January
Jan. 1 — Rose Parade’s Donate Life float features floral portraits of people whose donation of organs or tissues helped save the lives of others, including 3-month-old Andrew Endo and Kameron Shigeo Lanaki Steinhoff, 21.
Jan. 4 — At a promotion ceremony in New York, U.S. Army Reserve Brig. Gen. Miyako Schanely becomes the first Japanese American and first female engineer in the U.S. Army Reserve and second in the Army to be promoted to general officer.
Jan. 8 — San Fernando Valley JACL passes a resolution supporting the controversial “comfort women” statue installed in Glendale in 2013.
Jan. 13 — Ruth Ozeki, author of “A Tale for the Time Being,” is named a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle awards for the best books of 2013.
Jan. 14 — Israel announces it will name an Arrow defense missile facility after the late Sen. Daniel Inouye.
Jan. 16 — Animator Hayao Miyazaki receives an Academy Award nomination for his last film as a director, “The Wind Rises.”
Jan. 18 — “To Be Takei,” Jennifer Kroot’s documentary about actor and activist George Takei, has its world premiere at Sundance.
Jan. 23 — The New York Post is criticized by the Asian American Journalists Association for a front-page illustration showing newly signed New York Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka in a World War II-era Japanese airplane.
Jan. 24 — Representatives of Asian Pacific American organizations meet with ABC executives to air concerns over a 2013 segment of “Jimmy Kimmel Live” in which a child suggests killing everyone in China.
Jan. 26 — The Smithsonian’s seven-city tour of “American Heroes: Japanese American World War II Nisei Soldiers and the Congressional Gold Medal” closes at the Holocaust Museum Houston.
Jan. 30 — Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn proclaims Fred Korematsu Day to honor the late civil rights activist. Illinois is the fourth state to recognize Korematsu, following Hawaii, California and Utah.
February
Feb. 3 — U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia tells law students at University of Hawaii that the court was wrong to uphold the internment of Japanese Americans, but he wouldn’t be surprised if it issued a similar ruling during a future conflict.
Feb. 4 — Asian Pacific American organizations at USC and UCLA issue statements denouncing flyers containing racist and sexist language, much of it directed at Asian women, that have appeared on both campuses.
Feb. 7 — Tak Nishi, a long-time member of many Japanese American community organizations, receives the Commendation of the Consul General in Los Angeles for his efforts to promote mutual understanding and friendship between the U.S. and Japan.
Feb. 10 — Two chefs who worked at a now-closed Santa Monica sushi restaurant, The Hump, plead guilty to serving meat from federally protected sei whales.
Feb. 14 — A report released by lawyer John Wells reveals that a Japanese assistant trainer with the Miami Dolphins was subjected to racial taunts and harassment by Richie Incognito and two other offensive linemen.
Feb. 18 — President Obama meets with seven Nisei World War II veterans, all in their 90s, at the White House to congratulate them on receiving the Congressional Gold Medal in 2011.
Feb. 18 — The California State Assembly passes a resolution declaring Feb. 19 as a Day of Remembrance to increase public awareness of the internment of Japanese Americans. It was introduced by Assemblymembers Al Muratsuchi and Mariko Yamada.
Feb. 19 — AARP sponsors the homecoming of the Congressional Gold Medal awarded in 2011 to Japanese American World War II veterans, which concluded a seven-city tour as part of a traveling exhibition. The medal is housed at the Smithsonian.
Feb. 20 — Officials announce that $670 million from the federal government will allow Los Angeles County to begin major construction on the $1.37 billion Regional Connector in Little Tokyo.
Feb. 22 — It is announced that a federal lawsuit has been filed by the Global Alliance for Historical Truth against the City of Glendale, calling for removal of the “comfort women” monument installed in the city’s Central Park in 2013.
Feb. 22 — The San Fernando Valley Japanese American Community Center hosts a forum of nine Southern California Japanese American community centers to discuss how to address changing demographics in the Nikkei community.
Feb. 22 — A celebration of the Atomic Café is held at the Little Tokyo landmark’s former site, now Senor Fish, to raise funds for a public art project. The building will be demolished to make way for Metro’s Regional Connector.
Feb. 22 — The family of Gordon Hirabayashi, who was a student at University of Washington when he disobeyed curfew and evacuation orders directed at Japanese Americans, donates his Presidential Medal of Freedom to UW. President Obama announced the award shortly after Hirabayashi’s death in 2012.
Feb. 26 — The Inyo County Planning Commission approves a planning amendment that would open the door to a large-scale, industrial-grade renewable energy facility within sight of the Manzanar National Historic Site. The Manzanar Committee denounces the decision.
Feb. 26 — Tatsuya Suda, a former UC Irvine computer science professor, pleads guilty to a felony count of conflict of interest for taking secret research payments from Japanese companies while working as a professor.
March
March — Little Tokyo Service Center and Little Tokyo Community Council release a community vision for a sustainable Cultural EcoDistrict as part of the celebration of Little Tokyo’s 130th anniversary.
