Tuesday April 1, 2025

JAVA e-Advocate April 2025

Vol. 7, No. 84, April 1, 2025

In This Issue…

FDR Presidential Library Day of Remembrance Highlights Korean War Veteran Norio Uyematsu and Story Makes Front Page News in Asahi Shimbun’s Tokyo and Osaka Evening Editions in Japanese
“Raised in Hiroshima, Fought in Vietnam” NHK Documentary on Tak Furumoto
Federal Cuts and Impacts to Veterans
Japanese Heritage Day @ Nationals Park, April 7!
Volunteer Opportunity for Day of Affirmation Ceremony July 15, 2025
Obituary – Doris S. Azama
JAVA Scholarships Deadline April 30!
2025 Q1 Donation Acknowledgement
Upcoming JAVA Events

FDR Presidential Library Day of Remembrance Highlights Korean War Veteran Norio Uyematsu and Story Makes Front Page News in Asahi Shimbun’s Tokyo and Osaka Evening Editions in Japanese

Washington D.C.
Norio Uyematsu was interviewed by FDR Presidential Library and Museum Director William A. Harris at the FDR Presidential Library in May of last year in preparation for their Day of Remembrance observance on February 19, 2025 for the 83^rd commemoration of the signing of Executive Order 9066 by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on February 19, 1942 which forcibly incarcerated 120,000 persons of Japanese ancestry in Japanese American concentration camps during WWII. Two-thirds of those incarcerated were American citizens.

Uyematsu shared his family’s resettlement story after they had nowhere to go after losing everything in Campbell, California and resettled in Brigham City, Utah in November of 1945.

His family and their descendants have lived in Brigham City, Utah for 80 years and it was where, at the age of 17, Uyematsu enlisted in the U.S. Army and was sent to Korea and served with the 521^st Military Intelligence Service as an interrogator of Prisoners of War.

FDR Presidential Library Director William A. Harris pre-taped the interview since he was the keynote speaker for the 2025 Utah Day of Remembrance on Saturday February 15, 2025 in Brigham City, Utah sponsored by the Wasatch Front North JACL in partnership with the Mt. Olympus and Salt Lake JACL Chapters and the Brigham City Museum of Art and History.

Uyematsu inspired the Utah DOR event in addition to the Grand Opening of the Brigham City Museum’s Japanese pioneer exhibit. This exhibition development started in November of 2022.

By Patti Hirahara

George Yamaoka, nephew of Norio Uyematsu, and Norio are photographed in the Brigham City Museum’s exhibit. Photo: Patti Hirahara.

2025 Utah Day of Remembrance at the Brigham City Academy. Photo: Patti Hirahara.

righam City Museum’s exhibit which highlights Uyematsu’s military service, and his U.S. Army footlocker is on display with his military dictionary. Photo: Patti Hirahara.

Norio Uyematsu, 94, addressed the over 270 people in attendance at the Ribbon Cutting Grand Opening of the Japanese pioneer exhibit with Museum Director Alana Blumenthal listening to his comments as honored guest and the Brigham City Museum exhibit is opening to rave reviews from the local community. This 2,000 square foot exhibit is the most successful in the museum’s history and will run through June 21, 2025. (https://brighamcitymuseum.org/)

Daisuke Igarashi, San Francisco Bureau Chief of the Asahi Shimbun came to Brigham City, Utah to cover the event and interview 94 year-old Norio Uyematsu. Photo by Andean Visual. Article: https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15658839?ct=t(EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_6_30_2024_11_39_COPY_02)

“Raised in Hiroshima, Fought in Vietnam” NHK Documentary on Tak Furumoto

Closter, NJ

Japanese American Takeshi Furumoto, born in an incarceration camp and raised in Hiroshima after the atomic bombing, fought in the Vietnam War. He travels in search of closure to his complicated past.

