Staff

Yoko Shioya, Artistic Director
Futoshi Miyai, Deputy Director
Aya Ogawa, Senior Program Officer
Dawn Eshelman, Program Officer
Mari Imaizumi, Program Associate

YOKO SHIOYA

Yoko Shioya became Artistic Director of Japan Society in August, 2006 after three years as Director of the Society's Performing Arts department. Since joining the Society in 1997, Ms. Shioya has expanded both the touring program for Japanese performing arts companies and collaborative projects with American cultural organizations and universities. She has also launched new initiatives including an artists’ residency project and a workshop series. Also known in Japan as a writer/researcher on the public and private arts support systems in the U.S. and Japan, Ms. Shioya has been invited to speak at numerous symposia, lectures and TV programs presented by the Agency for Cultural Affairs of the Japanese government, Keidanren, the Academy of Cultural Economics and the Japan Council of Performers' Organizations, among others. In 1998, her first book, New York: How the City and Its Artists Coexist, was published by Maruzen Publishing Co. She has been a regular contributor to arts columns on performing arts and exhibitions for the Asahi newspaper and other publications. She serves as a committee member for many programs that support and honor artists and the performing arts industry including the BESSIE Awards, The Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative, and Toyota Choreography Award in Tokyo. Ms. Shioya holds Bachelors degrees in musicology and dance history from Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music.

FUTOSHI MIYAI

Futoshi Miyai received a Bachelor of Economics degree from the University of Osaka Prefecture in 1991 and a Master of Arts degree in arts administration from Teachers College, Columbia University in 1999. Mr. Miyai started his career as an independent stage manager for theater groups in Osaka, Japan in 1989. In 1996, he moved to New York as a Saison Foundation Fellow. Mr. Miyai has worked with Japan Society's Performing Arts Program since in 1998 as a production coordinator for presentations at Japan Society and as tour manager in the United States and Canada.

AYA OGAWA

After many years as Associate Artistic Director of the International WOW Company and as a freelance translator for performance-related events at Japan Society, Aya Ogawa joined the Performing Arts Department as full-time staff in fall 2003. She has been active in the theater as a performer, director, writer and translator in New York and internationally. She holds a B.A. in Theatre Arts from Columbia University. Ms. Ogawa was the recipient of the Van Lier Fellowship at New Dramatists, Artistic Fellowship at New York Theater Workshop (where she is now a Usual Suspect), grants from the Urban Artist Initiative, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, resident artist at HERE Arts Center and Artistic Director of her company Knife, inc. (www.knifeinc.org). She facilitates tour planning, grant-writing and the creation of marketing and promotional materials and playbills for Performing Arts.

DAWN ESHELMAN

Dawn Eshelman joined Japan Society in 2004 to enhance the Program’s audience development and marketing. Ms. Eshelman has ten years of experience marketing and producing performing arts programs and festivals at a variety of cultural and arts organizations, including Dance Theater Workshop, The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, On the Boards in Seattle, and the City of Seattle’s Seattle Center. She has a B.A. in Theater from the University of California at Santa Cruz and moonlights as a theater actor.

MARI IMAIZUMI

Mari Imaizumi joined Performing Arts as full-time staff in fall 2006, after interning at Japan Society. Ms. Imaizumi has seven years of experience in coordinating cultural and educational programs for international exchange organizations in Japan. She holds B.A. in Liberal Arts from the International Christian University, Tokyo, Japan.