Tomio Moriguchi

Tomio Moriguchi (森口 富雄, Moriguchi Tomio, born 1936) is an American businessman and civil rights activist who served as CEO of the Uwajimaya supermarket chain in Seattle, Washington, from 1965 to 2007.[2]

Tomio Moriguchi
森口 富雄
Moriguchi in 2013
Born (1936-04-16) April 16, 1936
Tacoma, Washington
NationalityAmerican
OccupationBusinessman
Years active1961 – present
Known forUwajimaya
Spouses
Lovett Moriguchi
​
(died 1991)​

Jenny Yan Li
Children2[1]
Parent(s)Fujimatsu Moriguchi (father)
Sadako Tsutakawa (mother)

Biography

Moriguchi was born in Tacoma, Washington, to Fujimatsu Moriguchi and Sadako Tsutakawa. He is the nephew of George Tsutakawa.[3] During World War II, following the signing of Executive Order 9066, his family was interned at Pinedale, California, and then at Tule Lake. After the war, the family moved to Seattle's Japantown where Moriguchi's father re-established Uwajimaya on South Main Street.

After graduating from the University of Washington with a degree in mechanical engineering, Moriguchi worked at Boeing as an engineer, but left after his father's death to run Uwajimaya. He served as CEO and president of Uwajimaya beginning in 1965. During his tenure, he moved Uwajimaya's base of operations several times, expanding the size of his business in various locations until moving to Uwajimaya Village in 2000.[4][5] He served as the president of the Seattle chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League in 1972.[6] He was also a member of the National Council for Japanese American Redress (NCJAR).[7] Moriguchi, along with Kristi Yamaguchi, was honored by the JACL as a "Japanese American of the Biennium" in 1992.[8] In 1994, the Washington State Legislature adopted a bill which honored Moriguchi.[9]

After stepping down as CEO of Uwajimaya in 2007, Moriguchi continued his service as chairman. On June 18, 2015, he visited Ehime University to discuss internship programs for students in the United States.[10] He was named by Puget Sound Business Journal as one of the 35 most influential business leaders of Seattle for the past 35 years.[11] Moriguchi retired from the management of the company in 2017.[12] He continues to be involved in the company's real estate branch.[13][14] His family received the 2017 Tomodachi Award for their contributions to the relations between Japan and Seattle.[15]

Although he did not own Nagomi Tea House, Moriguchi founded it on Uwajimaya's former business site.[16] He accepted his position as president of Keiro Northwest, of which he was a co-founder, in 2018.[17] He and his family were named as recipients of the 2020 Seattle-King County First Citizen Award.[18]

Moriguchi is also the board president and treasurer of the Hokubei Hochi Foundation[19] and is president of the North American Post Publishing Company (and former publisher).[20] His daughter Denise is the current president and CEO of Uwajimaya.[21]

See also

References
  1. Sullivan, Kristine (1996). Wide Awake in Seattle: Success Stories of Outstanding Leaders who Learned to Share Leadership. Integrity Pub. p. 99. ISBN 9781886671010.
  2. "Tomio Moriguchi". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2019-01-23.
  3. "Sadako Tsutakawa Moriguchi". Legacy.com. The Seattle Times. 2002-07-28. Retrieved 2019-01-23.
  4. Zweigenhaft, Richard L.; Domhoff, G. William (2006). Diversity in the Power Elite: How it Happened, why it Matters. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 183. ISBN 9780742536999.
  5. Ramirez, Marc (2008-10-08). "Uwajimaya celebrates its 80th anniversary". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 2019-01-23.
  6. "Past Presidents". Seattle JACL. Retrieved 2019-01-23.
  7. Danico, Mary Yu (2014-08-19). Asian American Society: An Encyclopedia. SAGE Publications. ISBN 9781483365602.
  8. Angelos, Constantine (1992-08-21). "Uwajimaya's Activist CEO Honored -- Moriguchi And Olympic Skater Share Award". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 2019-01-23.
  9. "HR 4685 - 1993-94" (PDF). Washington State Legislature. 1994-02-09. Retrieved 2019-01-28.
  10. "Shiatoru no nikkei kigyō 'UWAJIMAYA' no Moriguchi Tomio CEO ga raigaku shimashita [6-gatsu 8-ka (getsu)]" シアトルの日系企業「UWAJIMAYA」の森口富雄CEOが来学しました【6月8日（月）】 [CEO Tomio Moriguchi of Seattle Japanese company "Uwajimaya" came to the University [June 8 (Monday)]]. Ehime University (in Japanese). 2015-06-11. Retrieved 2019-01-23.
  11. "Uwajimaya's Tomio Moriguchi ranked no. 24 for 35 of Seattle's most Influential Business Leaders in the Past 35 Years". Ethnic Seattle. Puget Sound Business Journal. 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2019-01-23.
  12. Tu, Janet I. (2017-01-17). "Uwajimaya chairman Moriguchi steps down as daughter Denise takes CEO role". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 2019-01-23.
  13. Stiles, Marc (2018-02-23). "Behind the deal: Tomio Moriguchi held out for decades for the right project". Puget Sound Business Journal. Retrieved 2019-01-23.
  14. Stiles, Marc (2018-03-14). "Tomio Moriguchi partners with developer on mixed-use apartment tower in Seattle's Japantown". Puget Sound Business Journal. Retrieved 2019-01-23.
  15. "Moriguchi family to receive 2017 Tomodachi Award". Northwest Asian Weekly. 2017-04-03. Retrieved 2019-01-23.
  16. Ng, Assunta (2018-11-15). "Sayonara, Nagomi Tea House — Arigato, Tomio Moriguchi". Northwest Asian Weekly. Retrieved 2019-01-23.
  17. "New president and VP at Keiro NW board". Northwest Asian Weekly. 2018-12-31. Retrieved 2019-01-23.
  18. ""Community treasure" Tomio Moriguchi". Northwest Asian Weekly. 2020-07-16. Archived from the original on 2020-07-18. Retrieved 2020-07-24.
  19. "Board of directors and staff". Hokubei Hochi Foundation. Archived from the original on 2017-02-09. Retrieved 2019-01-23.
  20. Echtle, Edward (December 25, 2022), "An Overview History of the North American Post, Part 3", North American Post
  21. "Denise Moriguchi". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2019-01-23.
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