NHK Documentary Link: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/shows/3025198/?ct=t(EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_6_30_2024_11_39_COPY_02)

[EdNote: Tak and Carol Furumoto are generous supporters of JAVA and our next generation of Americans. An excerpt from our JAVA Scholarship page: “Tak worked hard in school to make up for the lost time. He went on to graduate from UCLA with a Business Administration degree in December 1967. A few months later, in February 1968, he volunteered in the United States Army and was commissioned as Intelligence Officer at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Tak served in Vietnam from February 1970 to February 1971, as an Intelligence Officer and Advisor to the National Police (CIA-sponsored ‘Phoenix’ assignment) in Duc Hue District, Hau Nghia Province on the Borders of Cambodia. For his meritorious service in a combat zone, Tak was decorated with a Bronze Star medal in January 1971.”]

Opinion: Federal Cuts and Impact to Veterans

Washington D.C.

The new Administration is making sweeping, historic changes impacting the U.S. economy, global trade, and U.S. foreign policy. The department of government efficiency (DOGE) is taking an aggressive approach to identify the administration’s preferences on how and where to prioritize federal funding. DOGE aims to reduce the federal footprint and save taxpayer dollars, mitigate unnecessary government spending, and streamline acquisition priorities (whitehouse.gov, 2025). The new administration is also leveraging aggressive tariffs on imported goods and services. While this strategy could prompt manufacturers to relocate foreign production back to the U.S., it is a complex endeavor due to globalization forces. Tariffs will undoubtedly stretch the American household income and make imported goods and services more expensive.

However, one area of likely job market growth involves manufacturing and investing in domestic semiconductor production. The tech company, Intel, is constructing three additional manufacturing campuses in the U.S. (two in Arizona and one in Ohio). This domestic tech boom will create job opportunity for Veterans while also boosting U.S. tech independence from overseas competitors (Klipinger.com, 2025).

Perhaps one of the greatest impacts causing uncertainty to Veterans is job and social security. The Federal government prides itself as the leader in Veteran’s employment and especially supporting disabled Veterans. Under the 1944 Veterans Preference Act, about 30% of federal workers are Veterans, half of whom are disabled. As Americans are witnessing profound and drastic changes to the Federal workforce, disabled veterans may face greater disadvantages in the private sector job market.

Additionally, the deep cuts at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will have widespread impacts to Veterans benefits and support. 25% of the VA’s 482,000 employees are Veterans. Staffing cuts to the VA will severely decrease the department’s ability to provide timely and equitable healthcare, short and long-term housing options, life insurance, pensions, education stipends, the suicide hotline, and long-term medical research. These healthcare changes affect the physical, mental and social well-being of all Veterans of all generations across the U.S. As we journey further into the unknown, it is incumbent upon Veterans to keep a close eye on their hard-earned benefits.

JAVA Editorial Board

Celebrate Japanese Heritage Day on April 7 at Nationals Park!

Join JASWDC on April 7th at Nationals Park to celebrate Washington D.C.’s Japanese culture at the Washington Nationals annual Japanese Heritage Day as they face off against the LA Dodgers!

As an added bonus, everyone who purchases a ticket through the official JASWDC link will receive an exclusive Japanese Heritage Day Bomber Jacket!

Plus, you’ll get to sit in the exclusive JASWDC section during the game. Space is limited so be sure to snag your tickets before the April 4th deadline!

Purchase Tickets

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY! Seeking a Military Escort for the 6th Annual Day of Affirmation Ceremony

On Tuesday, July 15, 2025, at 9 am, JAVA will hold its sixth annual Day of Affirmation Ceremony at the World War Two Memorial in Washington, D.C.

The Day of Affirmation commemorates the anniversary of President Harry S. Truman’s review of the returning 442nd Regimental Combat Team on the White House Ellipse on July 15, 1946. This event is called the “Day of Affirmation” by JAVA because President Truman’s salute to the Japanese American soldiers that “You fought not only the enemy, but you fought prejudice – and you have won…” affirms that all the Japanese American soldiers, men and women, who served during World War II are America’s heroes and removes any doubt that they are loyal citizens of the United States of America.

Traditionally, one military escort (in uniform) and two wreath bearers have been integral to the ceremony. We are looking for a serving or retired military member to serve as the escort for this year’s ceremony.

If you are interested, please get in touch with Howard High at [email protected].

