2/24/10

Jack Matsuoka


Jack Matsuoka: Using Cartoons to Tell the Story of the Camps

     NikkeiWest has introduced a new feature, “Jack’s Corner” by Jack Matsuoka, which offers the local cartoonist’s take on sports and politics.
“Jack’s Corner” previously graced the pages of the Hokubei Mainichi, whose last issue was printed on Oct. 30, 2009. By sheer coincidence, Matsuoka — a cartoonist for the Hokubei since the 1960s – mailed a couple of cartoons that arrived at the Hokubei office just in time for that final issue.The cartoon that made it into the paper that day was a caricature of one of Matsuoka’s favorite subjects — Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners.
     These days, Matsuoka keeps a relatively low profile, living at Fuji Towers in San Jose Japantown and appearing at local events like Spirit of Japantown. But in recent years, he has played a major role in educating young people about the internment of Japanese Americans.
      Born in 1925 in Watsonville, Matsuoka was interned at the Poston camp (2) in Arizona as a teenager. After being released, he attended the Cleveland School of Fine Arts in Ohio and was drafted into the Army. He served as an interpreter for the Army in occupied Japan, attended Hartnell College in Salinas, and returned to Japan as a student at Keio and Sophia universities in Tokyo.
     He found an outlet for his artistic abilities by contributing sports cartoons to the Japan Times and Japanese magazines, political cartoons for the Yomiuri News, and humorous illustrations for books about Japan. This led to a relationship with Tuttle, a publisher of books on Japan, and a book of his own, “Rice Paddy Daddy,” about GIs studying in Japan.
     Matsuoka returned to the U.S. and worked for a Marubeni, a Japanese trading company, while doing cartoons on the side for the Berkeley Gazette and such groups as the Cal Bears. Eventually, requests for his services became so numerous that he decided to make his living as a cartoonist.
     In addition to his work with the Hokubei, he was the editorial cartoonist for the Pacifica Tribune and contributed to the San Mateo Times, San Jose Mercury News and San Francisco Examiner. He also did work for the San Francisco Giants and 49ers, and got to know members of both teams. 
     He is one of only a handful of Nisei professional cartoonists. Among his contemporaries is Pete Hironaka, long-time cartoonist for the JACL’s newspaper, the Pacific Citizen.

“Camp II, Block 211” and “Sensei”
Matsuoka is also one of the few Japanese Americans to have drawn a comic strip. His “Sensei” was a popular feature of the Hokubei for years, and was published in book form in 1978.
     “I saw that the San Francisco Examiner started carrying a black cartoon strip,” he said at the time. “It was the first time that there were non-hakujin characters. I thought that now was the time that Orientals should be in comic strips, too.
      “I also saw Sansei studying their ethnic identity, and I wanted to do something to help them. I wanted to draw a character that would give every generation — Issei, Nisei-Kibei, Sansei — something to chuckle about, something about the daily Japanese life.”
     Another book, “Camp II, Block 211” (1974), used Matsuoka’s wartime experiences to tell the story of the internment from a personal perspective. He had done several sketches of camp life while interned, but they were left in a trunk for decades until his mother, Chizu Martha Matsuoka, rediscovered them and suggested that they be shared with the public. This led to an exhibition sponsored by Bank of Tokyo (now Union Bank) at the Japanese Trade and Cultural Center (now the Japan Center) in San Francisco. Reactions from non-Nikkei was at times negative, including a couple from Arizona who said that there never was a place called Poston in their state and hinted that some radical group was behind the exhibit. This helped persuade Matsuoka to publish the sketches in a book that would be accessible to people of all ages.
     The late Edison Uno, who taught Asian American studies at San Francisco State University, wrote in the introduction, “When I first met Jack and saw his collection of old camp cartoons, I immediately envisioned the possibility of compiling them into a book for use as an important educational tool in the primary grades. It was not difficult to convince Jack that there was a real need to tell the unpleasant story of a great American mistake to millions of children who may never learn about the tragic error unless it is introduced to them early in the school system. This book is designed to do just that.
     “Behind the comic laughter of each cartoon is a genuine story of Americans living under adverse conditions, without guilt, attempting to survive by living each day as best as they knew how.”

