Japanese Cultural Center at a crossroad

By Vicki Viotti
Advertiser Staff Writer

More than a year after financial troubles spawned a crisis at the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai'i, those holding the reins at the newly debt-free Mo'ili'ili facility are dealing with turnover in executive leadership and pressure to avoid the deficit spending of the past.

Susan Kodani, the center's president for more than three years, has resigned. Starting Monday, University of Hawai'i administrator Richard Kosaki will serve as acting president while the center searches for a permanent president and executive director.

Kodani will take a position as director of institutional advancement at St. Andrew's Priory School for Girls, a job combining fund raising and special events.

Kodani and Colbert Matsumoto, the new chairman of the board of directors, say the resignation was Kodani's decision; a panel appointed to rate her performance had not completed her job evaluation.

However, Kodani has been the target of critics who say she did too little to reverse the center's financial crisis, which last year put it at risk of foreclosure.

Board leaders sought state help from lawmakers and in late September decided to sell the facility. A last-ditch effort by the ad hoc Committee to Save the Center, organized last October, cleared the bulk of the $9 million debt by the end of the year.

Teruo Himoto, committee member and past member of the center's board of directors, acknowledged that blame for the center's financial tailspin has to be shared among staff and board members over the years. But he said that Kodani was hired expressly to improve fund-raising efforts and never fulfilled that expectation.

"Personally I wanted her to resign as soon as we saved the center," Himoto said. "I felt she didn't do her job."

In response to the criticism, Kodani would say only that the center has made a "tremendous turnaround," and that she felt "pleased to have been part of that whole difficult period."

"I'm proud of the work that I've done over the past 3 1/2 years," she said. "We were instrumental in keeping the center moving forward during a dark period."

Kosaki, who underscored that he has no designs on the permanent position, defended Kodani for her "dedication."

Matsumoto said the center is clear of all debts — including mortgage, property tax and back payments to various vendors — and now must find money to spend on various repairs and maintenance that were put off during the financial crisis.

One strategy, he said, will be to increase dues-paying membership, which stands at about 1,700, less than half its peak level.

Also, he said, the board will consider ways to make the nonprofit activities of the center more self-sustaining. For example, Matsumoto said the board is considering a proposal to hire a property manager for the center's martial-arts dojo. He said he is planning a meeting with various instructors who use the center to discuss ways of boosting revenue to cover the expenses of operating the 4,500-square-foot area.

Reach Vicki Viotti at vviotti@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8053.