They’re our everyday heroes in plain clothes—the revered second-generation Japanese American veterans of World War II. Fewer than 250 Hawai‘i nisei vets are known to be alive today in Hawai‘i. And the war is just part of their life stories.
The HONOLULU team spent five months interviewing and photographing 17 nisei veterans for the December cover story, “Soldiering On.”
Sometimes you need a little (or big) push to remember what’s important.
Harold Afuso can’t pinpoint the exact moment he met his wife, Patsy, which elicits a slap on the arm. “The nerve!” she says. The couple laughs, and Patsy tells the story. One Saturday night, she and her friends went…
George Ariyoshi’s name is already in Hawai‘i and U.S. history books. Following his service as an MIS interpreter in Japan, he returned home and helped shape the political landscape in the Islands. He is our longest-serving governor (completing three…
Kenji Ego loves the outdoors: Nearly every significant milestone in his life can be traced back to nature. He vividly remembers his first assignment as a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist, spending two months at a time…
Family friend Donna Higashi describes Yoshiaki Fujitani as “a man before his time.” Many know him as the bishop of Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawai‘i. His 12-year leadership has been marked by bold changes. Fujitani broadened Hongwanji’s reach and…
It started with a crash. It was the early 1990s, nearly 50 years after Shinye Gima returned home from Okinawa, where he had served as an MIS translator. He was a bachelor, still looking for “the one.” Then he…
Royce Higa didn’t have much growing up. As the first child born in Hawai‘i to Okinawan immigrants and the first to speak English, he had to represent the family. College was never a thought until he returned home from…
Asa Higuchi’s life story can be told in 21 pages. That’s the length of a memoir he began after his wife, Edna, died in 2008. A friend had suggested he try writing, and for 10 months, that’s what he…
At 101, Hidenobu Hiyane considers himself a lucky man. He dodged death more than once while serving in Europe—his commanding officer was shot and killed while Hiyane was standing right next to him; in another close call, a grenade landed…
It was the war that led Henry Ishida to his best friend, Minoru Hirozawa. They met in their 442nd RCT company, and afterward, they did everything together. The two traveled to the East Coast, joined a dance club with…
In 1960, a new City Council seat was created to represent the growing area from ‘Aiea to Wai‘anae. Ben Kaito had decided as a kid that he wanted to help improve the government. He ran and won. But…
Fujio Matsuda found instant camaraderie and comfort when he joined the 442nd RCT. But he soon felt like an outsider again. After training for nine months with the 442nd, he was transferred to a separate Army training program,…
Ike Muraoka was the coolest dad. That’s how daughter Pat describes her father when she and her sister were growing up. He was welcoming and appreciated a good joke. “All of our friends came over to the house,…
When Curtis Noborikawa was injured during the war, he used art as therapy. He drew pictures detailing his time in Europe including the moment machine-gun fire shattered his leg on Hill 140 in Italy (see them in the photo…
When Richard and Hisae Nomura moved in with daughter Lori Noborikawa in 2012, the neighbors started a saying: “Everybody lives long there.” And rightly so. Both husband and wife turned 96 this year (and the family’s white cat, Salty, just…
Playing baseball was a given in the Omiya family. With three sons, Tatsuo Omiya already had a third of a team. And he loved the sport. Omiya played at McKinley High and competed in 442nd RCT tournaments across Europe.…
At 98, Clinton Shiraishi still goes to his office every day. But he didn’t always want to be a lawyer. After the war, he enrolled in Gregg College in Chicago to learn the skills of a court reporter.…
For Herbert Yanamura, it’s the destination that matters. And he’s seen plenty of those. By 83, he’d traveled to all but two states with his wife, Chiyo. When she died in 2006, Yanamura remained determined to reach all 50.…
