110th Anniversary “Award of Honor Gala” & Concert
Awarding Marc Benioff, Haruo Murase and Nobuyuki Tsujii
This year the Japan Society of Northern California (JSNC) celebrated its 110th Anniversary. It all began with a San Mateo attorney Henry Pike Bowie, Stanford University president David Starr Jordan, and San Francisco Consul Kisaburo Ueno, who founded the Japan Society on October 7, 1905 to spread knowledge about Japan and promote U.S.-Japan cooperation.
On October 17, 2015, JSNC held its 110th Anniversary “Award of Honor Gala” & Concert in San Francisco, California. JSNC recognized two exceptional global business leaders with the Award of Honor: Mr. Marc Benioff, Chairman and CEO of Salesforce and Mr. Haruo Murase, Chairman of Canon Marketing Japan Inc. This award is our Society’s way of recognizing the tremendous personal achievements of our honorees in the service of this most important of bilateral relationships, and the very special relationship between Japan and the U.S., and especially the state of California. We also featured a performance with world renowned pianist and composer Nobuyuki Tsujii, winner of the 2009 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.
The Recipients
Award of Honor

Chairman & CEO
Salesforce
Award of Honor

Chairman
Canon Marketing
Japan Inc.
Pianist

Van Cliburn
Gold Medal Winner
Schedule
- Nobuyuki Tsujii Piano Concert | 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm
- Award of Honor Gala
- Cocktail Reception & Silent Auction | 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm
- Dinner, Live Auction & Awards Presentation | 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Venue
- Piano Recital
- Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94102
- Parking and directions to the Herbst Theater
- Award of Honor Gala
- The Palace Hotel, 2 New Montgomery Street, San Francisco, California, 94105
- Parking and Directions to The Palace Hotel
Award of Honor Recipient: Marc Benioff
Marc Benioff is chairman and CEO of Salesforce. A pioneer of cloud computing, Benioff founded Salesforce in 1999 and revolutionized the enterprise software world with new models for technology, business, corporate philanthropy and management. Under his visionary leadership, Salesforce has grown from a groundbreaking idea into the fastest growing top ten software company in the world and the #1 CRM platform.
Award of Honor Recipient: Haruo Murase
Haruo Murase has been the Chairman of the Board of Canon Marketing Japan Inc. since March 2009 after serving the President for 10 years. Prior to this, he had been in North America for more than 28 years at Canon USA and Canada respectively. From 1993 through 1999 he was the President & CEO of Canon USA Inc. where he was responsible for Canon’s business for North & South America as well as the Caribbean Markets. Since 1991 till 2001, he also was the Director of Canon Inc., the parent company. He graduated from Keio University, Tokyo, in Economics Degree.
Pianist: Nobuyuki Tsujii
Blind since birth, Nobuyuki Tsujii was joint Gold Medal winner at the 2009 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. An inspirational musician with a formidable technique and a natural gift for pianistic colour, he has earned international recognition for the passion and excitement he brings to his live performances. Nobu has given recitals in major cities across North America including Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium in New York, Washington D.C, Boston, Vancouver and he frequently appears at Europe’s most prestigious venues including London’s Royal Albert Hall and the Berlin Philharmonie.
2015 Gala Sponsors
Global Innovator

Reception Host

Innovator

Partners
Benefactors
Dr. Gary & Nobuko Saito Cleary
Glen S. & Sakie T. Fukushima
Gerald & Keiko Horkan
David & Fumiko Hoeft
Jim & Becky Morgan
Dr. Morihito Nagai, Japan
Patrons
William P. Fuller & Jennifer L. Beckett
Consulate General of Japan in San Francisco
DEFTA Partners / Alliance Forum Foundation
Japanese Chamber of Commerce of Northern California
Takahiro Moriguchi
Scott Cook & Signe Ostby
Individual Sponsors
Emma & Takahide Akiyama
Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation
Barbara K. Bundy
George Hayashi
Hinomaru Limousine International
Susan Kobayashi & Chuck Han
Kozo & Kathleen Kimura
Rochelle Kopp — Japan Intercultural Consulting
Tony & Pat Ley
Kathy Matsui
Isao ‘Steve’ Matsuura
Christopher & Ya-Hui Monteilh
Shin Nakahara
Allen & Pat Okamoto
Steve Pollock
Misako & Dana Sack
Niko Saito, Saito Aquatic Academy, JAPAN
Emily J. Sano
Institute for Creative Integration, Shin & Yumiko Sano
Jon Metzler & Kakul Srivastava
SwimBabes International Workshops, Phil & Jackie Young
Tazan International
Joyce & John R. Thomas
Tom & Akemi Woofter
Additional support provided by:
Wells Fargo Foundation
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