Pictured (from left) are May Wood, Santiago Garcia-Uriarte, Declan Hirota, Evan Muranaka, Asuka Watanabe, Olivia Muratsu Ortega, Tenka Watanabe, Jamie Lac, Michaela Okuyama, Bing Lau and Ariel Imamoto. Not pictured are Haruki Panjanon and Alexa Nagasawa. (Photos: George Toshio Johnston)
Community Center, JACL chapter honor
college-bound youth, remember Kyoko Oda.
By P.C. Staff
The late — and beloved — Kyoko Nancy Oda was in everyone’s thoughts May 16 at the San Fernando Valley Japanese American Community Center and San Fernando Valley JACL chapter’s Scholarship Awards Luncheon, which took place at the center’s Dr. Sanbo Sakaguchi Hall.
“If I start crying, don’t mind me,” said SFV JACL Chapter President May Wood in reference to Oda (see June 5, 2026, Pacific Citizen, tinyurl.com/9e9a3evy). Oda, who died the day before, had long served at the SFVJACC and was a member of the SFV JACL chapter.
Noting that 2026 marked the 72nd year since the SFVJACC and SFV JACL have been awarding scholarships, she thanked the scholarship committees, which included Kyoko Oda and her widower, Kay Oda. “They put their heart into reading each application.”
Troy Kadonaga, who was a 2024 scholarship winner, introduced this year’s scholarship recipients.
Wood then introduced scholarship presenter Troy Kadonaga, a recent University of Southern California graduate who completed his degree in three years and was a scholarship recipient in 2023 and ’24. “I’m beyond grateful for the opportunities that I received because of these scholarships, and like May said, I strongly encourage all of today’s recipients to come back and stay involved in the community,” he told the audience.
For 2026, the three recipients of the Dr. Sanbo Sakaguchi Scholarship for Academic Excellence were Evan Tamotsu Muranaka, Alexa Elizabeth Kogiku Nagasawa and Santiago Eduardo Garcia-Uriarte.
Muranaka, a senior at Chatsworth Charter High School and the valedictorian of his class, plans to attend University of Southern California and major in economics. Nagasawa, who was absent because she was competing in a CIF championship track meet, is a senior at Glendale High School and will be attending the University of Texas at Austin in the fall as a film major. Garcia-Uriarte, a senior from Granada Hills Charter High School who attended SFV Japanese Language Institute for seven years, intends to major in nuclear engineering.
The Kay Kazuko Sakaguchi Scholarship for Visual & Performing Arts went to Declan Kento Hirota and Asuka Watanabe. Hirota, a senior at North Hollywood Senior High School, will attend Tongji University in Shanghai, People’s Republic of China, to study architecture. Watanabe, a senior at Burbank High School, plans to pursue a career as a nurse.
The Lily Sakaguchi Thibodeaux Scholarship for Leadership & Service went to Olivia Muratsu Ortega, Tenka Watanabe and Haruki Theodore Panjanon. Ortega, a senior at Louisville High School, also received the SFV JACL Freshman Scholarship, and she plans to major in elementary education.
Burbank High School senior Watanabe plans to study business, and Crescenta Valley High School senior Panjanon plans to double major in economics and Japanese at the University of California, Berkeley. Accepting the award on his behalf was his mother, Yasuko Panjanon.
Mistress of Ceremonies Ariel Imamoto, JACL national membership manager
The Daniel T. Nagasawa MD Scholarship for High School & College Athletes went to University of California, Irvine, student Michaela Okuyama, who is majoring in political science and psychology, and Oakwood School senior Jamie Alexandra Lac, whose plans are to attend New York University and major in sports management.
Serving as the event’s mistress of ceremonies was JACL staffer Ariel Imamoto, national membership manager. The invocation was by Rev. James Iwata of Sunrise Japanese Foursquare Church; as a last-minute fill-in for the benediction was his father, Rev. Paul Iwata.
The SFVJACC scholarships committee was comprised of Kay Oda, Kyoko Oda, Chisato Kanagi, Leslie Shirasawa and Jaymie Takeshita. The SFV JACL scholarships committee was comprised of Wood, Marcia Mahony, Barbara Okita, Kristen Fujitaki and Linda Tanaka.
Also present at the luncheon was SFVJACC Administrative Director Bing Lau.