Itoh & Co. Chooses Scholarship over Farewell Party

C. Itoh & Co., a top Japanese trading firm, has donated $20,000 to the Japan Business Assn. of Southern California Scholarship Fund, a nonprofit support program that provides monetary assistance to university students.

The firm made the donation in lieu of spending the money on a reception to bid farewell to Kosuke Iwatake, senior vice president and general manager of the Los Angeles office who has been assigned to the firm’s headquarters in Tokyo.

The JBA Scholarship Fund was established in 1986 in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the Japan Business Assn. of Southern California. Since its inception, the fund has offered $80,000 in scholarships to area university students.