WASHINGTON, DC – FEB 18: CULCON Symposium at The Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art (Freer Gallery of Art) on February 18, 2025. (Photo by Richie Downs for Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission)

The Government of Japan has announced that Dr. Sheila A. Smith, former U.S. Chair of the U.S.-Japan Conference on Cultural and Educational Interchange (CULCON) and the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission (JUSFC) will receive The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star in recognition of her contributions promoting people-to-people exchange and mutual understanding between the United States and Japan. Dr. Smith is an expert on Japanese politics and foreign policy is the John E. Merow senior fellow for Asia-Pacific Studes at the Council of Foreign Relations in Washington, D.C.