“Poston” Relaunch
     With a grant from the California Civil Liberties Public Education Program, Matsuoka and Emi Young, one of his two daughters, republished the book in 2003 with a new title, “Poston Camp II, Block 211.” New sketches, photos of camp, and an afterword by Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) were added. The new publisher was San Mateo-based Asian American Curriculum Project.
     Matsuoka noted that the new additions included “a couple of benjo (bathroom) scenes.” In the book, he writes that the temporary latrine set up when Poston first opened was “one of the most hated places in camp,” especially for city people who had never used an outhouse. “The holes in the seats were all the same size, and children slipped in and sometimes got stuck.” Improved facilities with plumbing were constructed later.
     Though not depicted in the book, Matsuoka also remembered friction between Nisei and Kibei (Nisei educated in Japan), which sometimes resulted in fights in the mess hall.
     The revised edition concludes with a cartoon showing President Ronald Reagan signing the redress bill, the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 — something that was a distant dream when the original book came out. Matsuoka also pays tribute to the sacrifices of the 100th Battalion/442nd Regimental Combat Team and Military Intelligence Service.
     In conjunction with the relaunch of the book, Matsuoka visited local schools with Young, a teacher and an East Bay resident. “We were able to go to Fremont public schools, mainly elementary schools,” she recalled, “and we presented Jack’s book to third-graders, fourth-graders and fifth-graders ... I just remember the children were very interested in Jack as a personality. They really wanted to see who Jack was. Sixth-graders would get the main point better than, I think, some adults could about the whole imprisonment.”
     One question that Matsuoka was asked more than once: “Why didn’t you try to escape?” Like all the camps, Poston had barbed wire and guard towers, with the exception of the side facing the desert, which was unfenced. Matsuoka explained to the students that leaving the camp in that direction was not an option, as the consequences could be fatal.
     Young added, “Usually when you’re talking with kids in the presentations, they’re more interested in the dust storms or the scorpions. He’d talk about the swimming hole. But when you talk about to the kids how there was racism before camp, they were interested … which I thought was very insightful of these 6th-graders to pick up on that. One boy said, ‘Boy, they really must have hated the Japanese.’ And I’d never heard anybody say the word ‘hate,’ and I said, ‘It’s true. That’s what happened.’
     Formerly a resident of Pacifica and a regular in San Francisco Japantown, Matsuoka underwent bypass surgery and lived with his daughter and her family for about a year. He then relocated to San Jose Japantown about 6 years ago. While he didn’t take to his new surroundings right away, he is now a fixture in the neighborhood and was warmly welcomed at Minato Restaurant on the day of the interview..........
Source: http://www.nikkeiwest.com/index.php/the-news/past-articles/76-jack-matsuoka-using-cartoons-to-tell-the-story-of-the-camps
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Jack Matsuoka Honored by City of Watsonville

