Oregon State Representative Mari Watanabe Sworn into Office at Portland Japanese Garden

On Sunday, January 19, Oregon State Representative Mari Watanabe (Washington County) was sworn in by Justice Aruna Masih of the Oregon Supreme Court to fill a vacant seat for House District 34 in front of crowd of family, friends, colleagues, and admirers at Portland Japanese Garden. Watanabe, who serves on the Garden’s Board of Trustees, is the granddaughter of Japanese immigrants and has been a Portland resident since 2000. Her appointment, certified by Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read at the ceremony, makes her the first Japanese American woman to serve in the Oregon legislature, a body that held its first regular session in 1860.

Watanabe had been unanimously voted to the role by a joint session of the Multnomah County and Washington County Boards of Commissioners on Wednesday, January 15. The seat became vacant when Senator Lisa Reynolds, MD (Portland) had been selected to fill a vacancy for Senate District 17, a district previously represented by Oregon Treasurer Elizabeth Steiner, MD.

In 2008, Watanabe was named the first Executive Director of the Japanese American Museum of Oregon. In 2023, she retired after 11 years of serving as Executive Director for Partners in Diversity, an organization that helps employers build and strengthen diverse workforces. She has won numerous awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Oregon Commission for Women in 2023. In 2011, Watanabe was chosen by the U.S.-Japan Council to be among a 13-person delegation of Japanese Americans to help strengthen transpacific relations between the two nations.

“I want to thank Portland Japanese Garden and Lisa Christy, its Executive Director,” Watanabe shared in her remarks. “You and your staff are incredible. I am so grateful—this is the perfect place for me to be sworn in, in my opinion. …I am so proud to be the first Japanese American woman in the state legislature. I am a third generation Japanese American whose ancestors have been in America for over 120 years. This is historic.”

Lisa Christy, Executive Director for Portland Japanese Garden, remarks:

“Portland Japanese Garden is deeply honored to have been the site of Representative Mari Watanabe’s swearing-in ceremony. Mari joined our organization’s Board of Trustees in May of 2024 and has quickly made a positive impact through her experience in nonprofit leadership, passion for diversity, equity, and inclusion, and her intelligence and empathy. She brings an important voice, connection to heritage, and valuable perspective that is crucial to the identity of Portland Japanese Garden.”

“The Garden was founded in 1963 in a city still reeling from the cruel and illegal treatment of its Japanese and Japanese American community members during World War II. Our organization, catalyzed into existence by a fervent desire for cross-cultural understanding, has become a community treasure in large part due to the leadership and dedication of those in Portland’s Japanese American community. The Garden is thrilled for these same neighbors, friends, and advocates to see Representative Watanabe make history by becoming the first woman of Japanese ancestry to join the Oregon state legislature. We look forward to continuing to partner with her as we pursue our mission of Inspiring Harmony and Peace.”