Tomio moriguchi biography of albert lea

FUJIMATSU AND TOMIO MORIGUCHI: Fujimatsu Moriguchi founded Uwajimaya, the largest Asian retail business in the Northwest, in , and his son led its.

It is one of four profiles the Northwest Asian Weekly will run this week. Tomio Moriguchi. Tomio Moriguchi is a visionary, an Asian American icon, and community treasure. To the benefit of the Asian American community, and for that matter, the Seattle-King County region, he is an extremely rare individual: an astute businessman with a deep civic commitment.

Indeed, it can be argued that no one has done more for the local Asian American community than Tomio Moriguchi. It began as a small fish market, then became a store that sold more and more authentic Japanese food and gifts. When Uwajimaya was incorporated in , Tomio was selected its leader. Tomio, who had graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in mechanical engineering, and who was working at Boeing as an engineer, left to become the CEO and president of Uwajimaya beginning in In , a branch of Uwajimaya was opened at Southcenter Shopping Mall.

Two years later, a much larger, newly constructed building opened at Sixth Avenue South, between King and Weller Streets. The new Uwajimaya became the anchor business in the Chinatown-International District CID and helped spark the revitalization of the area.

Tomio Moriguchi retired from Uwajimaya, replaced by his sister, Tomoko Matsuno.

Meanwhile, the sons established their own import business called SeaAsia, opened a branch of Uwajimaya in Beaverton, Oregon, and in , a new Uwajimaya Village was completed. He also served as the president of the Seattle chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League in and was a member of the national Council for Japanese American Redress.

On June 18, , he visited Ehime University to discuss internship programs for students in the United States. He was named by Puget Sound Business Journal as one of the 35 most influential business leaders of Seattle for the past 35 years. Tomio retired from the management of the company in