March 1 — Clifton Truman Daniel, grandson of President Harry Truman, and Yuji Sasaki, nephew of Sadako Sasaki, a victim of the Hiroshima bomb who became a symbol of world peace, take part in a panel discussion on peacemaking and restoration at the Japan Foundation in Los Angeles.
March 2 — The documentary “20 Feet From Stardom,” which features Judith Hill and other backup singers, wins an Academy Award. Hill was also a finalist on NBC’s “The Voice.”
March 3 — Myles Hanashiro, a former insurance agent, pleads no contest in Los Angeles County Superior Court to illegally withdrawing more than $100,000 from an insurance annuity he sold to an elderly relative.
March 6 — Dorian Prentice Satoshi Nakamoto of Temple City denies that he is the creator of bitcoin, the world’s most popular digital currency, after Newsweek publishes a cover story claiming he is the person who wrote the computer code underpinnings of bitcoin.
March 8 — “Love to Nippon,” an annual event in Los Angeles, marks the third anniversary of the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami that struck northwestern Japan.
March 8 — The late Jiro Morita is among those honored at a ceremony dedicating a monument with the names of the pioneering members of the Pasadena Sister Cities Committee, which established ties with Mishima, Shizuoka Prefecture.
March 11 — The Board of Trustees of the Anaheim Union High School District approves the appointment of Michael Matsuda as superintendent, effective March 17. He has been an educator in the district for 21 years.
March 12 — Pitching coach Dan Warthen and the Mets apologize after Warthen used a racial slur to describe Jeff Cutler, the Japanese American translator for New York pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka.
March 12 — A gas leak explosion in East Harlem levels two apartment buildings, killing eight people, including Mayumi Nakamura, 34, a Japanese citizen who had lived in Los Angeles for 10 years.
March 14 — Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori suffers a stroke. He is serving a 25-year sentence for authorizing death squads during his 1990-2000 presidency.
March 14 — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says his government is not considering a revision of the country’s 1993 apology for forcing South Korean and other women to have sex with Japanese soldiers during World War II.
March 15 — The Center for Social Justice and Civil Liberties opens its doors in a historic building renovated and restored by the Riverside Community College District. It is home to the collected artwork and archives of Mine Okubo, author of “Citizen 13660.”
March 15 — A Keiro Senior HealthCare executive says Keiro is in talks with a potential buyer for its facilities in Los Angeles and Gardena, but nothing has been finalized.
March 17 — Tatsuhiko Sakamoto is sentenced to 10 years in prison for gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated in the death of Caltrans subcontractor Connor Penhall, who was struck by Sakamoto’s Toyota RAV4 on the westbound San Bernardino Freeway in April 2013.
March 19 — The U.S. government announces a $1.2 billion settlement with Toyota Motor Corp. and files criminal charges alleging the company defrauded consumers by issuing misleading statements about safety issues in its vehicles.
March 19 — The late racing legend Carroll Shelby’s Gardena-based Carroll Shelby Foundation files a fraud suit in Los Angeles Superior Court against a former employee, Jerome Ito, and father, alleging Ito sold signed memorabilia through eBay and other means.
March 25 — Los Angeles County Auditor-Controller Wendy Watanabe, who is retiring after 25 years of service, is honored by the Board of Supervisors and other officials.
March 25 — California State Grange President Bob McFarland apologizes for his organization’s treatment of Japanese Americans before and during World War II in a letter to JACL National President David Lin.
March 26 — Federal officials accuse State Sen. Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) of conspiracy to deal firearms and wire fraud in a criminal complaint against Yee and 25 other people. Yee is later suspended and withdraws from the California secretary of state race.
March 26 — Kai Morita, a sixth-grader from First Avenue Middle School in Arcadia, wins the Los Angeles County Elementary Spelling Bee and qualifies for the state championship.
March 26 — Stephen Colbert draws some criticism for a segment of his Comedy Central show in which he announces “the Ching-Chong Ding-Dong Foundation for Sensitivity to Orientals or Whatever.” Some defend it as satire aimed at the Washington Redskins; others say Asians were needlessly targeted.
March 27 — Travis Dewayne Batten Jr. of Irvine is convicted of rape, assault with intent to commit rape and other counts dating back to 2005. Charges involving one victim were dismissed because she moved back to Japan and did not want to return to Orange County to testify.
March 29 — More than 350 people attend the Santa Anita Assembly Center Reunion at Santa Anita Racetrack, where Southland Japanese Americans lived in horse stalls and hastily constructed barracks in 1942.
March 31 — President Obama endorses Sen. Brian Schatz over his challenger, Rep. Colleen Hanabusa, in Hawaii’s Democratic primary race. Schatz was appointed after the death of Sen. Daniel Inouye in 2012.
April
April 1 — Ken Kasamatsu, founder of Pacific Commerce Bank, retires after 12 years leading the bank and 45 years in the banking industry.
