Masato "Marty" Matsuo and Connie Young Yu.

SARATOGA — The Hakone Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the Japanese-style Hakone Gardens in Saratoga, announced this month that Masato “Marty” Matsuo will serve as chairman and Connie Young Yu as vice chairman.

It is the first time in the foundation’s 93-year history that the two positions will be held by a Japanese and a Chinese American, respectively.

Matsuo, a resident of Los Gatos, has served as chairman of the Hakone Gardens Supporting Committee, a Japanese volunteer organization that helps and supports Hakone Gardens. This committee has hosted the Hakone Festival every year since 2000.

Yu is a resident of Los Altos Hills and is a renowned historian of Chinese American life in the U.S. Her family was instrumental in saving the 18-acre gardens 47 years ago when her father led the formation of a private partnership to restore and preserve the gardens in 1961. The City of Saratoga purchased the 18-acre site five years later.

Hakone Foundation CEO Lon Saavedra commented, “In the past century, Hakone has evolved into a cultural bridge between Asia and America ... The election of Dr. Matsuo and Ms. Yu as the leaders of Hakone Foundation will have an enormous impact in broadening and strengthening Hakone's support and visibility not only throughout the Asian communities of Northern California, but also throughout Japan and China."

Hakone Gardens is said to be the oldest Japanese-style residential garden in the Western Hemisphere. For more information on the garden, visit www.hakone.com.