The Japanese American National Museum announced Tuesday it received a bequest in excess of $525,000 from the estate of Setsuko Oka, a longtime museum member who died last October.
The funds will go toward educational initiatives, as well as exhibitions and programs focused on Japanese artistic and cultural heritage in the United States, through the soon-to-be-established Setsuko Oka Japanese Heritage Fund. A plaque honoring Oka’s parents, Shiotaro and Tatsuno Oka, also will be placed at JANM per the terms of her bequest.
“The funds will go toward programming and activities that speak directly to the museum’s mission and which expand our ability to impact people in a meaningful way on a daily basis,” said Ann Burroughs, president and CEO of JANM. “Bequests like Setsuko’s are an important part of the museum’s financial health and I cannot emphasize enough how grateful we are to receive deferred gifts of any size.”
Oka first became a museum member in 1993.
Her “love and admiration for the Asian culture inspired her to donate funds to the Japanese American National Museum so that many others might appreciate the depth and beauty of the culture,” said Oka’s lifelong friend and companion, Harry N. Taddeo.