April 1 — Naomi Hirahara, author of the Mas Arai mystery series, launches a new series featuring Officer Ellie Rush, a 23-year-old Hapa bicycle cop for the LAPD. The first novel is “Murder on Bamboo Lane.”
April 3 — President Obama nominates Jane Nishida as assistant administrator for international and tribal affairs at the Environmental Protection Agency.
April 4 — L.A.’s Grateful Crane Ensemble goes on a 10-day goodwill tour of the tsunami-stricken Tohoku region.
April 5 — The Society for History in the Federal Government presents the 2014 Joh Wesley Powell Prize for Outstanding Historic Preservation to Manzanar National Historic Site for the restoration of the mess hall garden in Block 12.
April 8 — A U.S. jury orders Japanese drugmaker Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. and its U.S. counterparty, Eli Lilly and Co., to pay $9 billion in punitive damages over a diabetes medicine linked to cancer.
April 9 — Mark Matsuda is announced as the new police chief in Torrance. He has been with the Torrance Police Department since 1987.
April 22 — Bernadette Lovato, district manager for the Bureau of Land Management in Carson City, is named the new superintendent of Manzanar National Historic Site, replacing Les Inafuku, who retired.
April 22 — “Witness: The Legacy of Heart Mountain,” a documentary by KABC-TV’s David Ono and Jeff MacIntyre, receives the Radio Television Digital News Assocaition’s Edward R. Murrow Award for best news documentary for large-market TV stations in Region 2.
April 23 — The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission joins the historic preservation community across the country in recognizing the George Nakashima Woodworker Complex in New Hope, Bucks County, as a National Landmark as designated by the U.S. Department of the Interior.
April 24 — President Obama appoints 14 to the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, including Bill Imada of IW Group and Diane Narasaki of Asian Counseling and Referral Service.
April 25 — Japanese American Veterans Association Vice President Wade Ishimoto, a retired Army captain, is inducted into the Special Forces Regimental Hall of Fame. He has been affiliated with Special Forces since the Vietnam War.
April 28 — Toyota confirms that it will move its North American headquarters from Torrance to Plano, Texas, meaning a major loss of local jobs. About 5,300 people work at the Torrance complex.
May
May 1 — President Obama nominates Dr. John Maeda, former president of the Rhode Island School of Design, to the National Council for the Arts.
May 5 — The American Legion calls for the resignation of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki and two of his top aides amid an investigation into allegations of corruption and unnecessary deaths at the VA hospital in Phoenix.
May 6 — Inyo County Board of Supervisors votes to remove Owens Valley from its Renewable Energy General Plan Amendment. The move is applauded by Manzanar Committee and other groups opposed to the building of an LADWP solar ranch near Manzanar National Historic Site.
May 8 — The National Park Service proposes making the former Honouliuli Internment camp on Oahu either a monument or historic site. The camp held Japanese Americans as well as POWs during World War II.
May 9 — Nisei World War II veterans are among those honored by Mayor Eric Garcetti and the City Council at an Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month celebration at Los Angeles City Hall.
May 11 — Jordan Bradley Inouye Helfand, a junior at the Commonwealth School, receives the Congressional Award Bronze Medal, the highest honor for America’s youth, in Newton, Mass.
May 14 — U.S. Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy visit the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, which was devastated by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
May 15 — VA Secretary Eric Shinseki testifies before the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee about problems at VA medical facilities, and faces tough questioning from both Democratic and Republican senators.
May 17 — The UCLA Asian American Studies Center celebrates the completion of the Yuji Ichioka and Emma Gee Endowment in Social Justice and Immigration Studies in honor of the husband-and-wife teams’ accomplishments in academia and activism.
May 18 — The Japanese American Bar Association and Korean American Bar Association issue a joint statement on the controversy over the “comfort women” monument in Glendale. They vow that the issue will not “divide our communities.”
May 18 — Terry Matsumoto, CFO for the L.A. County Metropolitan Transportation Authority for 10 years, retires. He also served in the executive cabinet of the L.A. County Transportation Commission, predecessor to Metro.
May 19 — Former L.A. County Undersheriff Paul Tanaka testifies at the trial of James Sexton, one of the deputies accused of interfering with an FBI investigation of abuse of inmates in the county jails. Tanaka says he is aware that he is the subject of a federal probe.
May 21 — President Obama says his administration will work with VA Secretary Eric Shinseki to solve problems at the VA medical centers. He says Shinseki has put his “heart and soul” into caring for America’s veterans.
May 22 — Toshio Terry Handa, a leader of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce of Southern California and the Japanese Community Pioneer Center, receives the Commendation of the Consul General from Consul General Jun Niimi.