Obituary: Doris Setsuko Azama

September 13, 1928 – January 31, 2025

DORIS SETSUKO AZAMA, 96, of Kaneohe, HI went home to the Lord on January 31, 2025. Born in Honolulu, she was preceded in death by her husband Jerry Sakuju Azama; parents George K. and Mikiko Matsumoto; brothers Roy Matsumoto and Carl Matsumoto. Survived by sons Rodney, Wesley, and Kevin Azama (Becky) and daughters Gemey Ogata (Alan) and Lori Yamada (Wayne). Also survived by 10 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren. Doris was the last of her Nisei generation for both Azama and Matsumoto families.

Celebration of Life on Friday, March 14, 2025, Hawaiian Memorial Park.

10am Visitation; 11am Service; 12pm Reception. 2pm Inurnment at Hawaii State Veterans Cemetery.

Born Doris Setsuko Matsumoto on September 13, 1928, the middle of three children of Mikiko (Mitsuhiro) Matsumoto and George K. Matsumoto. Her brother Roy was two years older and Carl was two years younger. Roy was a WWII 442 RCT veteran. Carl was a Korean War veteran of which she was always proud.

Doris grew up in a Nisei camp in the Palama section of Honolulu. As a child she contracted tuberculosis but fully recovered.

She met Jerry, the love of her life, in 1941. Jerry moved-in to live with an older sister in Kalihi so he could transfer to Farrington High School and be closer to Doris. After graduation, Doris attended business school. She and Jerry married in 1950 and immediately started to raise a family.

They moved to Kaneohe and shared a house with Jerry’s parents on a 2 ½ acre tenant farm. When the landowner sold the property to what would become the Kapunahala development, the family moved to a newly built house several miles away on Mokulele Drive.

Avid gardeners, Doris and Jerry propagated a new species of Christmas cactus and registered it as “Azama’s Pink Angel”. Doris worked as a supervisor at the Oshiro Orchid Nursery near their home in Kaneohe, all while also being a full-time mom of five children.

Doris was a devout Christian who read the Bible, prayed regularly and ensured her children attended church every Sunday. Through her life example and encouragements, her mother and husband became Christians.

She was an avid reader who was ahead of her time, practicing natural, holistic health and maintained a healthy diet for her family. Throughout all her busy activities, her healthy lifestyle and positive zest for life, she always maintained a youthful appearance that belied her actual age. When son Rod left Hawaii for West Point with a big send off at the airport a passerby who noticed Rod bedecked with leis, asked Doris if he was her brother.

Doris was loving, gracious, principled and kind – going out of her way to help people in need and often giving food and clothes to neighbors, friends and family. She never said a bad word about anyone and always saw good in people, often repeating the golden rule to her children: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Doris Setsuko Azama was a special lady – a loving wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and fabulous home chef. She spread joy to all she knew and we all celebrate her 96+ years of a well-lived life.

Eulogy on Doris Setsuko Azama as Prepared by her son Rod Azama
March 14, 2025

Mahalo for joining our celebration of Mom’s life. She was born Doris Setsuko Matsumoto on Sept. 13, 1928 – the middle of three children of Mikiko (Mitsuhiro) Matsumoto and George K. Matsumoto. Brother Roy was two years older and brother Carl two years younger.

Our grandfather was bright and a WWI-era sergeant. Mom remembered him as a skilled, recognized speaker and very bright. Unfortunately, he became ill and passed away in 1947 – when my mom was 18. Roy was a 442d RCT WWII veteran, as was his uncle Shigeki Ishikawa of Wahiawa, and worked as a machinist at Pearl Harbor. Carl was a Korean War veteran and had a career at Camp Zama and Okinawa as an Army civilian personnel specialist. Dad was a WWII veteran who served in Europe. Mom was proud of all of them.

My mom grew up in a Nisei camp in Palama – on Robello Lane behind the old Palama Theatre – a treat for us when we were growing up. It was a special treat when we could see a movie there. Mom was close to her childhood neighbors – like the Nakagawa’s and Sakagawa’s – her playmates and their families. We learned later that she contracted tuberculosis as a child – maybe because of the cramped conditions, but was treated & luckily recovered.

When we look at her elementary school photos, she looked amazingly like the mom we grew up with – pretty, cute, and cheerful. Mom attended Ka’ulani Elementary, Kalakaua Intermediate, and graduated from Farrington High in 1946. She remembered and learned from the Depression (as in washing and reusing jars & Zip-Loc bags) and during WWII.