WATSONVILLE—As a boy living in Watsonville, Jack Matsuoka went through some traumatic times.
His father was picked up by the FBI immediately after Pearl Harbor. The rest of the family was forced to sell their possessions for a fraction of their value before being sent to the Salinas Assembly Center and later the Poston Relocation Center in Arizona.
      The atmosphere was quite different on June 22, when Matsuoka — one of only a handful of Nisei professional cartoonists and one of the few Japanese Americans to have drawn a comic strip — was honored by the City of Watsonville for his accomplishments.
     The proclamation was presented by Mayor Luis Alejo. Matsuoka was joined by his daughter, Emi Young, and granddaughter, Jennifer Young, as well as members of the Watsonville-Santa Cruz JACL.
     Highlights of Matsuoka’s career were listed, including his early work as a cartoonist for the Japan Times, the Yomiuri News, and other publications while serving with the Army during the occupation of Japan; his work with such Bay Area papers as the Pacifica Tribune, San Mateo Times and San Jose Mercury News, as well as the San Francisco Giants and other local teams; and his creation of a comic strip, “Sensei,” which ran in the Hokubei Mainichi and was later published in book form.
     Matsuoka, who now lives in San Jose, is known for his 1974 book for young readers, “Camp II, Block 211,” which featured sketches of daily life in an internment camp. A revised edition of the book, retitled “Poston Camp II, Block 211,” was published by Asian American Curriculum Project in 2003, edited by Matsuoka’s daughter, an East Bay educator, and funded by the California Civil Liberties Public Education Program.
     In the proclamation, the mayor extended to Matsuoka “our deep appreciation for his distinguished service and our best wishes for many more happy and productive years in the future.”
     Using illustrations from the book, Mas Hashimoto of the local JACL chapter gave a brief presentation on the history of Japanese Americans in Watsonville.
     “It was a pretty exciting moment especially for Jack,” Emi Young said after the ceremony. “Jack briefly thanked the council and the audience. It was just right …
     “With the Santa Cruz-Watsonville JACL rallying at Marcia and Mas Hashimoto’s home before and during the ceremony at City Hall, the mood was festive and warm.   This was, after all, something of a homecoming, Watsonville being Jack’s hometown.   He and his 18-year-old granddaughter, Jennifer, met many active women in their 90s and talked with new and upcoming teachers who are dedicated to serving the multicultural community of Watsonville.”
     The event was spearheaded by Ignacio Ornelas, a history and social studies teacher at Everett Alvarez High School in Salinas, who took part in a teacher in-service program at SPICE (Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education) under the direction of Dr. Gary Mukai.
     “When he met Jack there, he suggested that the City Council in Watsonville honor Jack for his art and history contribution to the community,” said Young. “For someone so young, Mr. Ornelas is a testimony of someone’s best teaching, for he has caught the vision of valuing the lesson of the Japanese American experience in U.S. history. While he himself had no family member in the internment camps … he impressed me as an ally for this cause, someone equally vested in this lesson for all school students.      “The evening recognizing Jack was truly inspiring,” Ornelas commented. “It is critically important to recognize our American heroes. When I first met Jack at Stanford, I couldn’t stop thinking about how great it would be for him to be recognized by the very town that interned him many years ago. I enjoyed every minute … While the evening can never replace the hardship that Jack went through, it will certainly be in the city’s history books.
     “During his recognition, the council and the mayor made many remarks about how we are seeing similar anti-Mexican sentiment today. Jack’s story is truly inspiring for many of us to do more and speak against fear and hate-mongering by many groups locally and across the country. Jack’s story and work should be printed in books we use, especially in California.
     “As a new generation of new legislators are elected … We will advocate for his story and work to be included in all history books. If all goes well and Luis is elected in November to the State Legislature, we can recognize Jack at the Capitol in Sacramento.”
Source:  http://www.nikkeiwest.com/index.php/the-news/archived-article-list/127-jack-matsuoka-honored-by-city-of-watsonville





Salinas 'Prison' Camp

Japanese Americans recall days of Salinas 'prison' camp
By Kimber Solana
February 22, 2010

Mas Hashimoto was only 6 years old when he was sent to the Salinas Rodeo grounds to live in a horse stable for three months. "They called it the Salinas Assembly Center," he said. "But they really should have called it the Salinas Prison Camp, because that's what it was."

Hashimoto was one of 3,500 Japanese Americans who stayed at the Assembly Center, the same site where the arena for the California Rodeo Salinas sits today, waiting to be placed in concentration camps during World War II.

Now 74, the Watsonville historian and retired teacher joined about 85 people at the Salinas Community Center to remember one of the hardest times for many Japanese Americans living on the West Coast.