May 23 — Elliot Rodger, 22, kills six people, including three Chinese Americans, in a stabbing and shooting rampage near the UC Santa Barbara campus. In a 137-page “manifesto,” he expressed anti-Asian sentiments
May 27 — The Consulate General of Japan in Los Angeles confers the Commendation of the Consul General on architect Ted Tokio Tanaka and Love to Nippon Project founder Masako Unoura-Tanaka for promoting friendship between the U.S. and Japan.
May 27 — The Sacramento City Council unanimously repeals a 1942 resolution that condemned Japanese Americans as traitors and urges that they be confined in concentration camps and never allowed to return to the West Coast.
May 30 — VA Secretary Eric Shinseki apologizes in public and resigns at the White House, driven from office by the scandal over the agency’s health care system. President Obama accepts the resignation “with considerable regret.”
May 30 — Tadashi Mizutani of Huntington Beach is sentenced to a year in jail and three years of formal probation for a fatal traffic accident in 2013. Driving while intoxicated, Mizutani struck a motorcycle, killing Kelly Blue Morehouse and injuring Taylor Rolfson.
June
June 1 — Shozaburo Nakamura is arrested on suspicion of killing his ex-wife, noted restaurateur Eiko Nakamura, in Napa on May 31. He confessed to the crime.
June 3 — Results of California primary election: Among incumbents heading for the November runoff are Reps. Doris Matsui, Mike Honda, and Mark Takano, and Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi. State Sen. Ted Lieu wins the Democratic nomination for Rep. Henry Waxman’s seat. Sacramento City Councilmember Darrell Fong wins the Democratic nomination for the Assembly. Former Assemblymember Mary Hayashi loses in her bid for State Senate.
June 3 — In county and city races, Karen Sakata is elected Contra Costa County superintendent of schools; Tracy Okida places 10th in race for L.A. County assessor; Pamela Matsumoto loses and Alison Matsumoto Estrada wins race for L.A. County Superior Court; former Undersheriff Paul Tanaka takes second place in race for L.A. County sheriff and goes to runoff; Orange County Superior Court Judge Joanne Motoike retains her seat; Kathy Yamada Sutherland finishes third in race for San Jose City Council.
June 7 — 15th anniversary of Go For Broke Monument in Little Tokyo is celebrated.
June 9 — UCLA Asian American Studies Center announces the Dr. Sanbo and Kazuko Sakaguchi Research Fund in Japanese American Studies, an endowed research fund in the amount of $1 million.
June 11 — Kenton Shimozaki, 17, of Lincoln High School in Stockton is appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown as a student member of the California State Board of Education.
June 12 — National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis announces 21 grants totaling more than $2.9 million to help preserve and interpret the World War II confinement sites of Japanese Americans.
June 12 — CPA and JACL leader Ken Inouye is elected chair of the Orange County Human Relations Commission. Currently vice chair, he will assume his new post on Aug. 14.
June 13 — Kenji Okamoto pleads guilty to assaulting a flight attendant while under the influence during a Delta Airlines flight from Osaka to Honolulu.
June 16 — The murder trial of Chad Ryan DeSoto, charged with killing three Japanese tourists and injuring 11 others during a rampage last year, opens in Hagatna, Guam.
June 16 — Kaji & Associates of Torrance receives the Small Business of the Year Award at the annual California Small Business Day ceremony in Sacramento.
June 18 — The Japan America Society of Southern California holds a farewell tribute for Consul General Jun Niimi, who has served since October 2011.
June 19 — Dr. Don Miyada, who missed his graduation ceremony in 1942 due to the internment, participates in the Class of 2014 commencement at Newport Harbor High School in Newport Beach.
June 20 — The study that led Japan to apologize in 1993 for forcing Asian women into wartime prostitution was confirmed as valid by a parliament-appointed panel following a review.
June 21 — The Sgt. Paul T. Nakamura U.S. Army Reserve Center is dedicated in Los Alamitos in honor of Paul Nakamura, 21, of Santa Fe Springs, who was killed in action while serving as a medic in Iraq in 2003.
June 24 — The National Trust for Historic Preservation announces that Historic Wintersburg in Huntington Beach, once the center of the Japanese American community in Orange County, has been named to the 2014 list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places.
June 24 — Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) honors World War II veteran Dick Shigemi Hamada in a speech to the House of Representatives. Hamada, who was born in Hawaii and served with the 442nd RCT, died on May 27 at age 92.
June 24 — The Little Tokyo Community Council and LTSC Community Development Corporation announce their participation on Target Cities, a two-year partnership of nine development projects across seven North American citizens designed to amplify district-scale community generation and create models for next-generation urban revitalization.
June 25 — Eric Omuro of Mountain View is arrested following his indictment by a federal grand jury on charges involving the use of the mail and the Internet to facilitate prostitution, and multiple counts of money laundering.
June 25 — The Tuna Canyon Detention Station Coalition celebrates the first anniversary of the designation of the former confinement site in Tujunga as L.A. Historic Cultural Monument No. 1039.
June 26 — L.A. County CEO Bill Fujioka announces that he will retire at the end of November after more than seven years as the county’s top official.
