Join Us for the Japan Fair 10th Anniversary
Heritage Celebration Special Event

Joy Misako St. Germain
Former Bellevue Human Resources director

Joy Misako St. Germain has extensive experience in public service, including serving as Human Resources Director for the Cities of Bellevue and Tacoma and for the Washington State Department of Ecology. She is a past president of the Seattle Japanese American Citizens League and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Washington.

Stephen Sumida
Professor Emeritus, University of Washington

Stephen H. Sumida is Professor Emeritus of American Ethnic Studies at the University of Washington, where he taught Asian/Pacific American literature and theater and interdisciplinary American studies.  He has served as a president of the Association for Asian American Studies and the worldwide American Studies Association and as a Fulbright professor at Tsuda University in Tokyo.  In 2025 Sumida received a Japanese Foreign Minister’s Commendation for contributions to Japan-US cultural relations.

Tom Ikeda
Founding Executive Director of Densho

Tom Ikeda became Densho’s founding executive director in 1996 and served in this capacity for 27 years. The mission of the non-profit organization, Densho, is to preserve and share WWII Japanese American incarceration history, promoting justice and equity. Prior to Densho, Tom was a General Manager with Microsoft. He has received numerous awards for his historical and community contributions, including the Humanities Washington Award, National JACL Japanese American of the Biennium Award, Microsoft Alumni Integral Fellows Award and Washington State Historical Society's Robert Gray Medal.

Brad Miyake
Former Bellevue City Manager

Brad Miyake is the former City Manager of Bellevue, Washington, where he served in that role for 10 years. Throughout his career in public service, he held leadership positions with the City of Bellevue, King County, and the federal government. He was a member of the 2014 Japanese American Leadership Delegation to Japan and is a member of the U.S.-Japan Council. He currently serves as Chair of the Administrative Board of Blaine United Memorial Methodist Church.

Sharon Tomiko Santos
Washington State Representative

Sharon Tomiko Santos was elected to the Washington State House of Representatives in 1998, becoming the first Japanese American woman elected to a mainland state legislature and is the longest serving member of color in the history of Washington state.  She was trained as a civil rights and social justice activist and has worked in the banking industry, on staff to local public elected officials, and in senior management positions for non-profit organizations.  Santos serves as the Chairwoman of the House Committee on Education and a member of the Consumer Protection and Business and the Finance Committees. ​

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​Keiden & DJ

Rap Duo

Keiden and DJ met and became friends through Western Washington University's Japanese Student Association. Bonding over a shared interest in music, particularly Japanese rap, they decided to form a duo and performed a song "NONSTOP" (self-written and produced) at WWU JSA's annual Heritage Night in May of 2026. Using their skills in both English and Japanese, they represent a new wave of multicultural artists.

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Keiden Weakley is half-Japanese, born in Seattle. He started writing and producing music for fun several years ago. Currently a sophomore at Western Washington University studying Information Systems, he is also a proud board member of WWU's Japanese Student Association.

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DJ (Dyoma John) Zilionis is also half-Japanese born in Hawaii and lived in Shizuoka Japan for 9 years. Currently a junior at WWU majoring in business marketing and minor in design. The heritage night at WWU was his first ever time performing a song/rap on stage and it inspired him to make the performance his passion. Now he’s excited for any future performance opportunity. He’s the digital content creator for WWU’s  Japanese Student Association.

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