‘Evening of Aloha’ contrasts today’s challenges to Nisei vets’ service, success of redress.
GFBNEC President and CEO Mitch Maki (Photo: George Toshio Johnston)
By P.C. Staff
By connecting the success of the Japanese American redress movement to the service and intrepidity of those Nisei who served the United States during World War II, the Go for Broke National Education Center’s President and CEO Mitch Maki added a new layer to the tried-and-true format of the organization’s gala fundraising dinner and created a compelling case for continuing the legacy of what Japanese Americans fought for more than 80 years ago.
(See Pacific Citizen’s coverage of the 2024 Evening of Aloha at tinyurl.com/yrd5urt7 and the 2023 Evening of Aloha at tinyurl.com/yzdcuxrd.)
With KABC Channel 7 news anchor — and GFBNEC board of directors member — David Ono reprising his role as master of ceremony for the annual Evening of Aloha, held on Sept. 27, the more than 500 in attendance at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites witnessed the posting of the colors by 100th Battalion/442nd Regimental Color Guard, as well as the vocal powers of singers Lauren Kinkade-Wong and Kendyl Sayuri Yokoyama, a returnee from last year’s event.
From left: Kotoist June Kuramoto; vocalists Lauren Kinkade-Wong and Kendyl Sayuri Yokoyama belt out their rendition of “The Prayer”; and Kaze Jones performs his “Go for Broke” rap in front of a slide of Daniel Inouye as a second lieutenant while serving in the 100th Battalion/442nd Regimental Combat Team. (Photos: George Toshio Johnston)
Audience members were also treated to the fiery rap stylings of Kaze Jones, the transcendent tones of June Kuramoto’s koto and the grace of Hālau Hula ‘Keali’i O Nālani’s Staci Kanani Toji and her moving accompaniment to “Aloha ‘Oe” during the program’s In Memoriam section.
Nisei WWII veterans in attendance included (from left) Ed Nakamura, Mary Tamura and Tokuji “Toke” Yoshihashi. (Photos: George Toshio Johnston)
Three Japanese American WWII veterans were also present to bask in the gratitude of the audience: 102-year-old Tokuji “Toke” Yoshihashi, representing the 100th Battalion/442nd Regimental Combat Team; 100-year-old Edward Nakamura, representing the Military Intelligence Service; and 101-year-old Mary Tamura, representing the U.S. Armed Forces Cadet Nurse Corps.
Notable in his absence was 442nd vet Yosh Nakamura, who celebrated his 100th birthday in June. Ono remarked, “We extend our deepest thanks to Yosh for his service during and after the war and wish him the very best in his recovery.”
From the stage, GFBNEC Board of Directors Chair George Tanaka told the audience how he was “superexcited at the opportunity” to continue working for the organization’s “future growth and opportunity.”
Tanaka was followed by an In Memoriam video of veterans who had died between this and the 2024 Evening of Aloha. Listed in the video were Gerald “Jerry” Gustafson, Norman Hashisaka, Kayo Hayakawa, Tsuneishi Hayao, Shigeo Iwamasa, Tadashi Marushige, Masao Motooka, Sam Sakamoto, Lawrence Yatsu and Seiji Zakimi.
GFBNEC Board of Directors Chair George Tanaka (left) and GFBNEC Board of Directors Member Rick Shinto (Photos: George Toshio Johnston)
Rick Shinto, GFBNEC board of directors member, noted how he and many in the audience “grew up with our fathers and uncles who came from WWII and never spoke of what they did,” and how important it was to “break that silence” and “remember their stories.” Those in the video were George Ariyoshi, 99; Shigeyuki “Shig” Doi, 105; Roy Hideo Fujii, 101; Shigemi Hashimoto, 99; Enoch Haruo Kanaya, 100; Isamu Kanekuni, 103; Ikuro “Mano” Kawahara, 101; Jack Yasuo Kubota, 91; Robert Toshio Kubota, 93; Casey Hiroshi Kunimura, 100; Takashi “Taka” Manago,101; George Hideo Masaki, 99; Ronald “Shig” Matsunaga,98; Hachiro “Hutch” Mayewaki, 100; Tom Miyasaki, 101; Frank Morimoto, 99; Edward Yoshio Nakamura, 100; Yoshio “Yosh” C. Nakamura, 100; Fred Bunichi Oda, 99; Walter Tadao Oka, 97; Masaharu Saito, 102; Kiyo Sato, 102; Terry T. Shima, 102; Hideo “Pakala” Takahashi, 101; Mary Tamura, 101; Robert Ryuma Uyesaka, 99; Shigeru “Shig” Yamada, 97; Kazuo Fred Yamaguchi, 100; Ted Takashi Yasuda, 103; Tetsuo “Ted” Yasunaga, 103; Iwao Yonemitsu, 102; and Tokuji “Toke” Yoshihashi, 102.
A year-in-review video from the GFBNEC Media Production Team followed to update the audience on the organization’s activities since 2024’s EoA. Also adding to the update was Melanie Ramirez, Los Angeles chair of GFBNEC’s Torchbearer program.
Maki, who co-authored the 1999 book “Achieving the Impossible Dream: How Japanese Americans Obtained Redress,” drove the most-compelling aspect of the show. Using his talent for showmanship and as a public speaker, as well as his knowledge of both the Japanese American redress campaign and of the service of the 442nd and MIS, he deftly made the case that the exemplary military record of Japanese Americans — despite many having had their rights as U.S. citizens denied — who served on the battlefields of Europe and North Africa, as well as those who served in military intelligence throughout the Pacific Theater, played an outsize role in making redress a reality.
GFBNEC Board of Directors Member Jeff Maloney and GFBNEC National Torch Bearer Chair Kendra Motoyasu (Photos: George Toshio Johnston)
GFBNEC Board of Directors Member Jeff Maloney and GFBNEC’s National Torchbearer Chair Kendra Motoyasu also made a pitch to the audience to continue to help support the organization.
Credited for the dinner were Roy’s Restaurants founder and longtime GFBNEC supporter Roy Yamaguchi, the Westin Bonaventure’s chef Andreas Nieto and for dessert, King’s Hawaiian Bakery & Restaurant pastry chef Heather Campbell.
Event sponsors included US Bank MUFG (Ruby Sponsor); MUFG, Bill and Christy Seki, Dennis and Lorraine Kimura, the Shinto Family Foundation and the Sugimoto Family Foundation (Emerald Sponsors); and Central Pacific Bank, King’s Hawaiian, Nikki Kodama and family, Yoshio C. Nakamura family, Pacific Bridges Companies and in memory of Kazuo and Mary Yamane — Joyce Yamane and Stephen Waite (Platinum Sponsors). (A complete list of sponsors and auction donors may be viewed at tinyurl.com/27ekv8m8.)
Pictured (from left) are Ed Nakamura, U.S. Rep. Mark Nakano and Tokuji Yoshihashi. (Photo: George Toshio Johnston)