June 26 — The State Senate votes 32-0 to repeal a law that bans restaurant workers from touching food with their bare hands and requires them to wear gloves. The repeal was previously approved by the Assembly. Sushi restaurants in particular were opposed to the law.
June 28 — The JACCC and U-Space attempt to break the Guinness world record for the largest ukulele ensemble during the L.A. Ukulele Expo. The effort falls short with 1,020, well below the 2,135 needed to break the mark currently held by Yokohama.
June 29 — NBC News correspondent Ann Curry receives the Joseph M. Quinn Award for Lifetime Achievement, the L.A. Press Club’s highest honor.
June 30 — Aoi Restaurant, which opened in Little Tokyo in 1976, closes its doors. Owners Grace Maruyama and Hiroko Yamagata are later honored by the Little Tokyo Community Council.
July
July — Ava Little Tokyo, a 280-unit apartment complex from AvalonBay Communities, opens the first of its two buildings on Second and Los Angeles streets in Little Tokyo. The second is set to open in November.
July 1 — Kenly Kiya Kato is sworn in as a U.S. magistrate judge for the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. She will preside in Riverside in the Eastern Division.
July 1 — Board of Equalization member Betty Yee claims second place in the state controller’s race. Yee and former Assembly Speaker John Perez have been in a dead heat for the runner-up spot that will allow one of them to run against Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin in the fall.
July 1 — Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. announces that it has integrated The bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ’s U.S. branch banking operations with Union Bank N.A., and will run U.S. banking operations under the new name MUFG Union Bank N.A.
July 7 — Steven Hayashi, convicted of involuntary manslaughter in April for the 2010 fatal mauling of his 20-year-old stepgrandson by three pit bulls, is sentenced to a year in county jail and three years’ probation in Contra Costa County Superior Court.
July 9 — The West Contra Costa County Unified School District Board of Education votes unanimously to rename Portola Middle School in El Cerrito after civil rights icon Fred Korematsu.
July 10 — Go For Broke National Education Center and the Japanese American National Museum announce they have finalized 20-year lease terms allowing GFBNEC to move into JANM’s historic building in Little Tokyo in mid-2015.
July 10 — Cary Joji Fukunaga receives an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Director for a Drama Series for HBO’s “True Detective.”
July 10 — Oscar-winning musician Ryuichi Sakamoto announces that he has been diagnosed with throat cancer and has canceled his upcoming performances to focus on his health.
July 10 — Fox TV host Bob Beckel uses the term “chinamen” during a broadcast of “The Five,” drawing criticism from the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus and California’s API Legislative Caucus.
July 11 — In Oakland, Yasuhiro Watanabe is sentenced to 51 months in prison and ordered to pay more than $556,000 in restitution for conspiracy to commit bank fraud. In March, he admitted that he engaged in a scheme to defraud Compass Bank and Bank of America.
July 14 — Keiro Senior HealthCare and The Ensign Group Inc., parent company of Ensign skilled nursing, rehabilitative, hospice and assisted living facilities, announce they have entered into an agreement for the sale of Keiro’s four care facilities in Los Angeles and Gardena.
July 16 — The National JACL objects to the use of yellowface and stereotypes in the Gilbert & Sullivan Society’s production of “The Mikado” in Seattle. The 19th-century satirical musical is being debated in newspapers and online.
July 18 — The San Fernando Valley Japanese American Community Center and Nikkei Senior Gardens sign an agreement to work together for the mutual benefit of both nonprofit organizations.
July 18 — After asking for a recount, Assemblymember John Perez concedes to fellow Democrat Betty Yee, a member of the Board of Equalization, after the June 3 primary results showed the two state controller candidates in a dead heat for second place. Yee will face Republican Ashley Swearengin in November.
July 21 — Ryota Takamatsu is arrested by Costa Mesa police on suspicion of felony hit-and-run DUI after allegedly striking a 15-year-old female pedestrian at Fairview Road and Baker Street.
July 24 — President Obama nominates Karen Narasaki, past president/executive director of the Asian American Justice Center, to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
July 25 — In a retirement ceremony in Virginia, Air Force Maj. Gen. Susan Mashiko is honored for her contributions to the Air Force and the intelligence community during her 34-year career.
July 26 — “Witness: The Legacy of Heart Mountain,” co-produced by David Ono and Jeff MacIntyre, wins three Los Angeles Area Emmy Awards for writing, editing and videography.
July 28 — Tule Lake Committee files suit in Modoc County Superior Court to stop the county and the City of Tulelake from consideration of leasing and fencing the Tule Lake Airport until conducting an environmental review. A fence would negatively affect the Tule Lake concentration camp site.
July 29 — Kenji Okamoto of Kyoto receives a three-month sentence for a drunken altercation with flight attendants during a trip to Hawaii for his honeymoon.
July 30 — Warren Yamashita, a graduate student at USC Keck School of Medicine, is selected as a 2014-2015 Albert Schweitzer Fellow from Los Angeles.