At Farrington, Mom was in advanced placement classes and her teachers recommended that she attend a mainland college, which was unaffordable. She attended the University of Hawaii briefly but selflessly dropped out when her father passed away. She needed to run the household while my grandma worked to make ends meet.

Dad had met Mom around 1941 and moved in with his older sister in Kalihi so he could transfer to Farrington and be closer to Mom. Paths for women were limited in the 1940s. Mom worked at Fong, Miho, Choy & Robinson – Senator Hiram Fong’s law firm, and then attended Phillips Commercial School in 1948 to learn secretarial skills. There she became lifelong friends with my aunt Thelma Haraguchi Matsuo from Hanalei.

Mom was at my grandma’s in Palama eating Thanksgiving dinner in 1950 when I started to emerge and was born in the ambulance – a preemie who spent months in an incubator. My brother Wes was born a year after me, Gemey three years later, Lori two years after that, and Kevin a pleasant surprise three years later.

We grew up on my fraternal grandpa’s 2 ½ acre tenant farm with Ji-Ji, Ba-Ba, chickens, pigs, cows, dogs, and a plowhorse. Life was not easy for Mom, with no bathroom & an outhouse. She heated water & bathed us in a large, galvanized metal tub. When we got too big, Dad built a shower on the front porch. After working at a service station, Dad became a Gerber Baby Food salesman, and my parents raised & sold plants & fruits for additional income.

The landowner sold the farmland to the developers of Kapunahala, but my parents had saved to build a house on Mokulele Drive by the Bayview Golf Center. Dad did a lot of the work, paving a long driveway, building a covered patio, tile walls around the yard, a courtyard & koi pond. They built a hothouse & raised plants all around the yard, selling them at places like Koolau Farmers & Star Garden. They were proud of a new species of Christmas cactus they bred, registered, and named Azama’s Pink Angel.

Mom became a lei supervisor at the nearby Otake Vanda Nursery, later the Oshiro Nursery. She was a full-time mom of five kids, always busy and hardworking. Mom was also principled and religious. She – with my dad’s enforcer support – sent us to church every Sunday, read the Bible, and prayed regularly. She converted her mom & my dad to Christianity.

Mom was ahead of her time, practicing holistic health and caring for her complexion daily despite working outdoors in the sun. Her skin remained beautiful all her life and she had far less gray hairs than me. She was loving, gracious, and kind – going out of her way to help others in need, such as taking food & groceries to a recently divorced neighbor. We never heard a bad word or judgment about anyone and she always remembered extended family & friends.

When we kids went separate ways – Wes and I to school and then Army careers, Gem, Lori, & Kev marrying & starting families – Mom & Dad were the core around whom we congregated. It was always a joy to see & visit them, and enjoy Mom’s great home cooking. When my parents were younger, they traveled and visited Wes & I wherever we were stationed.

We learned a lot from Mom & Dad. I became a lifelong learner like Mom, and learned to love the arts & other cultures. We learned to leave places better than we found them, fix our beds, honor our family & ancestors, do the harder right instead of the easier wrong, and of course, the Golden Rule.

It is hard to capture almost a century-long life in a few minutes, but Mom was special, not just because she was our mom. She was especially loving, concerned, gracious, and cheerful. She spread a lot of joy and we celebrate her 96+ years of life. Mom is now with my dad, her parents and brothers, as well as your families & friends.

JAVA Scholarships Now Open until April 30, 2025!

Celebrating the Legacy of World War II Nisei Military Service

Applications will be available from our website, java-us.org

2025 Japanese American Veterans Association Memorial Scholarships Celebrating the  Legacy of World War II Nisei Military Service. The Japanese American Veterans Association is excited to announce its annual Memorial Scholarship Program for 2025. The scholarships will benefit a range of graduating high school seniors, undergraduate students, and post-graduate and professional education students.

