Basketball Star Sumi Tashiro Passes

The star of Lompoc’s pre-World War II girls basketball team, has died.

Sumi Tashiro Tsuji died the morning after Christmas at the age of 88 in Monterey. Cancer had been discovered in August.

Sumi may be seen here on the Photographs page of this website in a photo with Chiyo Iwamoto Kobayashi and Kaoru Bill Honda. They are each holding up Block L’s which they received last May when they visited Lompoc.

In Vanished in the team photo from 1941, Sumi is seen front row center with a basketball directly in front of her knees. I don’t think that was an accident. In my two long interviews with Sumi, the basketball team was a joyful topic of conversation. After the 1939-40 season she was named to a Central Coast All-Star team which played Stockton, the state champion She was proud of that, just as she was for the 700 series she bowled years later in Hanford, the first woman to accomplish the feat in that city.

Sumi was always full of life. She had a great smile, a voice like a foghorn, and she was candid, willing to talk about drinking that took place at the Nihonjin picnics, and about the controversy over whether Katie Inouye, a Christian, should be allowed to play on the Lompoc basketball team. The two teamed at guard on the squad.

Katie never saw Sumi again after they graduated high school together in 1941. Even at the gatherings occasioned by Vanished, they missed one another. Sumi came to Lompoc in May 2010 but Katie could not. Katie came in October when Sumi could no longer travel.

“She was the one I really wanted to see,” Katie said today. “I used to go over there (to the Tashiro farm outside Lompoc) and eat tomatoes out of the warehouse. She was very independent. She never hesitated to speak out. I had good times with her. She was a roughneck like me.”  

Sumi worked most of her life as a hairdresser. She was widowed in 1986 and lived in recent years with her brother Yeiki in Manteca. Of the four Tashiro siblings, only Yeiki survives.

John Does Radio Gig

Hi Everybody:

Tuesday I appeared on Colin Marshall's radio show on KCSB, the UC Santa Barbara campus radio station.  Bill and Lucille Honda, and probably a few others listened as I was interviewed by Nick Welsh, Executive Editor of the Santa Barbara Independent. I didn't really plan the points I wanted to make, and I rambled like an old farmer. Ah well, it's a learning experience. Next time I'll come at least a little prepared with talking points.

In other news, Dr. Kent Haldan has agreed to speak with me at the Berkeley Buddhist Temple on February 6, so that will really be a thorough discussion.

To all who have read the book, talked to a friend about the book, sought shelf space in a bookstore, or in any way helped make the book visible, thank you so much.

We wish you the happiest of holidays.

John

Press Coverage Still Strong; Third Printing Ordered

The last week has seen continuing strong press coverage for Vanished.

Editor Nick Welsh of the Santa Barbara Independent called the book “emotionally moving and historically complex.”

Columnist George Toshio Johnston in the Rafu Shimpo of Los Angeles mentioned the book for the second time, this time with a photo of Carrie Otani from M&S Pharmacy in Los Angeles where the book is on sale. The caption reads: “She said it sold out and a second shipment has come in for sale.”

The Santa Maria Sun published Chapter 16 of the book with a color cover photo of Kenji Ota and a half-page inside shot of Kaoru Bill Honda. The story title is “Nobody Will Sit with Me,” the comment made in the pages of Vanished by Kenzo Nishimura on his first day back at school on December 8, 1941. Honda is pictured seated on his couch and Ota is seated cross-legged on the mat of his judo dojo.

Monday George Yoshitake and John McReynolds spoke to a crowd of 150 at the Lompoc Valley Historical Society. They had a great time and sold twelve more books! John got a chance to meet Irma Bortolazzo Gadway, a childhood friend of Terry Wakumoto. Those two will soon be in contact. Jim Sloan asked to be remembered to the Shimomura family.

Chaucer’s bookstore in Santa Barbara, the Santa Maria Library book shop, the Book Loft in Solvang and Sushi Teri Restaurant in Lompoc all ordered more books this week.

With all this activity we have decided to invest in a third printing. This will not only give us more copies but will allow us to correct errors regarding the birthplace of Robert Iwamoto (he was born in Kanagawa despite what it says on page 37), the misspelling of Miyagishima on page 16, and Terry Wakumoto not being nisei but sansei. We will also add a definition of “joss house.”   

The speaking date at the Berkeley Buddhist Temple is being changed. Check back next week or so for the new date.

Thank you, everybody for all your support.  

New Speaking Engagements, New Outlet

Hi Everybody:

In book sales, just like every other business, activity rises and falls, then rises and falls again. The last week has been quieter than the frantic days of October and November but some remarkable breakthroughs took place.

First George and John have been invited to visit the Berkeley Buddhist Temple on Sunday, January 16. This is a singular honor. Many of the members of the temple remember Mrs. Kyogoku who with her husband Rev. Itsuzo Kyogoku served the Lompoc community from the early 1930's until 1941. They served Berkeley after the war. Thank you to Kiyoshi and Emiko Endo Katsumoto and to John and Dawn Yoshitake-Kawamoto for making arrangements. Emiko Endo Katsumoto is granddaughter of H.S. Iwamoto of Lompoc's Iwamoto Store. Dawn Yoshitake-Katsumoto is daughter of George Yoshitake.

Also, Carolyn Sanwo of Heritage Source, the independent bookseller specializing in Japanese and Japanese American titles, has invited John and George to sign books at the HS booth at the annual Los Angeles Times Book Fair on April 30. This year instead of UCLA, it will be held at USC. This is another very big deal. "I've gone to that event several times as a student, but I never thought I'd be signing books there," John chuckled this week. Thanks to Lynn Mori, daughter-in-law of Michiko Hozaki Mori, for making connection between us and Heritage Source. Check out the website at http://www.heritagesource.com/.

George and John have also been invited to speak at the annual Christmas dinner of the Lompoc Valley Historical Society on Monday night. They plan to do once again their "Hey George, Why Did I Write This?" routine that you all have heard. They're getting to be like Seinfeld and Kramer. Thanks to Karen Paaske for setting it up.

And a new book outlet has been opened. The Santa Maria Library gift shop is now featuring Vanished: Lompoc's Japanese in the "local authors" section.  This addition means that the book can be purchased in Lompoc, Vandenberg Air Force Base, Solvang, Santa Maria and Santa Barbara.

Finally, a special honor for George Yoshitake takes place this week in Las Vegas. George has been invited by Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) to do interviews at the Nevada Test Site and the Atomic Test Museum in Las Vegas for a show in Japan. George was an Air Force photographer who worked at the Nevada Test Site in the 1950's.

Sam Kitaguchi Passes

Museum Date Set

Now it’s for sure. Our program on Vanished: Lompoc’s Japanese at the Japanese American National Museum (JANM) will take place on Saturday, June 18, 2011 at 2 p.m. It was set up today.

Response to our e-mails indicated overwhelming support for June 18 over other available dates. Not only will lots of one-time Lompoc residents and their children and grandchildren be present, but so will Dr. Kent Haldan, the Diablo Valley College instructor whose research formed the basis for the book, and also Dr. Art Hansen, the retired Cal State Fullerton history and Asian Studies professor whose wonderful review of the book (“narrative force, organizational clarity, innovative research and intellectual penetration”) gave it credibility for museums, libraries and bookstores all over the state.

It’s now available at the JANM gift shop and M&S Pharmacy in Los Angeles as well as book stores in Lompoc, Solvang, and Santa Barbara. We’ve also had contact from Sacramento State, the California Museum in Sacramento, and Manzanar National Historic Site, as well as numerous calls from the Central Coast.

Most recently, last Friday, George Toshio Johnston published a review of Vanished in the Los Angeles Rafu Shimpo.  He gave Vanished an amazing 19 inches of space including a photo of the book’s cover. Thank you George, and thank you Lucille Honda for putting us in touch.  

The second printing of the book has arrived and is now available. We’ve changed the description of the cover, we’ve corrected the spelling of ofuro and of Aki Iwata’s name, and we added Dr. Hansen’s praise and page numbers for the photo pages.

Speaking of the cover, as many of you know, the photograph by Todoroki Hozaki was not taken in Lompoc, despite what the author wrote. Thanks to Tets Furukawa we’ve found that the parade took place in Guadalupe. And it was not a Fourth of July parade. It was a procession staged to celebrate the donation of the altar to the Guadalupe Buddhist Temple. It took place not in July but in October of 1933. But the biggest surprise came from George Yoshitake. It turns out that the donor of the altar was his wife June’s grandfather! Small world.

