Once every summer we like to raise a glass to you, our Golden Crane Society Members for your support, passion, and dedication to the Garden.  Please join us as we enjoy an evening at the Garden, spending time with old and new friends.

The reception will take place in the Atsuhiko & Ina Goodwin Tateuchi  Foundation Courtyard and Cultural Village. At the reception, we will hear remarks about the Garden’s future programming by Aki Nakanishi Arlene Schnitzer Curator of Culture, Art & Education.

By invitation to Golden Crane Society Members

About the Speaker

Akihito Nakanishi is a cultural leader and public diplomacy expert with two decades of experience in government relations, public communication, artistic exchanges, and cultural programming in Japan.

For 10 years, Nakanishi served as the Cultural Affairs Specialist at the United States Embassy, Tokyo, where he oversaw a wide spectrum of embassy involvement in cultural, creative, and educational activities designed to enhance mutual understanding between the United States and Japan. In addition to being the principal advisor to the Mission’s Cultural Attaché, he also served as a cultural advisor to Ambassadors with the responsibility of directly overseeing some of the Ambassadors’ cultural and education projects such as “Ties Over Time” (under Amb. John V. Roos) and “International Poetry Exchange Project” (under Amb. Caroline B. Kennedy).

Prior to working for the Embassy, Nakanishi worked for three years as Program Director at one of the major media corporations in Tokyo, followed by a role as Exhibition Director for four years at a family-owned museum. Drawing upon this extensive knowledge of the arts and ties with a myriad of Japanese cultural icons, he has worked as an independent art director, producing exhibitions and art fairs, co-producing literary events and festivals, writing dossiers for arts events in specialty publications and newspapers, while running his own non-profit organization for regional revitalization and youth empowerment, echovisions.

For his work at the Embassy, Nakanishi has received multiple State Department Awards including the State Department Meritorious Honor Award (May 2010), U.S. Embassy Japan Eagle Award (October 2011), and the U.S. Mission Japan Honor Award (October 2016).

Nakanishi holds a Master of Cultural Policy from the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, Japan, where he has published a research paper on U.S. Cultural Policy in supporting the arts.

For additional information on the Golden Crane Society, including planned giving to the Golden Crane Legacy Society, please contact Chief Development Officer Tom Cirillo at 503-595-5225 or by email.

Companies interested in receiving the marketing and hospitality benefits of Corporate Golden Crane Society membership can find more information here.