By Staff Reports
(HONOLULU) – Christine Kubota has been appointed as the new Chair of the Pan-Pacific Festival Advisory Committee. Kubota’s role is to lead the efforts for Pan-Pacific Festival events, be a liaison with community partners and provide strategic fundraising support. She replaces Benjamin Fukumoto, who served as the chairman for the past nine years.
Kubota is an attorney at Damon Key Leong Kupchak Hastert practicing in corporate, commercial and real estate law since 1988. Her practice also includes immigration law, estate planning and employment matters that address the needs of her Japanese clients. Kubota graduated from Chaminade University with a bachelor’s degree in International Relations and Asian Studies and from McGeorge School of Law at the University of the Pacific with a juris doctor degree.
“We are excited to welcome Christine as the new advisory chair to the Pan-Pacific Festival,” said Eric Ishizuka, Pan-Pacific Festival Director. “She brings years of knowledge and experience not only through her work with Japanese clients at her practice but also through her extensive community service. Christine also embodies the customer mindset and needs that have earned her high ratings within the industry.”
“I am honored to join the Pan-Pacific Festival advisory committee and humbled to work with an organization that has been around for over 35 years,” Kubota said. “I look forward to sharing my experiences and helping the Festival achieve its worthy goal of bringing Pacific Rim cultures together in Hawaii every year.”
Kubota is a past director of Meritas, a worldwide affiliation of commercial law firms, which has members in over 270 cities. Damon Key is the exclusive Hawaii affiliate of Meritas. She is also a member of the American Bar Association, Real Estate Section and the American Immigration Lawyers Association. She is a past director of the Hawaii State Bar Association and a co-chair of the Supreme Court Committee on Court Interpreters & Language Access.
Kubota also currently serves as Director for nonprofit organizations including the Hawaii Senior Life Enrichment Association, the Hiroshima Kenjinkai, and the Honolulu Japanese Chamber Charitable Corporation. She was a past chair of the Honolulu Japanese Chamber of Commerce and past-president of the United Japanese Society. She is a member and is active with the U.S. Japan Council, Japan-American Society of Honolulu, Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii and the Japanese Women’s Society Foundation.
The 36th Annual Pan-Pacific Festival is sponsored in part by the Hawaii Tourism Authority and is set for June 12 through 14, 2015. Since its 1980 inception, the mission of the Pan-Pacific Festival has been to promote intercultural friendship and overcome language and geographic barriers through shared interests. Today, the Festival is one of Hawaii’s largest multi-cultural events.