, Iowa. In the late 1990’s, he moved to Portland to go to cooking school, and has more or less worked as a chef here ever since. In 2001 Gabe saw the opportunity to finish a B.A. that he had started as a teenager at the University of Iowa, and enrolled in classes at PSU, initially as a Linguistics major. Completely captivated by the quality and challenge that the Japanese Language program at PSU offered, he pursued further coursework in Japanese Studies that ultimately led him to research the history of Japanese Cuisine and then a Japanese Ministry of Education scholarship at Hokkaido University. Gabe has researched cuisine extensively in Japan, and was a founder of the pioneering Portland restaurants Biwa, Noraneko, and Giraffe. In recent years, he has turned his love of grocery shopping into a career as a merchandiser and culinary developer for Zupan’s Markets.

Laura Schlafly has a professional profile that includes: Account Executive Sales, Product Marketing and Management, Asian Advertising, Marketing Communications, Business Turn-around as CEO, and the development of her own businesses after moving to Portland. Her career consisted of technology corporations based in California and Washington, and the turnaround and successful sale of an industrial equipment business in Ohio. Laura’s long-standing desire to be geographically closer to an Asian community led her to move to Portland on 2002. She founded her own company, XL Concepts to become a media consultant and marketing professional specializing in reaching businesses and organizations that wanted to reach Asian customers. Presently she is an ESL teacher and a student of Asian History and Culture at Portland State University. Laura has traveled overseas primarily in Japan, China, India and Vietnam. 

Douglas J. Smith is responsible for international business development at the Port of Portland, the region’s driver of economic opportunity in transportation and logistics.  Prior to joining the Port, Doug spent 20 years in the engineering and construction industry leading site selection and construction management projects and serving in Executive Management as co-founder of an entrepreneurial firm focused on providing full-service support to Foreign Direct Investors (FDI) in the advanced materials, chemicals, food processing and renewable energy sectors.In addition to serving on the CJS advisory board, Doug also currently serves on the Board of Directors and as Treasurer of the Northwest China Council and is the immediate past-Chair of the Board of Directors of the Japan-America Society of Oregon and Southwest Washington (JASO). He has lived, worked and/or studied in both Europe and Asia.  He is a graduate of Cornell University with a concentration in International Economics.

Steve Vuylsteke is the President and CEO of SakeOne Corporation with headquarters in Forest Grove, Oregon.  SakeOne is America’s original craft sake brewer and a leading importer of fine Japanese to North America.  Having grown up in a pioneering Oregon wine family, Steve spent 28 years managing Oregon wineries and participating in the growth of the Oregon wine industry through leadership roles in Oregon wine and tourism associations.  In 2009 he transitioned to SakeOne and now champions Japan’s most famous beverage through sake education and promotion, and enjoys frequent travel to various sake producing prefectures in Japan.

Chieko Yoshihara, RPh, was born and raised in Toyota City, Japan. After graduating from University of Tokyo with MS in Pharmaceutical Sciences, she worked for Daiwa Institute of Research and Janssen Pharmaceutical in Japan, then moved to Portland. She transferred her pharmacist license to the US and currently works as a pharmacist for Multnomah County Health Department. Outside of work, she is a Master Recycler, teaching 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) and a community scientist for Bird Alliance of Oregon (formerly Portland Audubon). She also sings in Choir, plays the Piano, hikes and gardens. She writes her eco-conscious life on her blog (https://oregonecolife.com/).

Theresa Yoshioka serves as an International Trade Manager for the Oregon Department of Agriculture's Marketing & Development Program.  In this role, she assists Oregon’s food and agricultural companies in understanding and marketing their products to international markets, especially in Asia. In her career, Theresa has worked in small start-up companies and global corporations in various marketing roles. Theresa has lived, worked and studied in Japan. Originally from Oregon, Theresa is a graduate of Oregon State University with a concentration in International Marketing and a minor in Japanese.

Rex Ziak is co-founder and President of OBON SOCIETY.  He, along his wife Keiko, created this non-profit in 2009 in order to return the remains of missing Japanese servicemen to their brothers, sisters, sons and daughters in Japan. Headquartered in Astoria, their humanitarian work attracts requests from museums, universities, veteran groups and individuals from across America and around the world. Rex’s research into Lewis and Clark led to the creation of a new National Park. He has personally saved more ancient rainforest than any group or individual. He worked as an international documentary photographer / cinematographer and performed extensive documentation in cultural anthropology among indigenous people of Latin America. Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs awarded OBON SOCIETY for their contribution to improving international relations. Rex is an Emmy Award winning cinematographer, three-time distinguished historian for the Oregon Historical Society and recipient of the David Douglas Award by the Washington State Historical SOCIETY.

John Cheney, Fujimi Corporation

Anne Miller, Fujimi Corporation

Katsu Seki, Sho Restaurant