Robert W. Karr, Jr

Robert W. Karr, Jr. is the founder of umiimu publishing and the author of karreport. This site and karreport are intended to provide his audience an introduction to the world of umiimu, and a glimpse into his experiences, influences, and researched stories that he is weaving together in his new book, In the Garden of the Phoenix.

Robert W. Karr, Jr. is Chief Legal Officer, Vice President of Corporate Planning, and member of the Executive and DE&I Committees of Blommer Chocolate Company, a global cocoa processing and chocolate manufacturer serving over 800 brands.  Beginning in 2014, he led the company’s expansion into China, including the establishment of a manufacturing plant in Shanghai which opened in 2017.  He was also directly involved in the preparation and sale of the company in 2019 to Fuji Oil Holdings Inc. based in Osaka, Japan, which specializes in plant-based food solutions. Today, he and his colleagues are leading a full business transformation initiative to be the best supplier of chocolate and chocolate ingredients in the industry - globally.

Karr earned a bachelor’s degree in Asian Languages and Literature and International Business Certificate from the University of Iowa, and juris doctor degree from DePaul University School of Law. He also studied and worked extensively in Japan, including undergraduate studies at Nanzan University and law school studies at Doshisha University. In 1993, Karr passed the first level of the Japanese language exam administered by the Ministry of Education in Japan.

In 1992, he entered Nissan Construction Co., Ltd. in Tokyo and worked in the general affairs, human resource, and legal department until starting law school in 1995. From 2008-2010 he was dispatched from Jones Day to work in Tokyo at Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd. and assist with international matters, including mergers and acquisitions.

Karr is an active volunteer and currently serves on the boards of the Japan America Society of Chicago, The Garden of the Phoenix Foundation, and Project 120 Chicago.

He previously served as chairman of the board of Chicago Sister Cities International Program under Mayor Richard M. Daley, a member of the Chicago 2016 Olympic Committee, and board member of the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust.  

Karr has led several projects in Jackson Park, Chicago, including the establishment of a Japanese festival in 1998 for which he was awarded “Outstanding Individual” in 1999 by Friends of the Parks. In 2011-2013, he was instrumental in the installation of over 170 cherry blossom trees around the Columbian Basin in Jackson Park on the park-side of the Museum of Science and Industry.

Beginning in 2013, Karr worked with Yoko Ono on her design and installation of SKYLANDING, a 12-petal lotus sculpture that rises from the ashes of the Phoenix Pavilion in the Garden of the Phoenix in Jackson Park. This project also included MENDED PETAL, a companion lotus petal, which is on permanent display at the Art Institute of Chicago in the Pritzker sculpture garden of the Modern Wing.

Karr led the development of the Garden of the Phoenix website, one of five 2017 Webby Award Nominees in the category of Cultural Institutions, and the SKYLANDING website, a 2017 Webby Award Honoree in the Art Category. In 2016, he also produced SKYLANDING (the Music of Yoko Ono) with Yoko Ono, which was performed by Tatsu Aoki and The Miyumi Project.

Other projects include the creation of the first Frank Lloyd Wright inspired tours to Japan (2000-2005) called Travel to Japan: The Wright Way. Karr led the initial tours, which established the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust’s domestic and international tour program.

Publications, in addition to this website and karreport, include: Lessons from the Past: Frank Lloyd Wright and Sekiichi Toyoda published in the Toyota Technical Review (2012); The Garden of the Phoenix: Celebrating the 120th Anniversary of the Japanese Garden in Chicago published in the North American Japanese Garden Journal (2013); and Yoko Ono’s SKYLANDING Arrives in Chicago’s Jackson Park published in Japan Airline’s Sky Magazine (2016).

Karr is also a frequent lecturer on a variety of historical topics, including the history of the Garden of the Phoenix, Frank Lloyd Wright and Japan, the life of Shoji Osato, and most recently, the 1931 diplomatic mission of Charles G. Dawes to prevent war between China and Japan.

Karr is also the founder of umiimu publishing, a young publishing house with an old soul, which is focused well-researched, non-traditional, and often untold histories.

Our stories, together with the places where they occur, are often unseen threads in the fabric of our shared existence.

- Robert W. Karr, Jr.

With that intent, umiimu publishing is building its capabilities to ensure that the stories and places which connect us can be shared now and with the future generations, and that together we reveal, appreciate, and learn from the global narrative that unites us.