One bit of sad news--Satoru "Sam" Kitaguchi passed away the evening before Thanksgiving in Phoenix. The fourth of six children born in the US to Gitaro and Ume Kitaguchi, Sam grew up on the family asparagus farm near La Purisima Mission. He later became an engineer and was awarded a commendation by NASA for his work on space vehicles. In retirement he provided lengthy family histories for the book Vanished. Sam had recently graduated high school at Gila River when he accompanied his father back home to Lompoc in 1945 to inspect the vandalized family home. Sam absolved the Rivaldi family, neighbors to the Kitaguchis, for any responsiblity. The Rivaldis farmed the Kitaguchi land during the war. "We have no quarrel with the Rivaldi's," Sam declared. "They did an excellent job. We were very grateful." On a lighter note the episode in which Sam was clobbered with a baseball bat by Akira Francis Nishimura at Japanese School in Lompoc became a reference point in the book. "I thought I killed the guy," said Nishimura years later. Nishimura predeceased Kitaguchi by less than a year.  Kitaguchi leaves a sister, Satsuko, and two brothers, Chitose and Tome as well as his immediate family. A memorial service will be conducted soon by Phoenix Memorial Park.

Invitation to the JA National Museum

We’re going to the museum!

Yes indeed, the Japanese American National Museum (JANM) in downtown Los Angeles.

We’ve been invited to talk about the book as part of the museum’s 2011 program series.

“I gave the book to a reviewer who read it and REALLY liked it,” e-mailed JANM Program Director Koji Sakai. “And of course, (Professor) Art (Hansen) loved it too. I looked it over as well and would be honored to have you come down and do a reading/talk.”

My reaction was, “I’m honored to be invited by such a well-respected museum!”                 

The exact date of our program, whether it takes place on Saturday, June 18 (Father’s Day weekend), or Saturday, June 25 or Saturday, August 27, is a decision we need you to help us decide. Why? Because we want you to participate that day. If you enjoyed the three book launch reunions, or especially if you missed them, this event will be the BIGGEST of the Lompoc reunions.

Please post your opinion here as a comment or e-mail your preference as soon as possible to lompocwriter@gmail.com

Not only will there be a program at the museum, but soon, probably about December 1, Vanished will appear on the shelf at the JANM store.

Not only that, but the Santa Maria Sun will print an excerpt from the book on December 9.   

Response has been so overwhelming that the first printing of Vanished has been exhausted. The second printing should be completed by Wednesday, November 24, but shipping will be delayed due to Thanksgiving weekend.

All this is good. Better than that: GREAT, hectic but great.

Thank you everybody for your support.

Connections Multiplying

After the Northern California “book tour” we enjoyed two more book events at The Book Store in Lompoc.

As a result connections are popping up everywhere! Just yesterday a Lompoc woman named Jerry Beattie made contact with the Shirokawa family whom she had not heard from in decades. And a retired teacher named Jits Furusawa, who now lives in Lompoc, told about his stepfather, Osamu Matoba, who returned briefly to Lompoc after the war. Osamu Matoba is the older brother of Kiyoshi Matoba who starred as a baseball player in Lompoc in 1940-41

And this note from Lucille and Kaoru Bill Honda.

Did I tell you that a friend that we had not seen for over 55 years recently wrote to us to say she just finished reading your “Vanished” book? She said Bill never told her that he was a coach with girls’ basketball in Lompoc before the war.  We were all living in Salt Lake City after World War II started. Her name is Mary Kikukawa Nakagama. (Mary and a few other friends, including Bill, belonged to the Japanese Church of Christ in SLC and used to hang around with each other). I didn’t know her very well because I used to attend the Japanese Buddhist Church across the street (as my Father and Mother were Buddhists). She has lived in Gardena, CA for about 40-50 years. Apparently a relative of hers from Salt Lake City attended the Montrose launch and sent Mary your book. At any rate she said she and her daughter, Julie, were driving up to the Biltmore Hotel in Santa Barbara  for a couple of days from Los Angeles and invited Bill and me  to dinner at the Biltmore a couple of weeks ago. You can imagine what a pleasant surprise that was! Of course, we didn’t recognize them, but Mary said the minute she saw us she knew who we were. We had a great time visiting with them and we invited them to lunch the following day and after lunch they came to our home and looked through Bill’s OLD picture albums with Mary in a lot of the photos. Since I knew that it was Julie’s birthday that day, early in the morning I went to Von’s and bought a small fresh strawberry shortcake and later that afternoon after we delved through all the albums, I put some candles on the cake and we all sang “Happy Birthday” to Julie. and she was very ‘touched.’  It was a real joy to see them after all these years! John, see what your book lead to????

Thanks, Lucille.

One more thing: all 500 of the first printing of Vanished have been sold. A second printing has been ordered. The first batch of books at M & S Pharmacy in Los Angeles has already sold out. They will be replenished for Saturday morning. Thank you, everybody.