July 30 — U.S. Senate confirms Erika Lizabeth Moritsugu as assistant secretary for congressional and intergovernmental relations at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
August
Aug. 1 — The JACL denounces HBO’s decision to air a new Australian “mockumentary” comedy series, “Jonah from Tonga,” which stars a white actor, Chris Lilley, in brown makeup and a wig.
Aug. 1-3 — JACCC’s second “Remembering Sadako” event, commemorating the 69th anniversary of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings, includes a performance by Grammy winner Melissa Manchester and Yuji Sasaki, Sadako Sasaki’s nephew. Masahiro Sasaki, Sadako’s brother, speaks at Koyasan Buddhist Temple.
Aug. 4 — Chad Ryan DeSoto is convicted of murdering three Japanese tourists in a crash and stabbing rampage in Guam last year that hurt 11 others. The jury rejected his mental illness defense. He gets a life sentence on Sept. 25.
Aug. 4 — A monument to Korean “comfort women” is dedicated in Union City, N.J.
Aug. 11 — Saying that they lack standing, U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson rules against the Global Alliance for Historical Truth and other plaintiffs seeking removal of the “comfort women” monument in Glendale. The suit was filed on Feb. 20.
Aug. 4 — An Orange County Superior Court judge rejects a motion to dismiss an indictment against an attorney, Lonnie Loren Kocontes, accused of strangling his ex-wife, Micki Kanesaki, on a cruise ship and hurling her body overboard into Italian waters in 2006.
Aug. 6 — U.S. Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy attends the annual ceremony commemorating the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima. She also attends the Aug. 9 ceremony in Nagasaki.
Aug. 7 — Harry Horinouchi, the newly appointed consul general of Japan, arrives in Los Angeles.
Aug. 7 — Merrick Bobb, the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department’s longtime civilian watchdog, places much of the blame for a jail abuse scandal on former Sheriff Lee Baca and former Undersheriff Paul Tanaka.
Aug. 9 — Tori Nishinaka-Leon of Pasadena Japanese Cultural Institute is named 2014 Nisei Week Queen, succeeding Lauren Iwata.
Aug. 9 — In Hawaii’s Democratic primary, state lawmaker David Ige beats incumbent Gov. Neil Abercrombie and will go on to the November election. The race between incumbent Sen. Brian Schatz and challenger Rep. Colleen Hanabusa is too close to call. State Sen. Mark Takai wins Democratic nomination for 1st Congressional District seat. Incumbent Lt. Gov. Shan Tsutsui defeats State Sen. Clayton Hee.
Aug. 9 — Remains of a Japanese hiker, Yosuke Onishi, are found on Mount St. Helens. The 27-year-old was reported missing last November after indicating he planned to climb the volcano.
Aug. 10 — Retired Associate Justice Kathryn Doi Todd receives the 2014 Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award from the American Bar Association Commission on Women in the Profession.
Aug. 12 — The Comedy Central “Drunk History” series retells the wartime exploits of the late Sen. Daniel Inouye, with Steven Yeun of “The Walking Dead” in the starring role.
Aug. 12 — The Torrance City Council votes 6-0 to appoint Michael Griffiths to fill a vacancy on the council. Most of the public comments were in favor of former Planning Commissioner Ray Uchima. Applicants included Commission on Aging Vice Chair Leilani Kimmel-Dagostino.
Aug. 15 — Incumbent Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii beats Rep. Colleen Hanabusa in the Democratic primary after late votes are counted in areas of the Big Island affected by Tropical Storm Iselle.
Aug. 19 — After hearing passionate pleas from both sides, the Fullerton City Council votes 3-2 to recognize the plight of “comfort women” and the global problem of human trafficking, but leaves a decision about a monument to the Fullerton Museum Center Association.
Aug. 20 — A massive landslide in Hiroshima kills at least 36 and leaves seven missing. Hiroshima Kenjin Kai of Southern California later establishes a relief fund for the victims.
Aug. 21 — Three Japanese students from Palomar College in San Marcos are killed and five other students are injured when their car veers off Route 78 in Oceanside and hits a power pole.
Aug. 21 — The Philadelphia Public Record publishes a photo of a political fundraiser in Chinatown with a caption containing made-up Chinese names. The paper later apologizes and fires the employee responsible.
Aug. 22 — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid apologies for jokes he made about Asians during a luncheon of the Asian Chamber of Commerce in Las Vegas the day before.
Aug. 22-23: Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation’s annual pilgrimage dedicates the Heart Mountain Honor Roll Memorial, built by internees in 1944, to the late Sen. Daniel Inouye.
Aug. 25 — Cary Joji Fukunaga wins an Emmy for Outstanding Director for a Drama Series for HBO’s “True Detective” during the Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles.
Aug. 25 — Gary Yamauchi is sworn in for his third and final term as mayor of Alhambra. Previously vice mayor, he was first elected to the City Council in 2004.
