(From left) Ryan Yoshikawa, Betty Katsura, Anne Chilcott, Bill Yamane, Clyde Wilson, Marcia Mahony and Joseph Gu (Photo: George Toshio Johnston)
Five JACLers at chapter level are feted
after pandemic pause; Sapphire Pin to Takayama.
By George Toshio Johnston, Senior Editor
Following a pandemic-induced hiatus, the JACL’s Pacific Southwest District held its first awards luncheon since 2019 on a recent sunny Saturday at the Torrance Cultural Arts Center to recognize the varied contributions of chapter members within its region, which encompasses California counties south of Kern and Monterey counties, the states of Arizona and New Mexico and the southwestern portion of Nevada.
The Oct. 19 event was also an opportunity for attendees to watch a screening of the documentary “Removed by Force” (see Dec. 15, 2023, Pacific Citizen, tinyurl.com/y72c8w87), which was produced by JACL’s Hawaii chapter, and hear from and interact with the filmmakers, director and co-executive producer Ryan Kawamoto and co-producer Bill Kaneko, in from Hawaii.
Ryan Kawamoto (left) and Bill Kaneko (Photo: George Toshio Johnston)
At the chapter level, the PSW recognized Riverside JACL chapter member Clyde Wilson, Ph.D.; San Fernando Valley JACL chapter member Marcia Mahony; Venice-West Los Angeles chapter member Sharon Kumagai; and two members of the Ventura County JACL chapter, Janice Tanaka and Betty Katsura. In a surprise for the recipient, honored at the district level with a JACL Sapphire Pin was Nancy Takayama.
Tomoyuki Yamagata (Photo: David Fukumoto)
With former PSW Gov. Ryan Yoshikawa — now JACL’s vp of general operations (see July 26, 2024, Pacific Citizen, tinyurl.com/4s4vdwp4)— serving as the event’s master of ceremonies, the afternoon began with welcoming remarks from Tomoyuki Yamagata, recently assigned consul for general affairs and public relations for the Consulate General of Japan in Los Angeles. “I am very much looking forward to connecting with the Southern California Japanese American community, especially due to its strong influence as one of the largest Japanese communities outside of Japan in the world,” he said.
The next speaker was Torrance City Councilmember Jonathan Kaji (District 1), who also serves as the city’s Finance and Governmental Operations Committee chair and is a member of the Employee Relations and Public Safety and the Strategic Plan Committees.
In full cheerleader mode, Kaji mentioned how his city had recently inked friendship city agreements with the Japanese municipalities of Bizen, in Okayama Prefecture, and Oshu, in Iwate Prefecture — not coincidentally the respective hometowns of Los Angeles Dodgers players Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani.
(From left) Joseph Gu, Takeshi Ryan Gasha, Ryan Kawamoto, Tomoyuki Yamagata, Jon Kaji, Bill Kaneko and Ryan Yoshikawa (Photo: Douglas Urata)
“In addition, I’d like to mention that here in Torrance, just up the street on Prairie, we plan to site the World War II Camp Wall Memorial on one of our city parks, Columbia Park,” said Kaji, who added that the state of California had already allocated $5 million to the project. “We’ll be also working together to raise more money so that this becomes, eventually, we hope, a national memorial, as the one location to memorialize Executive Order 9066.”
In his last plug for his city, Kaji referred to a new Torrance-based joint venture between Japan’s Sony Corp. and Honda Motor Co. — named Sony Honda Mobility — to produce battery-powered electric vehicles.
2024 PSWD lunch attendees Ron Osajima and B.J. Watanabe (Photo: Douglas Urata)
Following the Cherrystones restaurant-catered lunch were the awards presentations, with Riverside JACL’s Wilson, a botanist, receiving the first of the afternoon’s commemorative Japanese ceramic platters. In addition to an impressive academic background and a professional résumé that includes academic positions in France and Great Britain, as well as at University of California, Riverside, where he focused on the effects of water on rice yield, and in retirement, at Riverside Community College District’s Norco College, where he taught biology, Wilson’s contributions to the Riverside JACL includes serving as the chapter’s treasurer and as master of ceremonies at numerous chapter events.
Yoshikawa then recognized Mahony, who he noted has followed in the footsteps of her father, Tom Doi, whose longtime service to JACL included serving as the San Fernando Valley chapter’s treasurer, a position she now holds. Yoshikawa noted, however, that her “biggest contribution” to the chapter dates back to 2013, when she took on the role of coordinating ad sales for the Pacific Citizen’s annual holiday issue. According to Yoshikawa, over the years she has earned the chapter nearly $60,000.
