Japan Honors Campbell and Oki for U.S.-Japan Ties
Japan has selected Phyllis Jean Campbell and Scott D. Oki to receive the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon. The honors recognize their work…
Phyllis Jean Campbell and Scott D. Oki will receive Japan’s Order of the Rising Sun for their contributions to relations between Japan and the United States, the Government of Japan announced on Tuesday. The honors recognize work spanning post-earthquake recovery, economic exchange and mutual understanding.
The award is the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon. Japan’s Consulate-General in Seattle welcomed the recognition, saying the two Americans had helped advance bilateral friendship and economic ties.
Campbell, a former chair of the U.S.-Japan Council, is being honored for promoting friendship and mutual understanding. Oki, Microsoft’s former senior vice president, is recognized for contributions to economic exchange and mutual understanding.
How did Campbell and Oki strengthen U.S.-Japan ties?
Campbell helped advance the TOMODACHI Initiative after the Japan earthquake in 2011 and secured support from major corporations for reconstruction and recovery efforts. Her work connected corporate backing with efforts to help communities recover.
She also worked to increase women’s representation in corporate leadership. As vice chair for the Asia-Pacific region of Women Corporate Directors, Campbell helped establish the organization’s Japan Chapter in 2017. The chapter has since grown to more than 80 members, offering women leaders a network and promoting appointments to corporate boards.
That work gives the award a corporate-governance dimension alongside its recognition of friendship between the countries. The chapter’s membership provides a platform for women leaders, while its stated aim includes widening women’s presence on boards.
Oki’s recognition reflects a different strand of the relationship: business and technology. As Microsoft’s senior vice president, he led the establishment of the company’s International Division and played a key role in opening Microsoft Corporation’s Japanese subsidiary in Tokyo in 1986.
He also promoted localization of Microsoft products and the development of Japanese-language computing technologies. Those efforts helped establish the company’s presence in Japan and other parts of Asia and supported the growth of Japan’s high-tech industry.
A lasting record. Oki also contributed to preserving Japanese American history and fostering exchanges between future leaders in the two countries.
In 1996, while chairman of the Japanese American Chamber of Commerce, he founded Densho. The organization documents and preserves the history of Japanese immigration to the United States and the experiences of Japanese Americans incarcerated during World War II.
The two award citations therefore recognize work across recovery, corporate leadership, technology and historical preservation. Campbell’s efforts included support for reconstruction after the 2011 earthquake; Oki’s included helping establish Microsoft’s Japanese subsidiary and founding Densho in 1996.
