Shozo Tsutakawa (1877-1951) was a successful Japanese businessman who immigrated to the US around 1904 and started the Japanese American Commission Company, importing and exporting food and other goods to and from Japan. He was also president of the Japanese Commercial Club in Seattle. In 1919, Tsutakawa wrote an article in the Seattle Times about the huge growth in trade with East Asia since the US entered World War I. Tsutakawa often traveled between Japan and the US to manage his business, but after his wife Hisa died in the 1918 influenza epidemic, he mostly remained in Japan and left his two brothers in charge in Seattle. His son George Tsutakawa (1910-1977), born in Seattle, was a painter, printmaker, and sculptor internationally renowned for his avant-garde bronze fountains.

This image shows Shozo Tsutakawa standing in front of the Japanese American Commission Company at 309 Second Avenue South.

Caption information source: "George Tsutakawa," Densho Encyclopedia, retrieved from https://encyclopedia.densho.org/George_Tsutakawa/.
Caption information source: "War help to Port of Seattle gave opportunity for trade," by S. Tsutakawa, Seattle Sunday Times, August 31, 1919, page 15.