Accepting the next award on behalf of his late wife, Sharon Kumagai, was Bill Yamane. Kumagai, who died in 2021 at 70, served the JACL and the Japanese American and Asian American communities over the decades in several areas. Prior to its 2016 merger with the West Los Angeles JACL chapter (see Feb. 10, 2017, Pacific Citizen,), which she helped formalize, Kumagai served as president and board member of the Venice-Culver JACL chapter and was active with such organizations as Japanese American National Museum, Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics and Venice Japanese Community Center. Since her death, the Venice West Los Angeles JACL has created a namesake scholarship in her honor.
Ventura County JACL’s Tanaka and Katsura were the next to be recognized. Tanaka, an at-large board member for the chapter, has a background in filmmaking as a producer, director, TV executive at Fox and tenured professor. “Deeply affected by her parents’ incarceration during World War II, Tanaka belongs to just a handful of filmmakers with a résumé of multiple acclaimed shorts and feature-length films on America’s concentration camps,” Yoshikawa said. Accepting Tanaka’s award in her absence was Ventura County JACL colleague Anne Chilcott.
Katsura, who worked as a supervisor of juvenile hall for the Ventura County probation department for 33 years, was recognized for her longtime community service and participation in Japanese American cultural activities, including the annual spring cleanup event at Ventura County’s historic Japanese cemetery and work on her chapter’s Scholarship Committee, having also funded a memorial scholarship in honor of her late husband, Yoshi Katsura. Over the years, she has also served as a member-at-large, vice president and book club coordinator.
Yoshikawa then revealed the afternoon’s surprise. “I think we did a good job of not letting them know who they are. They are someone who does not like to take credit and probably wouldn’t want to be recognized in this way if we let them know,” he said. “So, it is my honor to present the Sapphire Pin to Nancy Takayama.”
Ryan Yoshikawa and Nancy Takayama (right) with a close up of the Sapphire Pin (Photo: George Toshio Johnston)
He related that Takayama has been a member of the San Fernando Valley chapter since 2000 and has served in various leadership roles, including president and vice president. She is currently the PSW District’s board member-at-large and has been active in preserving historically and culturally significant sites, with the Tuna Canyon Detention Station being a case in point. She is also on the board of the San Fernando Valley Japanese American Community Center and in 2015 was recognized as one of five Women of the Year by the Downtown JACL and the Japanese Women’s Society of Southern California (see May 10, 2015, Pacific Citizen, tinyurl.com/3kzs9phe).
“I am very thankful that Ryan listed all the organizations that I volunteer with,” Takayama said. “I do it because of …the friendships that I have with all the organizations and the people. It’s the people that have the greatest impact in my life.”
PSWD Gov. Joseph Gu (Photo: George Toshio Johnston)
Yoshikawa then spoke of the transition that had taken place, with him now the outgoing district governor, having been elected as JACL’s national vp of general operations at last summer’s national convention, and with Joseph Gu, co-president the SELANOCO/Orange County chapter, now serving also as the PSWD’s governor. “Although my time on the PSW board has been rather brief, because I only joined the board about half-ish a year ago, I would also like to extend my thanks and appreciation for the leadership of the PSW board as well,” Gu said, thanking Yoshikawa, Takayama, Andrew Gruhn, Alayne Yonemoto and Ryan Gasha.
Ron Wakabayashi (Photo: Douglas Urata)
With the conclusion of the awards ceremony, it was time for the screening of “Removed by Force,” which was followed by remarks by filmmakers Kawamoto and Kaneko, both of whom also took some questions from the audience.
In addition to Yamagata and Kaji, other notable persons in the audience included former JACL National Director Ron Wakabayashi, B.J. Watanabe and Ron Osajima, El Camino College Board of Trustees President Trisha Murakawa, P.C. Editorial Board Chair John Saito Jr., former PSWD office manager Carol Saito, Riverside JACL Chapter President Michiko Yoshimura, San Fernando Valley Chapter President May Wood, SELANOCO/Orange County JACL Chapter Co-President Ryan Gasha and Caitlin Chen of California Bank & Trust.
Carol Saito (left) and Trisha Murakawa (Photo: Douglas Urata)