                                                          Photo: Mas Hashimoto

It was Feb. 19, 1942 — about two months after the attack on Pearl Harbor — when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, forcing more than 120,000 Japanese Americans to stay in 10 internment camps placed around in the U.S.
"But the camps weren't built yet," recalled Lawson Sakai, president of Friends & Family of Nisei Veterans. "So everyone was put in temporary housing, an assembly center ... basically a prison. They were guarded by U.S. soldiers and had bare necessities."

Hashimoto remembers that his father had just died before he came to the Salinas Assembly Center with his family. And during a freak accident, he said, his 14-year-old brother became one of two deaths at the Assembly Center while playing baseball.

"A train then came, took 500 at a time, and took us to Poston, Ariz.," he said.
It's in Arizona, Hashimoto said, where he lived for three years and three months. His brother's ashes were left in Salinas, he said.

During Sunday's event, young and old attended the annual Japanese American Citizens League's Day of Remembrance — 68 years after the initial order.

Representatives from the JACL chapters in Gilroy, Monterey, Salinas Valley, San Benito and Watsonville-Santa Cruz attended.

Keynote speaker Greg Marutani presented a video that featured artwork from the Art of Gaman exhibit due to open at the Renwick Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C. It showcased the artwork Japanese Americans created to pass time during their stay at the camps.

Event committee chairman Paul Ichiuji presented a plaque that will be added to a garden of memories situated near the Rodeo grounds.

"Sharing our stories is what this is really about," Sakai said. "From the immigration of the Japanese people to the day of Dec. 7 and on, we let people know what happened to the Japanese people."

For Hashimoto, he remembers the years he spent in Salinas and Arizona as a time of "great racism" on the West Coast, citing that about 158,000 people of Japanese decent living in Hawaii were left alone by the U.S. government.

However, although it's important to not forget those days, Hashimoto said he's happy those days are long gone.

"We live in one of the most progressive parts in the country," he said. "A lot of changes have taken place."

Source: http://www.thecalifornian.com/article/20100222/NEWS01/2220305/1002/Japanese-Americans-recall-days-of-Salinas-prison-camp




2/14/10

San Diego VeteransExhibit

Compelling exhibit on Japanese-Americans in the military at Veterans Memorial Museum
February 10, 2010
San Diego Sightseeing Examiner by Donald H. Harrison

SAN DIEGO—Probably no event has seared into the consciousness of the Japanese-American community more painfully than their forced relocation from their homes on the West Coast of the United States to internment camps in the interior of the country during World War II.

This is the central portion of an exhibit at the Veterans Memorial Museum in Balboa Park that compellingly examines the 20th century history of Japanese American soldiers from San Diego.
                         Photo: Veterans Memorial Museum in Balboa Park, San Diego.

The exhibit prepared by the Japanese American Historical Society of San Diego will be on view through the end of May 2010.

A few months after Japan’s military forces bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, notices were posted on telephone poles and on walls in San Diego neighborhoods where Japanese Americans were known to live. Families were given one week to pack their belongings and prepare for relocation to the interior. Initially most families from San Diego were taken to the Santa Anita Race Track, where horse stalls served as their temporary homes until an internment camp at Poston, Arizona, could be readied.

Poston was one of ten major internment camps built by the United States government. “From August 1942 until Poston closed in late 1945, the families attempted to live normal lives under circumstances that were anything but normal,” the narrative said.

San Diegan Tetsuzo Hirasaki had been a close friend of the city’s chief librarian Clara Breed. Using a sharpened bed spring, he carved for her from mesquite wood a nameplate that she proudly displayed on her desk at the San Diego Public Library. Instead of being sent to Poston with the rest of his family, Hirasaki’s father, Chiyomatsu, had been sent to camps in North Dakota and New Mexico. The family asked Breed, who wrote a column, to do what she could to help reunite them.

