US-Japan Foundation Honors Mr. Minoru “Ben” Makihara

On October 28, 2011, the United States-Japan Foundation awarded Mr. Minoru Makihara with the Foundation’s Distinguished Service Award at a ceremony held at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo.  As part of the award, the Foundation made a $10,000 grant to The John Manjiro-Whitfield Commemorative Center for International Exchange in Mr. Makihara’s honor.

Minoru (Ben) Makihara, currently is the Senior Corporate Advisor to the Mitsubishi Corporation. A 1954 graduate of Harvard University, he joined Mitsubishi in 1956 and subsequently served as General Manager of the Washington Office of Mitsubishi International Corporation, U.S.A. (1971), President of Mitsubishi International Corporation (1987), and President and CEO of Mitsubishi Corporation (1992). In 1998 he was named Chairman, a position he held for six years.

Mr. Makihara served as chair of the US-Japan Business Council from 1997 to 2002. Since 2007, he has also chaired CULCON, the US-Japan Conference on Cultural and Educational Interchange, established by John F. Kennedy and then Prime Minister Ikeda to strengthen the bilateral relationship through enhanced exchanges. As a board member of the John Manjiro Whitfield Commemorative Center for International Exchange (CIE), he is a strong supporter of the annual Japan-America Grassroots Summit, which was held in North Texas in 2012.

Mr. Makihara is a member of the boards of Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co., Ltd., and Mitsubishi Logistics Corporation. He also serves on the International Advisory Council of Allianz SE; the Executive Committee of the Trilateral Commission; the Harvard Asia Center Advisory Committee; the International Panel of Temasek Holdings; the International Advisory Board of Hakluyt & Company Limited; and McLarty Associates. He is also Director General of the Toyo Bunko, one of the leading Orient Research Libraries, and is the Chairman of the United States-Japan Leadership Program’s Honorary Advisory Board.

US-Japan Foundation Honors Mr. Minoru“Ben”Makihara

Foundation President Dr. George R. Packard presents Mr. Minoru “Ben” Makihara with the Foundation’s Distinguished Service Award medal at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo.

US-Japan Foundation Honors Mr. Minoru“Ben”Makihara

Foundation Chairman Mr. Thomas S. Johnson reads a citation honoring Mr. Makihara at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo.