Born: Yokohama, Japan to U.S. army soldier stationed with occupation forces and Japanese national bank teller.
Immigrated to Los Angeles, CA with family 1958. Attended, Virginia Road Elementary, Audubon Jr. High then Dorsey High School.1966- Selected for the Tutor Arts Program, a post- Watts Rebellion program for a few dozen inner-city high school students chosen by a professional panel of artists
Led by Mr. Bill Tara and Mr. Charles White. (see below)Art awards and scholarships:
• Los Angeles County Museum of Modern Art, Future Masters Contest – 1st Place L.A. county-wide open for all high school juniors/seniors.
• Barnsdall Park, Los Angeles City Art Contest – 1st Place. Citywide open.
• Los Angeles Trade Tech. College – Open Art Tournament, 1st place. Open for all L.A. city junior college system students.
• Selected to Tutor Arts Program; held at Chouinard Art Institute and Otis Art institute of Los Angeles
• Scholarship to California Institute of the Arts (Cal-Arts)
Artworks and comments published in: Communication Arts (CA), L.A. Progressive, L.A. Times, Newsweek, Rafu Shimpo (Japanese American Daily) etc.
Major Labor and Community Campaigns
1974-1976 Resthaven Community Mental Health Center- Chinatown L.A., CA- Internal union organizing & community allied for no cutbacks of workers and no cuts in services and definition and experiments with
What is Asian American mental health mean?
1975- 1977 Little Tokyo, LA, CA – About 2,000 modest income working people were being evicted from about 24 hotel apartments to make way for gentrification of LT into a tourist trap.
The center of the struggle was the eviction and defense of the Sun Building. This housed dozens of community and cultural organizations as well as residents. No evictions, adequate moving expenses and replacement housing, defend LT!
1979-1982 – Fight for full equality by Japanese and Japanese American warehouse workers and truckers. About 300 workers in Teamsters Local 630 in 3 different companies, Japan Food Corporation, Nishimoto Trading and Mutual Trading
went on strike for full equality on the job. The workers were getting $8 to $12 phr while white warehousemen and truckers got $5 to $10 more for an easier job due to mechanization and lifts.
1980-1988- Redress Reparations for Japanese Americans- Co-Chair of Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress 1984-1987
1988-1990- 1,000 Salinas Cannery Workers strike at United Foods Co. and Modesto, CA. Asst. Strike Coordinator A long bitter, difficult struggle in 2 cities, 2,000 total.
1994-96 -NCRR – Fountain Valley Asian Youth Alliance,- API youth in OC organize to defeat racist “Asian Mugbook” kept by some OC police depts.
• 1995 Fighting Spirit Award- from NCRR and other activists for contributions to the fight to reverse Redress Denials.
• 1995-1998 As part of Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees (H.E.R.E.) Union, – Campaign to Unionize the New Otani Hotel, owned by Kajima Int.
• 1998-2015 As part of Calif. Nurses Association. AFL-CIO Organizing Recognition for most members unionized, 10,000+ in 2015 by Calif Nurses Association, Organizing Department.
