Frank Shoda celebrated his 100th birthday with dancers at Glenn and Lezlie Yata’s social on Aug. 9 at the Nishi Hongwanji Buddhist Temple Auditorium in Little Tokyo.
A large crowd of enthusiastic dancers was in attendance to help Shoda celebrate his special day with a birthday cake.
Shoda started taking dance lessons with Sherry Novak. In his early 70s, after attending a dance competition, he decided to get serious about dancing and asked Novak to find him a partner. In his 80s, he competed in the student-student category.
Shoda won numerous trophies with his instructor and with his partner Janet Nishina. In his younger days, one of his favorite dances was the jitterbug.