The Greater Portland Japanese American Community celebrated its elders at the DoubleTree Hotel near the Lloyd Center in Portland on Oct. 10.
Sponsored annually by the Gresham-Troutdale JACL, the Japanese Ancestral Society, Portland JACL, the Japanese American Museum of Oregon and the Veleda Club, the luncheon highlighted the lives of the elders who have reached their 95th birthday.
For 2026, there were 30 honorees, with eight attending in person.
Honorees able to attend in person were Richard Noburo Endow (95), Aya Fujii (99), Tom Fujii (99), Seichi Konno (101), Shu Konno (99), Taka Mizote (102), Frank Nakata (100) and Alice Watanabe (101).
The program included words before and after the meal, a congratulatory message from Portland City Councilor Tiffany Koyama Lane and was highlighted by a presentation that honored each of the 30 elders with a capsule of their life and contributions to the Greater Portland Community.
The names of the elders honored who were unable to attend in person were Linnea Foss (104), Amy Furumasu (98), Jim Hasegawa (95) Kimi Iwamoto (104) Fude Kagawa (98) Misako Kodama (99) Jean Kozawa (97) Mishie Matsumoto (96), Tsuyako Monas (98) Ella Morisato (98), George Morishige (104), Setsuko Morishige (97), Janet Nagata (97), Sam Naito (104), Harry Nakamura (96), Etsuko Osaki (95), Bertha Saiget (101), Sachiko Kawara Simmons (95), Kazue Sumoge (100), Satoru Terada (99), Chiyoko Watanabe (99) and Vivian Wong (99).
A special acknowledgment was delivered for those elders who had passed since last year’s event.
This included Bessie Asai, Paul Ase, Dan Hinatsu, Michiko Kiyokawa, Afton Nozaki, Hideo Ouchida, Robert Ouchida, Henry “Shig” Sakamoto, Dorothy Sato and Jeanne Shioshi.
The tentative date for next year’s luncheon has been set for Oct. 23.
— PNW JACL