Aug. 31 — Memorial for civil rights leader Yuri Kochiyama is held in Little Tokyo. Memorials are also held in Oakland and New York.
September
Sept. 2 — President Obama names Jenny Yang as chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Currently vice chair, she will be the first Asian American to serve as chair on a permanent basis.
Sept. 3 — Santa Monica-based Global Alliance for Historical Truth says it will file an appeal of a court’s recent rejection of its lawsuit seeking removal of the “comfort women” statue from a Glendale park. The group says the monument creates “a negative image of Japan, Japanese citizens and Japanese Americans.”
Sept. 3 — Restaurant workers and community supporters take part in a march in front of Izakaya Fu-Ga in Little Tokyo to protest unpaid wages, misappropriated tips and other grievances. The manager says there has been no malicious intent or behavior on the part of the management.
Sept. 5 — Gov. Jerry Brown and Japanese Ambassador to the U.S. Kenichiro Sasae sign an agreement to further cooperation between Japan and California in such areas as climate change, renewable energy, and high-speed rail.
Sept. 9 — The 30th anniversary of “The Karate Kid” is celebrated at the Japanese American National Museum with director John Avildsen, actor Ralph Macchio and the late Pat Morita’s daughter Aly in attendance. The L.A. City Council holds an anniversary event in Van Nuys on Dec. 5.
Sept. 11 — The City of Alhambra announces that its 2015 Rose Parade float will honor the Japanese American soldiers of World War II. Nisei veterans will ride on the float, which will include a floral recreation of the Go For Broke Monument in Little Tokyo.
Sept. 12 — The parade field adjacent to the National Infantry Museum in Columbus, Ga. is renamed for the late Sen. Daniel Inouye.
Sept. 13 — Rev. George Aki, chaplain of the 442nd RCT, celebrates his 100th birthday in Claremont.
Sept. 17 — The U.S. Senate confirms Debra Wada by a voice vote to be assistant secretary of the Army for manpower and reserve affairs. She is a professional staff member for the House Armed Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Military Personnel.
Sept. 18 — Kenneth Osako of South San Francisco is arrested for fatally beating a fellow gym member, Diego Galindo, at Bally Total Fitness the night before.
Sept. 20 — A statement by commentator Jonathan Hoenig on Fox News Channel’s “Cashin’ In” seems to suggest that racial profiling of Japanese Americans helped the U.S. win World War II. After criticism from Asian American civil rights groups and members of Congress, Hoenig apologizes and says his remarks were misinterpreted.
Sept. 22 — President Obama nominates Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr. for reappointment to the rank of admiral and for assignment as commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, based in Honolulu.
Sept. 29 — JACL announces it has signed on to an amicus brief in De Leon et al. v. Perry, a federal lawsuit pending in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that challenges Texas’ ban on same-sex marriage.
Sept. 30 — Hiroshi’s Anzen, a grocery and cookware store established in Portland, Ore. by the Matsushima family, is scheduled to close its doors after 109 years.
Sept. 30 — The start of construction on the Metro Regional Connector on First and Central in Little Tokyo is marked with a ceremony featuring U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, Mayor Eric Garcetti and George Takei.
October
Oct. 5 — Current and former Asian Pacific American elected officials from around the state hold a rally in support of Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi’s re-election. Gov. Jerry Brown, Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins and other Democratic leaders hold a rally for Muratsuchi on Oct. 28.
Oct. 5 — The Japanese Women’s Society of Southern California celebrates its 110th anniversary and presents distinguished service awards to Kazuko Doizaki, Hisako Shohara, Kazuye Tsuboi, Yoshiko Yamaguchi and Kiyoko Yoshiyama.
Oct. 7 — The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approves a $1 million grant award proposed by Supervisor Gloria Molina for the Budokan of Los Angeles project, Little Tokyo Service Center’s multipurpose recreation facility.
Oct. 7 — Isamu Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano of Nagoya University and Shuji Nakamura of UC Santa Barbara win the Nobel Prize in Physics for inventing blue light-emitting diodes, a breakthrough that has spurred the development of LED technology.
Oct. 8 — 442nd RCT veterans Samiru Ikari, Junwo “Jimmy” Yamashita and Masayoshi Tsuda are awarded the French Legion of Honor, that country’s highest award, by Deputy Consul General Fabrice Maiolino in Orange.
Oct. 9 — President Obama visit the Venice campaign office of State Sen. Ted Lieu, who is running for the congressional seat being vacated by Rep. Henry Waxman.
Oct. 11 — FBI agents arrest Michael Tanouye of Hilo for sexually assaulting a female passenger in a bathroom during a flight from Honolulu to Kansai International Airport.
Oct. 13 — The Ensign Group, which has been in talks with Keiro Senior HealthCare to acquire Keiro’s four facilities, announces that the California Attorney General’s Office has not approved the sale. In December, Keiro’s leadership says the decision cannot be appealed and that a new buyer will be sought.