At first, the military was not interested in enlisting Japanese Americans, considering them too great a security risk. Although Mas Tsuida was a seafaring fisherman, the Navy had no desire for his skills. Eventually, however, the U.S. Army created a segregated unit, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, for Japanese Americans willing to fight in the European theatre against Nazi Germany.

After joining, Tsuida was sent to Fort Reilly, Kansas for his basic training. One day he and all the other Japanese-American soldiers were “herded into a single barracks surrounded by military police with machine guns at the ready,” the exhibit related. “President Franklin D. Roosevelt was visiting the base and the MPs were protecting him from those questionable U.S. soldiers.” Afterwards, Tsuida was sent to Naples, Italy, and would fight in Italy and France. He was injured in the October 1944 battle in which the 442nd was sent into the Vosges Mountains to rescue the “Lost Battalion,” which had been surrounded by the Germans. The 442nd was successful, but not without sustaining heavy casualties. At war’s end, Tsuida returned to his life as a fisherman.

Other Japanese-American soldiers had their basic training at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, where those from the mainland United States found themselves thrown in with Japanese from Hawaii, with whom a fierce rivalry initially developed. However, as an exhibit photograph of San Diegan Sam Yamaguchi wearing Hawaiian garb illustrates, the two groups were molded in a single unit.

Among San Diegans fighting in World War II were Yasuichi ‘Jimmy’ Kimura, who used to drive a truck on local vegetable farms before his family was relocated to the internment camp. In the Army, he drove trucks and performed maintenance on them in both the European and North African campaigns. He was awarded a purple heart with an oak leaf cluster for wounds sustained during the rescue of the “Lost Battalion.”

After the war, the services of Japanese-Americans were called upon as interpreters and in other capacities in the occupation of Japan and of Okinawa. San Diegan Francis Tanaka, who later would become a physician with Scripps Mercy Hospital, served as a medical interpreter on Okinawa in 1945 and 1946. Shizue Suwa, a lieutenant junior grade in the Navy nurse corps, was stationed in occupied Japan.

When the internment camps closed in late 1945, Japanese-Americans moved back to San Diego. Those whose family members had served in the military were eligible for veterans’ family housing.

Alan Hayashi, who was born in the Poston, Arizona camp, was drafted into the Army in 1969 after graduation from San Diego State University. He “received the bronze star for actions to cut the supply chain known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail near Da Nang, as well as many other commendations from the United States and the Republic of Vietnam.” He commented that he was “raised with the value of loyalty to my country.”

To read the entire article, visit:
http://image.examiner.com/x-32696-San-Diego-Sightseeing-Examiner~y2010m2d10-Compelling-exhibit-on-JapaneseAmericans-in-the-military-at-Veterans-Memorial-Museum




2/6/10

Kristi Yamaguchi

Faces of America Program
Wednesday, February 10, 2010 8:00 pm
(Check your local listings at: http://www.pbs.org

1st episode: "The Promise of America"
Utilizing genealogical and genetic tools, Henry Louis Gates Jr. unearths the family histories of 12 prominent Americans in this series, beginning with cellist Yo-Yo Ma, director Mike Nichols and figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi (and Poston!)



2/3/10

San Diego State Univ

The San Diego State University wishes to bestow an honorary degree to Japanese Americans, living or deceased who were forced to leave their college studies and be incarcerated in internment camps during World War II.

The following is a list of known San Diego State University students who may be eligible for this honorary degree:

