“Dear Miss Breed”

Rio Imamura

July 15, 4:20-5:50, Rm 6206

Rio Imamura will speak about Joan Oppenheim’s Book “Dear Miss Breed” and how he came to translate the book into Japanese. He met (Miss) Clara Breed when he was delegated by his employer to the Board of Officers meeting of the Japan Friendship Garden Society located in Balboa Park, San Diego. Clara was a volunteer secretary, and he had no further knowledge about her. Rio read Clara’s obituary and learned that she was a librarian and had a strong connection with Japanese-American children; a beautiful story. After learning of the book, he knew his mission was to translate it into Japanese to convey it to the new Japanese generation.

Biodata: Rio Imamura spent10 years in New York City as a representative of a Japanese electronics company, and another 20 years in San Diego, CA for a semiconductor manufacturing plant until his retirement in 1995. He was elected an honorary chair of the San Diego Saturday Japanese School, Minato Gakuen, and sat on the Advisory Board of the Japan Studies Institute at San Diego State University. He became a Kitakyushuan in the late 1990s, and cofounded the Kitakyushu Toastmasters. He has two children, a son and a daughter, both U.S. citizens. He is twice a grandfather.