George Gentoku Shimamoto, an architect of Japan House, the home of the Japan Society, and a former senior partner of the Gruzen Partnership architectural firm

Shimamoto, who was born in Japan, immigrated to California in 1918. Before World War II, he designed the Buddhist churches of San Francisco and Oakland, Calif. During World War II, he and his family were interned in California and Utah.

From 1944 to 1975, he worked as a draftsman for the architectural firm of Kelly & Gruzen, a plominant architectural office in New York. He then served as an associate, general manager, and finally, a partner of the Gruzen Partnership. In addition to Japan House (current Japan Society New York,) which he designed with Japanese architect Junzo Yoshimura, he designed a residence for Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller and a teahouse for Laurance S. Rockefeller.

In 1981, he founded the Cherry Blossom Festival at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, which has become an annual event. He also founded the annual Cherry Blossom Festival in Branch Brook Park in Newark.