Takeo Asakawa
Fred Harold Chino
Aiji Esaki
Chiyoko Fujiura
Misao Furuta
Margaret F. (Arakawa) Ikeda
Iwao Ishino
Takemitso Ito
Lucille Sookja Kim
George Kita
Grace Yoshiko Kita
Henry Shigeo Koide
Minoru Kojima
Toshiko Kojima
Ikuko Kuratomi
Helen Hirako Kushino
June Junko Kushino
Kenji Kushino
Ellen Kuyama
Kiyoko Matsumoto
Yoshio Matsumoto
Kakuya Nakadate
Shoji Nakadate
Takeo Pol Nakadate
Masato Nakagawa
Mariko Marion Nakaji
Shigeru Nakano
Helen Fumiko Nikuni
George Akira Ono
Mariko (Iwashita) Sato
Jyuichi Sato
Josephine Michiko Sogo
Lillian Sakae Sogo
Marian Aiko Sogo
Noboru Takashima
Tatsuo Takashima
Viola Midori Takeda
Ryo (Morikawa) Tsai
Yukio Tsumagari
Azusa Tsuneyoshi
Grace H. Umezawa
Arnold Kiyoshi Watanabe
Carol Yoshimine

If you know of any of the individuals or their family on the attached list, please contact Kristina Moller ASAP so that she can contact them.

Kristina Moller
Special Consultant
Business Systems Analyst
Enrollment Services
San Diego State University
619.594.8274




J A Leadership Summit

JAPANESE AMERICAN LEADERSHIP SUMMIT Feb.3-4, 2010
Washington, D.C.

For those involved in World War II internment site preservation efforts

Presented by: National J.A.C.L., Heart Mountain, Wyoming Foundation, Japanese American National Museum, Japanese American National Heritage Coalition, the Honorable Norman Y. Mineta, former U.S. Secretary of Transportation and the Honorable Alan K. Simpson, U.S. Senator (retired).

Plenary Session Moderator: Tanya Bowers, Director of Diversity, National Trust.

"Preservation, Interpretation, Education,” session was a discussion of the importance of remembering the WW II Japanese American experience, featuring former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta & retired U.S. Senator Alan Simpson.

"Overview: JA Confinement Sites Program:" by Jon Jarvis, National Park Service.

“Current Preservation Efforts: A Snapshot” by Floyd Mori & reports from various camp group representatives.

“Keys to Successful Fundraising” session by Doug Nelson, CEO, Annie E. Casey Foundation.

National Park Service Informal Question & Answer regarding the National Park Service JA Confinement Sites Grant Program with Kara Miyagishima.


Photo: L-R: Jon Villalobos, President, Poston Community Alliance, Inc., Marlene Shigekawa, Project Manager, Poston Community Alliance, Inc., with the Honorable Alan K. Simpson, U.S. Senator (retired) and Honorable Norman Y. Mineta, former U.S. Secretary of Transportation.

Marlene & Jon met with representatives from Congressman Raul M. Grijalva's office. His district is 2nd largest in Arizona, District 7, which also covers 7 sovereign nations: the Ak-Chin, Cocopah, Colorado River Indian Tribes, Gila River, Pascua Yaqui, Quechan, and Tohono... O'odham. District 7 has both the oldest reservation in Arizona as well as the newest.

Photo: Marlene Shigekawa with Jon Villalobos representing the Poston Restoration Project/Poston Community Alliance, Inc., with Congressman Raul M. Grijalva (Arizona)

                                  Photo: Marlene and Jon at the reception.

A reception was hosted by Congressman Mike Honda. Special recognition was given to members of Congress for their efforts in support of WWII internment camp preservation.



2/2/10

The Tag Project

A video shows Wendy Maruyama's "cascade" of 17,000 tags which represents the three Poston camps, and just the beginning of the project.....

http://vimeo.com/8774422

From the project's Facebook page eo9066.blogspot.com (created by Wendy Maruyama):
'..."The Tag Project", was started in New York - I replicated 1011 tags from internees from my hometown (San Diego/Chula Vista). I was inspired by the thousands of folded origami cranes I saw at the Hiroshima Peace memorial and this group of tags was called "Cascade". I was also deeply moved by the photos of Dorothea Lange, one is shown above: it was her photos that initially provided the physical and emotional weight of the internment, and how it so profoundly affected the Japanese American citizens during and for years to come. All Japanese Americans were rounded up in 1942 and each were issued a tag and an ID number designating their destination: one of several internment camps, all in desolate deserted areas of the United States. The most haunting and striking photos were of the families wearing tags at the various assembly centers before being shipped off by train to these remote areas...'




