The Land of Utah.
A state of mountains and a lake, of great nature and open people — and a place deeply bound to Japan.
(Rakuju Shoji’s North America base is in this state’s capital, Salt Lake City. On the hill of the State Capitol, cherry trees with roots in Japan still bloom each spring.)
Utah in Numbers
5
National parks in the state (the Mighty Five)
No. 1 in the U.S.
Real GDP growth, 2024 (4.5%)
32
Median age (the youngest state in America)
84
Languages taught at the state’s universities
1958
Sister-city tie between Salt Lake City and Matsumoto
2034
The Winter Olympics return
1. Utah — A State of Great Nature and Open People
Utah, in the inland American West, is a high-plateau state holding the Wasatch Range, rising past 3,000 meters, to the east and the Great Salt Lake — among the largest salt lakes in North America — to the west. It is home to the five national parks called the Mighty Five, and in winter world-class ski resorts line its mountains.
Its economy is among America’s strongest. Real GDP growth in 2024 was the highest of any state, median household income runs about 18% above the national average, and the cluster of technology companies is known as Silicon Slopes. With a median age of 32, it is also the youngest state in the country.
And this state is open in language and culture. At its universities 84 languages are taught, and more than 270 public schools run dual-language immersion programs. People of different backgrounds living together, respecting one another’s cultures — that is Utah’s foundation.
Its economic ties with Japan run deep as well: Japan is Utah’s fifth-largest export destination (2023, about US$820 million), and 28 Japanese companies have a presence in the state.
2. Salt Lake City — The Capital, and Its Bond with Japan
The capital, Salt Lake City, is tied to destinations across North America through its hub international airport; it hosted the Winter Olympics in 2002 and will welcome the Games again in 2034. Our North America base, Rakuju North America, is in this city.
The city’s bond with Japan is symbolized by the cherry trees on the hill of the State Capitol. Soon after the war, in 1945, cherry trees were presented from Japan — the second such gift from Japan to the United States, after Washington in 1912 — and today 433 Somei Yoshino cherries ring the Capitol. Salt Lake City has been a sister city of Matsumoto, Nagano, since 1958, and will mark the 70th anniversary in 2028. In 2024 a Japanese honorary consul took office here, and every April a Japan festival is held. Downtown once had a Japantown of its own. Layer upon layer of people moving between the two places has bound this city to Japan.
3. Topaz — The People Who Guard the Memory
Near the town of Delta in central Utah, there was during the Second World War an internment camp for Japanese Americans called “Topaz,” where more than 11,000 Japanese Americans lived. Today Delta has the Topaz Museum, which tells that history, and local people still carefully guard the name and record of every single person who was held there, checking them against the materials of the National Archives. To record each person as an individual with a name — that is a form of respect, toward the past and toward people. A special place that quietly tells the depth of Utah’s bond with Japan.
Closing — As the Ones Who Join
From Utah, we bring the culture and craftsmanship of Japan, nurtured in the thousand-year capital of Kyoto, to North America. On a foundation of respect and understanding, to join people to people and city to city — that is the work of Rakuju Shoji.
Photo credits
Photo: Utah State Capitol (Capitol Preservation Board)