Hitoshi "Harry"Kajihara Memorial Scholarship Fund

Remembering Hitoshi “Harry” Kajihara (March 12, 1928- December 3, 2019) 

As past-national president, Ken Inouye once stated:

Harry Kajihara is the considered the “Father of Redress.”  A former JACL National President and a long-time resident of Ventura County, Harry Kajihara was part of the core group of JACLers who particularly in the 1980s worked to organize the Japanese American community to urge Congress to pass what would later become the 1988 Civil Liberties Act. This act provided an apology and reparations to members of the Japanese American community who were incarcerated by the U.S. government during World War II. 

Harry Kajihara was a Nisei born in Oyster Bay, Washington, as the son of a fisherman.  In 1941, at age 13, he was president at his school and played shortstop before he and his family were incarcerated at Tule Lake.  His family’s radio and camera were considered contraband and confiscated.  After the war, he worked as a civilian engineer for the military and later, as a professor of engineering and mathematics at Ventura College.  As stated by the LA Times:

“in 1980, Kajihara reactivated the long-dormant Ventura County chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League with the hope of rallying local support for compensating internees. He then embarked on the fundraising that absorbed him until his election as national president.”

As quoted in the Rafu Shimpo:

Harry is survived by his loving wife, Itsuko Janet Kajihara, three daughters, Claudia Kajihara, Julia Miyamoto, and Alicia Mashiko. He is also survived by sons-in-law, Alan Miyamoto and Kenji Mashiko, five grandchildren, Kevin, Kimberly and Kari Miyamoto and Richard and Mitchell Mashiko along with other relatives. A memorial service for Hitoshi Harry Kajihara was held on Saturday, January 11, 2020, 2 p.m., at the Oxnard Buddhist Temple, 250 South “H” Street, Oxnard. The family requests no flowers.

Our chapter is establishing a scholarship in memory of the late Harry Kajihara. Please consider donating to this gofundme.