2/1/10

U.C. Davis

IN RECOGNITION OF THE AWARDING OF AN HONORARY DEGREE TO 
MR. JOHN YASHIO KASHIKI (Poston 328-5-B)

HONORABLE JIM COSTA OF CALIFORNIA IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES


Friday, December 11, 2009 
Mr. COSTA: Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay special tribute to Mr. John Yoshio Kashiki (Poston 328-5-B) of Parlier, California on the occasion of receiving an honorary degree from the University of California, Davis more than 6 decades after his studies were interrupted by the events of World War II.  I ask my colleagues to join me in thanking John for his decades of service to the people of California’s Central Valley.      Mr. Kashiki was born in California in 1919 and grew up in the Imperial Valley. John was attending the University of California, Davis when the onset of World War II led to the internment of Japanese-Americans and nationals of Japanese heritage. John Kashiki was one of hundreds of men and women attending the University of California who were forced to leave their studies in 1942 as a result of the executive order.

Mr. Kashiki’s experience with internment did not, however, serve to sway his commitment to his country. John volunteered to serve in the storied 442nd Infantry regiment of the United States Army which was composed of Asian-American soldiers who served with great distinction in Europe. 
   After returning home, John started farming and packing businesses in Parlier, California and remains an active member of the community and an avid fisherman.

     Over six decades after enrolling in college, John and the forty-six other students who were forced to abandon their studies at the University of California, Davis, are being recognized by the University with the awarding of the honorary degrees they so richly deserve. John, and fellow class members, will receive their degrees on December 12th, 2009 with friends and family in attendance. 
    Please join me in congratulating Mr. John Yashio Kashiki on this well-deserved honor and thanking him for his years of service to his community and to his country.
Source: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CREC-2009-12-11/pdf/CREC-2009-12-11-pt1-PgE2982-4.pdf
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Tears, Smiles and a Dream Fulfilled

UC Davis bestows honorary degrees to 47 Nisei grads and families.

By Nao Gunji and Jordan Ikeda
Rafu Staff Writers
Dec 16 2009
     [John Yoshio] Kashiki (Poston 328-5-B) was one of 47 Japanese Americans who received honorary degrees from UC Davis during its 2009 fall commencement held at the ARC Pavilion on Saturday. He was also one of only 3 Nisei students who made it to the event to personally accept his degree more than 6 decades later.

     Last July, the UC Regents voted to suspend the university system’s 37-year moratorium on honorary degrees to acknowledge more than 700 former Japanese American internees whose educations were interrupted in 1942 due to Executive Order 9066. UC San Francisco honored over 60 Nisei students earlier this month while 45 students received their degrees from UC Berkeley on Sunday.
     Kashiki, along with Ben Mitsuo Hatanaka, 87, Harold Haruya Takahashi, 87, and a group of family members and friends representing 10 former students sat before the 328 graduates of Davis’ fall 2009 graduating class.
     “UC Davis is proud to take part in this important effort, and we are honored to have the former students and their families here today,” UC Davis Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi said during her introduction of the honorees.
Source: http://rafu.com/news/2009/12/tears-smiles-and-a-dream-fulfilled/
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UC Davis to honor Parlier man with honorary degree
Tuesday, Dec. 08, 2009
Fresno Bee staff
     A Parlier man will be among 47 Japanese-American students recognized with honorary degrees Saturday at the University of California at Davis.
     University officials say Yoshio John Kashiki (Poston 328-5-B) 90, of Parlier will attend the ceremony along with about 20 family members.
     The degrees honor former students who were forced to leave their studies because of the internment order during World War II.
     At least three students are expected to attend the ceremony, according to the university. Family members and friends will represent other honorees, including four who have died.