What is Irene Hirano?
[[File:Irene Hirano.png|thumb|Hirano in {{circa|2009}}]] '''Irene Hirano Inouye''' (''[[née]]'' '''Yasutake'''; October 7, 1948 – April 7, 2020) was an [[Americans|American]] business executive. She was a ''[[sansei]]'', or a third-generation Japanese-American and also a [[sensei]]. She was the founding president of the [[U.S.-Japan Council]] from 2009 until her death in 2020. She also served as president and founding [[chief executive officer]] of the [[Japanese American National Museum]] in [[Los Angeles, California]] from 1988 to 2008. Hirano was born in Los Angeles. She married [[Hawaii]] [[US Senate|Senator]] [[Daniel Inouye]] in 2008. The couple were together until Inouye's death in 2012. Hirano died of [[leiomyosarcoma]] on April 7, 2020, in [[Los Angeles]]. She was 71.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2020/04/08/irene-hirano-inouye-widow-sen-inouye-dies/|title=Irene Hirano Inouye, widow of Sen. Inouye, dies at 71|date=April 8, 2020|access-date=April 8, 2020|work=Hawaii News Now}}</ref> ==References== {{commonscat}} {{reflist}} {{US-bio-stub}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Hirano, Irene}} [[Category:2020 deaths]] [[Category:1948 births]] [[Category:Deaths from leiomyosarcoma]] [[Category:Cancer deaths in Los Angeles]] [[Category:American chief executives]] [[Category:American philanthropists]] [[Category:Businesspeople from Los Angeles]] [[Category:Disease-related deaths in Los Angeles]]