Izuno Family Scholarship 


a JAVA Memorial Scholarship for High School Seniors

JAVA is profiling the sacrifices and contributions made by the men and women that our JAVA Memorial Scholarship program honors. Today's issue showcases the Izuno Family Scholarship, named for JAVA member and Korean War veteran, Dr. Takumi Izuno, who attended high school while incarcerated in the War Relocation Authority Camp in Jerome, Arkansas. He later served with the U.S. Army 511th MIS in Korea. Dr. Izuno spent essentially his entire professional career in international agriculture, promoting peace through enhancing food production worldwide. The Izuno Family Scholarship is sponsored by his daughter JAVA Executive Council member CAPT (Dr.) Cynthia Izuno Macri, MC, USN (Ret), on behalf of Dr. Izuno's five children. It is one of the $1,500 JAVA Memorial Scholarships that will be awarded to a high school senior who will be entering a two or four-year college or university in the fall. Application information can be found at the end of the article as well as on the JAVA website. 

Izuno family en route to Cairo, Egypt from Hilo, HI, 1965. Back: Mume Izuno, Doris Izuno, Takumi Izuno, Tokio Izuno.  Front: five children – Dr. Cynthia Macri (CAPT MC USN, Ret.), Laurel Fagenson (BSN, MBA, MEd), Nancy Izuno (BA, MPhil), Dr. Forrest Izuno, (BS, MS, Ph.D.), Christine Izuno-Zwick, (BS, MS, MS). Photo: Courtesy of Izuno Family.

Dr. Takumi Izuno was born on February 4th, 1930, in Pahoa, Hawaii, the 5th of six children born to Tokio and Mume Izuno, who immigrated to Hawaii from Kumamoto, Japan, in the early 1900s. Immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, his father, an educator, was arrested and scheduled for deportation. Ultimately, however, he was sent to the U.S. Prisoner of War Camp within Camp Livingston, Louisiana, where he was housed with other Japanese, German and Italian prisoners of war.  Meanwhile, Takumi, his sister Kigiku (Carolyn), and his mother were incarcerated at Camp Jerome, Arkansas, where 66% of the inmates were U.S.-born American citizens of Japanese descent. Takumi completed almost his entire high school education at the camp high school where he also became an avid baseball player. In 1944, his father was “paroled” and reunited with his family at Camp Jerome and the family was sent to Tule Lake to await deportation to Japan. In the meantime, however, Takumi’s older brother, Tamon, enlisted in the U.S. Army and served in South America, which allowed the family to return to Hawaii. Takumi went on to attend the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, where he earned a B.S. degree in Agricultural Education and met his wife, Doris Mieko Sanbei, of Wahiawa.  He was drafted in 1951 and served in the U.S. Army Military Intelligence Service in Korea, attaining the rank of Corporal, as an interpreter/interrogator. 

Originally planning to teach, he was encouraged to pursue a doctoral degree. In 1956, he received a small community foundation scholarship and was accepted to the University of Minnesota where he earned a National Science Foundation Scholarship and completed a Ph.D. in Plant Genetics in 1960. Upon graduating, he joined the faculty of the University of Hawaii’s Hilo campus. Inspired by his mentors including Nobel Peace Prize winner, Dr. Norman Borlaug, he took a sabbatical with the Ford Foundation in 1965 to study the effects on crops, irrigation, and agriculture in the Nile River basin after the completion of the Aswan Dam, and remained overseas with his family as an international agricultural consultant to governments and researchers in Egypt, Pakistan, India, Mexico, the Philippines, Southeast Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and South and Central America. Of note, a variety of corn that he developed and named Akbar, rose to become the principal export crop of the Northwest Frontier Province of Pakistan. He was awarded the University of Minnesota Outstanding Achievement Award in 2010 for his outstanding lifetime of service to increase food production through research in improving plant breeding, adaptation, selection, and introduction among developing countries.  He retired in McAllen, Texas, after over 50 years of service to humanity. His wife of 68 years, an elementary educator, served as a substitute teacher and librarian at each of the international or State Department schools that their five children attended. Not surprisingly, their children and grandchildren continue in the tradition as educators, scientists, and engineers. 

Dr. Takumi Izuno. Photo: Courtesy of Macri Family.


JAVA Scholarship Eligibility and Applications

Eligibility:

  • Descendants of those who served in the 100th Infantry Battalion, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the Military Intelligence Service, the 1399th Engineer Construction Battalion, 522nd Field Artillery Battalion or  descendants of Japanese American soldiers who served during World War II other United States military units, including the Women’s Army Corps or Army Nurses Corps are eligible and encouraged to apply. 
  • Current members of JAVA whose membership began prior to April 1, 2021, are eligible and encouraged to apply. Children of current JAVA members are also eligible and encouraged to apply if the applicant’s parent or guardian was a member of JAVA prior to April 1, 2021. 
  • Past or present members of the Army’s 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry Regiment, ROTC, or U.S. Marine Corps Platoon Leaders Course are eligible and encouraged to apply for the Senator Daniel K. Inouye Memorial Scholarship. Applicants should demonstrate their lifelong commitment to uniformed and public service leadership for the nation.

 

Applications:

  • Applicants should first review published rules and forms.
  • Applications and supporting documents must be electronically submitted no later than 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, April 30, 2023, to javascholarship222@gmail.com. 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 by early June 2023.
  • Awards will be presented at a JAVA scholarship awards ceremony on July 8, 2023. 


2023 JAVA Memorial Scholarship Program Overview here.

2023 U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye Memorial Scholarship here.

2023 Ishio Founder's Scholarship here.

2023 Kiyoko Tsuboi Taubkin Legacy Scholarship here.

2023 JAVA Memorial Scholarships here.


Questions or Suggestions: Please contact Neet Ford, at javapotomac@gmail.com.

Japanese American Veterans Association:  Address: P.O. Box 341198, Bethesda, MD 20827 I https://java-us.org 


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