WORK EXPERIENCE
Arts Management
Founder and Executive Director, The Dōjin Japanese Arts Society
Founded Dōjin Arts in April 2023.
Owner/Manager, SaBi Tea Arts
Opened SaBi Tea Arts as a space for learning about Chanoyu tea tradition and related arts in 2016.
Acting Executive Director, Tomoe Arts Society
Served on the Board of Directors in various capacities since 2012.
Appointed Acting Executive Director in March 2023.
Founder and Executive Director, The Dōjin Japanese Arts Society
Founded Dōjin Arts in April 2023.
Owner/Manager, SaBi Tea Arts
Opened SaBi Tea Arts as a space for learning about Chanoyu tea tradition and related arts in 2016.
Acting Executive Director, Tomoe Arts Society
Served on the Board of Directors in various capacities since 2012.
Appointed Acting Executive Director in March 2023.
Interpreting and Cultural Programming
As coordinator of public programs and special projects at public museums of Japanese art and curatorial consultant to Japanese art collectors for almost twenty years, a significant portion of my responsibilities involved communications with Japanese artists, dealers, and businesses, translations of communications and documents, and interpreting for public programs for large groups as well as private meetings and conferences.
Ongoing programs:
2008-present: Japanese Tea Ceremony masters’ seminars, Omotesenke Domonkai, San Francisco.
Provide Japanese-English interpreting for annual three-day intensive seminars on Japanese tea ceremony procedure and pre-modern history presented by grand masters from Kyoto Fushin’an.
Interpreting and MC for Japanese cultural programs for Consulate General of Japan in Vancouver, National Nikkei Museum and Heritage Center, Tomoe Arts Society, and other local organizations, Vancouver, Canada
Ongoing programs:
2008-present: Japanese Tea Ceremony masters’ seminars, Omotesenke Domonkai, San Francisco.
Provide Japanese-English interpreting for annual three-day intensive seminars on Japanese tea ceremony procedure and pre-modern history presented by grand masters from Kyoto Fushin’an.
Interpreting and MC for Japanese cultural programs for Consulate General of Japan in Vancouver, National Nikkei Museum and Heritage Center, Tomoe Arts Society, and other local organizations, Vancouver, Canada
Past programs:
2013-2022: Conference Interpreter for "Ocha Zanmai San Francisco International Conference on Chanoyu and Tea Cultures" #2~8
Provided Japanese-English interpreting for guest speakers from Japan for now annual academic conference on tea culture hosted by San Francisco State University.
April 2008: Shinnai and Kuruma Ningyo “All-English Shinnai”, Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Provided Japanese-English interpreting for 90-minute educational public program on Japanese puppetry and traditional storytelling as well as translations, introductions, commentary, and English consulting for world-premiere all-English performance of traditional Shinnai storytelling and Kuruma Ningyo puppetry.
September–October 2007: Shinnai and Kuruma Ningyo USA Tour 2007
Served as tour coordinator, escort and consecutive interpreter for three-city 24-day USA tour of Japanese Living National Treasure Shinnai artist Tsuruga Wakasanojo XI and Kuruma Ningyo puppetry master Nishikawa Koryu V and accompanying entourage (total of five performers).
Provided Japanese-English interpreting for guest speakers from Japan for now annual academic conference on tea culture hosted by San Francisco State University.
April 2008: Shinnai and Kuruma Ningyo “All-English Shinnai”, Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Provided Japanese-English interpreting for 90-minute educational public program on Japanese puppetry and traditional storytelling as well as translations, introductions, commentary, and English consulting for world-premiere all-English performance of traditional Shinnai storytelling and Kuruma Ningyo puppetry.
September–October 2007: Shinnai and Kuruma Ningyo USA Tour 2007
Served as tour coordinator, escort and consecutive interpreter for three-city 24-day USA tour of Japanese Living National Treasure Shinnai artist Tsuruga Wakasanojo XI and Kuruma Ningyo puppetry master Nishikawa Koryu V and accompanying entourage (total of five performers).
Translation
Selected published museum exhibition catalogues translated from the Japanese:
Tokyo National Museum exhibition catalogues, including translation of content essays and object lists:
Selected other exhibition catalogues
Translated materials also include permanent gallery installations panels, special exhibition panels, and educational materials for various art museums as well as academic articles on art historical and literary subjects translated from the Japanese for journals, compendia, and symposium presentations.
