Members Only: Arthur Uratani 

We love our members. So we’re highlighting our members in a new series: Members’ Club. We’re kicking things off with District Fray member since February 2022, Arthur Uratani.

As the director of marketing and outreach for Bookoff McAndrews, a patent counseling and prosecution law firm, Arthur Uratani feels he has the most fun job in the legal industry. 

“I do marketing, I do business development and it encompasses things like digital media, social media, putting on events, coaching attorneys to be better business developers themselves, as well as the standard marketing initiatives,” he says. “If I go too long without working, I feel a little bit restless because I just love my job.”  

He’s also involved in a great number of professional associations, holding board positions for both the Legal Marketing Association and the Washington, D.C. chapter of the American Marketing Association.

“I help to make sure our membership is engaged and that we’re growing great events and that keeps me pretty busy as well,” Uratani says. 

And that’s just Uratani’s day job. On the side, he’s also a yoga teacher and soon to be a sculpt teacher—primarily teaching at Epic Yoga in Dupont and Core Power in the Glover Park area.

“I’ve been teaching yoga for about six years and sculpt for about a year,” he says. “I love doing that as a complement to my day job because it’s super rewarding to have people come up to you after class to let you know they feel so much better. I like the feeling of helping others feels good about themselves, as corny as that sounds.” 

Originally from a suburb of Silver Spring, Md., Uratani graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in political science, and headed to Georgetown for grad school. While living in Georgetown, one of his neighbors was former Secretary of State John Kerry, and he had a short encounter with him during a blinding snowstorm when Kerry was out walking his dog.

From there, Uratani moved to Dupont and about a decade ago, found a place in the Cathedral Heights area of the District, and loves everything about what he calls “the suburbs of D.C.”

When not working, Uratani likes to get in at least one yoga session a day, and works out regularly, favoring classes like Core Power Sculp, Rumble and Barry’s. 

“I just got into pickleball somewhat recently and I love it,” he says. “I used to play tennis and a lot of tennis skills translate over, so that’s been really fun.” 

One of his favorite things to do in the District is head to Swingers with his friends and get in a round of miniature golf and some drinks. 

Some of his favorite dining spots include Jetties for sandwiches (try the Summer House, he says), NewBigWong for Chinese food, plus all the José Andrés restaurants. Being half Japanese, Uratani also loves the ramen at DAIKAYA, and regularly eats at Raku. His top bar at the moment is Lady Bird, a rooftop bar at 1315 16th St., close to Dupont.

Similar to many thirtysomethings, Uratani has most of the streaming services and is always watching the latest binge-worthy shows. A recent must-watch is “Solar Opposites,” and he’s still a big fan of “The Simpsons” and “Seinfeld.” 

During the pandemic, Uratani and his friend started a book club, with as many as 40 taking part, meeting virtually to discuss the book of the week. It’s in a hiatus currently, but the club went through dozens of books over the last few years and he was thrilled to get back into reading.  

Now that things are getting somewhat back to normal, Uratani has gone back to one of his passions—traveling. This year alone he’s gone to Switzerland, Germany and France, and has a yoga retreat booked for Greece later this year. 

“I want to do a summer in France, and I think it might happen soon,” he says, noting he’s contemplating renting a place in Strasbourg and working remotely. “That is on my bucket list and I hope to spend some extended time in a nice country like France in the future.” 

Keith Loria

A theatre buff and huge music fan, Keith Loria is a D.C.-based award-winning journalist who has been writing about the arts for more than 20 years. He started his career with the Associated Press and has written for Soap Opera Digest, Playbill and Music Review. He looks forward to 2021 and the theaters reopening! He’s the proud father of two daughters, who often accompany him on his theater outings. Visit his website at keithloria.contently.com.