WASHINGTON — At a special ceremony and reception on March 14 at the residence of the Japanese ambassador, Shiro Floyd Mori received the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette.
Mori was among 46 foreign recipients of the 2012 Fall Imperial Decorations from the government of Japan.
The award was presented by Ambassador to the U.S. Kenichiro Sasae. The honor was initiated by former Ambassador Ichiro Fujisaki, who retired from the post and returned to Tokyo in the fall of 2012.
Mori, formerly national executive director and national president of the
Japanese American Citizens League, was selected for the award in recognition of his significant contributions to the improvement of the status of Japanese Americans, strengthening of economic relations between Japan and the U.S., and the promotion of Japanese culture in the U.S.
He was recognized for his work, through the JACL and Direct Relief International, in assisting Japan following the earthquake and tsunami of March 2011. He organized and established the first Nihon Matsuri (Japan Festival) in Salt Lake City and the first National JACL Gala in Washington, D.C.
Among a countless list of significant accomplishments, he has worked extensively with Japanese business and government leaders and has been in charge of taking government groups representing California and Utah on official visits to Japan. He represented the JACL, while national president, along with former Vice President Dan Quayle, who represented the U.S. government, at a ceremony in Tokyo with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the U.S.-Japan peace treaty in 2001.
In 2005, Mori became the director of public policy for the JACL, the nation’s oldest and largest Asian American civil and human rights organization, in its Washington, D.C. office. He then served as national executive director until June 2012.