Tokyo National Museum exhibition catalogues, including translation of content essays and object lists:
- Treasures from Ninnaji Temple and Omuro (2018), Unkei: The Great Master of Buddhist Sculpture (2017)
- The Arts of Tea Ceremony: The Essence of Japan (2017)
- The Hidden Buddha of Rakuyaji Temple, Shiga (2016)
- Eternal Treasures from Kasuga Taisha Shrine (2016)
- Treasured Masterpieces from the National Palace Museum Taipei (2014)
- Yosai and the Treasures of Kenninji (2014)
- The Beauty of Japanese-Style Calligraphy (2013)
- Enku's Buddhas: Sculptures from Senkoji Temple and the Hida Region (2013)
- China: Grandeur of the Dynasties (2012)
- Japanese Masterpieces from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (2012)
- Two Hundred Selected Masterpieces from the Palace Museum, Beijing (2012)
- Sun Yat-sen and Umeya Shokichi: China and Japan 100 Years Ago (2011)
- Kukai's World: The Arts of Esoteric Buddhism (2011)
- Buddha - The Story in Manga and Art (2011)
- Hirayama Ikuo and the Preservation of Buddhist Heritage (2011)
- The Todaiji Daibutsu: Treasures of the Tenpyo Era (October 2010)
- The Lineage of Culture: The Hosokawa Family Eisei Bunko Collection (April 2010)
- Treasures of the Imperial Collections: Splendor of Japanese Art (October 2009)
- The National Treasure ASHURA and Masterpieces from Kohfukuji (March 2009)
- National Treasures from Yakushiji (January 2008)
- Courtly Millennium: Art Treasures from the Konoe Family Collection (December 2007)
- Shaping Faith: Japanese Ichiboku Buddhist Statues (October 2006)
- Splendid and Refined: Imari Ware and Kyoto Ware Ceramics (October 2005)
- Nichiren: Art and Belief (January 2003)
- Sesshū: Master of Ink and Brush (March 2002)
Selected other exhibition catalogues
- HOKUSAI's Paintings, with Additional Woodblock Print and Shunga Masterpieces: Commemorating the 260th Anniversary of the Artist's Birth (Okada Museum of Art, 2020)
- The Tea Ceremony in Edo: Commemorating the Tricentennial of the Birth of Kawakami Fuhaku (Nezu Museum, 2019)
- Daimyo Collectors: Ceramic Masterpieces of the Owari Tokugawa Household (Tokugawa Art Museum, 2019)
- Tanaka Isson: A Proudly Independent Painter who Loved Amami (Okada Museum of Art, 2018)
- Matsudaira Fumai: Daimyo, Tea Master, Aesthete (Mitsui Memorial Museum, 2018)
- A Sacred Treasure Box (Suntory Museum of Art, 2017)
- From Eerie to Endearing: Yokai in the Arts of Japan (Edo-Tokyo Museum, 2016)
- Masterpieces from the Sanso Collection: Japanese Paintings Collected by Peter F. and Doris Drucker (Chiba City Museum of Art 2015)
- From Ukiyo-e to Photography: Cultural Awakening in Japan's Visual Field (Edo Tokyo Museum 2015)
- In the Wake: Japanese Photographers Respond to 3.11 (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 2014)
- Koyasan 1200th Anniversary: Treasures of the Sacred Mountain (Suntory Museum of Art 2014)
- Celestial Dance: The Art of Hiten (Suntory Museum of Art 2013)
- Returning Home: Edo Paintings from the Gitter-Yelen Collection (Matsuzakaya Museum of Art, et al., September 2010)
- HIRAIZUMI: Pure Land in the Far Northeast of Japan (Sendai City Museum, November 2008)
- A Thousand Years of the Tale of Genji: The Timeless Allure of Courtly Romance (Yokohama Museum of Art, August 2008)
- Elegance and Esprit: Noh and Kyogen Masterpieces from the National Noh Theatre Collection (Iwami Art Museum, April 2008)
- Kamisaka Sekka: Rimpa Master—Pioneer of Modern Design (Kyoto National Museum of Modern Art, August 2003)
- Masterpieces of Landscape: Ukiyo-e Prints from the Honolulu Academy of Arts (Honolulu Academy of Arts, April 2003)
Translated materials also include permanent gallery installations panels, special exhibition panels, and educational materials for various art museums as well as academic articles on art historical and literary subjects translated from the Japanese for journals, compendia, and symposium presentations.
Curatorial Experience
Consulting Curator, The Gitter-Yelen Collection, New Orleans, LA. Aug. 2005–Dec. 2015
Responsible for all aspects of management of major private Japanese art collection, including accessions, registrarial duties, and condition monitoring. Website and database maintenance and overhaul.
Executive Director, Canadian Society for Asian Arts, Vancouver, BC. Feb.–Sept. 2007 & Feb.–Nov. 2008
Oversaw and implemented all aspects of programming for Asian arts and culture non-profit society, including organizing lecture series, exhibitions, performing arts programs, and cultural programs.
Assistant Curator/Consulting Curator, Clark Center for Japanese Art & Culture, Hanford, CA. Jun. 2000–Jan. 2001, Jan. 2002-Jun. 2005
Responsible for all aspects of collections management, including research, acquisitions, registrarial duties, public programming, docent and volunteer training, events coordination, database management, newsletter coordination, and grant-writing.
Curatorial Intern, Clark Center for Japanese Art & Culture, Hanford, CA. Aug. 1999-June 2000
Curatorial Assistant, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, CA. Jan.-June 1999
Other Skills and Interests
Fluent in spoken and written English, Japanese, and French. High passing score on Japanese Proficiency Test Level 1 (highest level).
Highly competent in classical Japanese. Well-versed in classical Japanese prose, poetry, and kanbun, and familiar with calligraphic writing styles and hentai-gana.
Hold instructor’s certificate with more than two decades of study of Japanese tea ceremony in the Omotesenke tradition.
Hold instructor-level certification in Japanese incense ceremony in the Senzan Goryū tradition.
Highly competent in classical Japanese. Well-versed in classical Japanese prose, poetry, and kanbun, and familiar with calligraphic writing styles and hentai-gana.
Hold instructor’s certificate with more than two decades of study of Japanese tea ceremony in the Omotesenke tradition.
Hold instructor-level certification in Japanese incense ceremony in the Senzan Goryū tradition.