The scholarships include:

The U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye Memorial Scholarship ($3,000) honoring the late U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye’s iconic career of military and civilian public service;

The Ishio Founder’s Scholarship ($3,000), awarded in memory of JAVA’s founder, Colonel Sunao Phil Ishio, U.S. Army, his wife Constance and their son Douglas Ishio;

The Kiyoko Tsuboi Taubkin Legacy Scholarship ($2,000), a tribute to Ms. Kiyoko Tsuboi Taubkin, a longtime supporter of JAVA;

The COL Jimmie Kanaya Legacy Scholarship ($2,000), honoring U.S. Army Colonel Jimmie Kanaya, a three-war Veteran – World War II, Korea, and Vietnam;

Ten JAVA Memorial Scholarships ($1,500), honoring Nisei veterans, JAVA member and/or their family members.
- - Dr. Americo Bugliani Scholarship in honor of his liberator, Paul Sakamoto,100th Infantry Battalion/44nd RCT Veteran
- - Furumoto Family Scholarship in honor of Lilian Kyoko Furumoto, the sister of JAVA member and Vietnam Veteran, Tak Furumoto
- - Ranger Grant Hirabayashi Scholarship in honor of Ranger Grant Jiro Hirabayashi, MIS and Ranger Hall of Fame inductee
- - Izuno Family Scholarship in honor of JAVA member and Korea War Veteran, Dr. Takumi Izuno who served in the U.S. Army 5th Military Intelligence Service
- - Mitsugi Kasai Scholarship in honor of CWO4 Mitsugi Murakami Kasai, MIS Veteran
- - Sadami Katahara Scholarship in honor of Sadami Katahara, 100th Infantry Battalion Veteran
- - Ben Kuroki Scholarship in honor of Sergeant Ben Kuroki, a gunner in the U.S. Army Air Corps 505th Bombardment Group
- - Vic & Teru Matsui Scholarship in honor of Victor Matsui, MIS Veteran, and his wife, Teru
- - COL Virgil Miller Scholarship in honor of Colonel Virgil R. Miller, Commander of the 442nd, who led the Nisei soldiers in their rescue of the Texas “Lost Battalion” n the Vosges Mountains of France during WWII
- - Robert Nakamoto Scholarship in honor of past JAVA President and Korean War veteran, Bob Nakamoto

Descendants of those who served in the 100th Infantry Battalion, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the Military Intelligence Service, the 1399th Engineer Construction Battalion, and the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion; and descendants of Japanese American soldiers who served during World War II in other United States military units to include the Women’s Army Corps or Army Nurses Corps are eligible to apply for a JAVA Scholarship.

Current members of JAVA whose membership began prior to April 1, 2023 are eligible to apply. Children of current JAVA members are also eligible to apply if the applicant’s parent or guardian was a member of JAVA prior to April 1, 2023.

In addition, past or present members of the U.S. Army’s 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry Regiment are eligible and encouraged to apply for the U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye Memorial Scholarship. Also eligible are individuals enrolled in a college or university Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) or U.S. Marine Corps Platoon Leaders Course. Applicants should demonstrate their lifelong commitment to public and uniformed service leadership for the nation.

Applicants should first review published rules and forms. Applications and supporting documents must be electronically submitted no later than 11:59 p.m., April 30, 2025, to the JAVA Scholarship Committee with either “2025 Inouye Memorial Scholarship”, “2025 Ishio Founder’s Memorial Scholarship”, “2025 JAVA Legacy Scholarship,” or “2025 JAVA Memorial Scholarship” and the applicant’s name in the subject line. Applications not received by that date, or that fail to meet the submission requirements, will NOT be considered. Applicants will be notified of a decision in early June 2025. Awards will be presented at a virtual JAVA scholarship awards ceremony June 28, 2025, at 3:00 pm ET (12 noon PT, 9 am HT).

For more information, contact [email protected] or [email protected].

2025 Q1 Donation Acknowledgement

The Japanese American Veterans Association sincerely thanks our donors for their generosity. Your unwavering support empowers us to sustain our programs and partnerships, fostering opportunities and progress for all Americans.

Upcoming JAVA Events

Sunday, May 25th. 77th Annual Memorial Day Event. Arlington National Cemetery.

Saturday, June 28, 3:00 PM ET. 17th Annual JAVA Memorial Scholarship Awards Ceremony. Facebook Live.

Tuesday, July 15, 9:00 AM ET. 6th Annual Day of Affirmation Ceremony, WWII Memorial, Washington, D.C.