Oct. 14 — Christopher Isozaki of Rancho Palos Verdes is a runner-up for the title of “America’s Top Young Scientist” in the Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge.
Oct. 14 — Takuro Hashitaka of San Francisco files a civil rights complaint against the City and County of San Francisco and members of the SFPD, alleging wrongful and racially motivated brutality, arrest and imprisonment when he was stopped in 2013 for riding a bike with his infant son in a front baby carrier.
Oct. 19 — The Japan-U.S. Network for Decolonization (FeND) sends a letter to the Fullerton City Council supporting efforts to memorialize “comfort women.”
Oct. 22 — Famed Nisei athlete Tosh Asano, and the late Masako Mukai Kusumoto receive honorary degrees from Citrus College in Glendora. Both were first-year students there when World War II broke out.
Oct. 25 — Chigasaki Deputy Mayor Takehiko Kimura, who worked to establish a sister-city relationship with Honoluu, dies after being pulled from the water off Waikiki.
Oct. 26 — A celebration of life is held at South Bay Community Church in Torrance for Lisa Nakamaru, 20, a South High School graduate and UC Davis student who died in a rafting accident on Oct. 12. Family and friends establish a “Live Like Lisa” campaign to support her causes.
Oct. 31-Nov. 2 — Hello Kitty Con 2014 at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, celebrating the 40th anniversary of Hello Kitty, draws thousands to Little Tokyo. It is held in conjunction with the Hello Kitty exhibition at the Japanese American National Museum.
November
Nov. 3 — The Japanese government announces Fall 2014 Decorations to Cal Tech seismologist Professor Hiroo Kanamori (Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold and Silver Star), former Japanese Chamber of Commerce of Southern California President Toshio Handa (Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays), former Los Angeles City Councilmember Jan Perry (Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays, and Terminal Islanders co-founder Yukio Tatsumi (Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays). Conferment ceremonies are held in Tokyo on Nov. 13 for Kanamori and Handa, and in Los Angeles on Nov. 19 for Perry and Nov. 26 for Tatsumi.
Nov. 4 — In Hawaii, David Ige is elected governor, Mark Takai is elected to 1st Congressional District seat; in California, Board of Equalization member Betty Yee is elected state controller, Controller John Chiang is elected state treasurer, former Assemblymember Fiona Ma is elected to Board of Equalization; in Silicon Valley, Rep. Mike Honda beats challenger Ro Khanna; in Sacramento, Rep. Doris Matsui wins re-election, Sacramento City Councilmember Darrell Fong loses bid for 9th Assembly District seat; in Oakland, Mayor Jean Quan is unseated and Aimee Eng wins seat on Board of Education; in San Francisco, Emily Murase is re-elected to Board of Education and Jeff Adachi is re-elected public defender.
Nov. 4 — In Los Angeles County, State Sen. Ted Lieu wins Rep. Henry Waxman’s congressional seat, former Undersheriff Paul Tanaka loses by a landslide to Jim McConnell in sheriff’s race, incumbent Al Muratsuchi loses to challenger David Hadley in 66th Assembly District, aerospace engineer Eric Sunada loses in race for Alhambra City Council; in Riverside, Rep. Mark Takano is re-elected; in Orange County, Supervisor Janet Nguyen is elected to State Senate, Diamond Bar Councilmember Ling-Ling Chang and businesswoman Young Kim are elected to State Assembly, Phil Tsunoda is re-elected to Aliso Viejo City Council.
Nov. 6 — A hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court is scheduled for Snowball West Investments’ lawsuit calling on the City of Los Angeles to rescind historic-cultural landmark status for the Tuna Canyon Detention Station site in Tujunga. Due to reassignment of the judge, the hearing is postponed until next year.
Nov. 7 — The Consulate General of Japan presents the Commendation of the Consul General to Shinkichi Koyama, past president of Southern California Gardeners’ Federation and Bay Cities Gardeners Association.
Nov. 8 — Animator Hayao Miyazaki, who is retiring from feature filmmaking, receives an honorary Academy Award.
Nov. 9 — Shuichi Sugimoto, a resident of Japan, is shot to death in the parking lot of a Yoshinoya restaurant in Inglewood. Police chase three suspects but are unable to find them.
Nov. 10 — President Obama names the late Rep. Patsy Takemoto Mink, best known for co-authoring Title IX of the Education Amendments, as a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Mink’s daughter Wendy accepts the medal at the White House on Nov. 24.
Nov. 13 — As his first term ends, Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi says he will run again in the 66th Assembly District in 2016.
Nov. 14 — The National Park Service announces it will replace some non-historic chain-link security fencing at the Tule Lake Segregation Center site in Newell, Calif., to protect and preserve the historic landscape.
Nov. 14 — Sadako Alison Yamanaka, 93, is an awarded an honorary bachelor’s degree by Woodbury University in a ceremony at the Hawaii State Capitol. She enrolled at Woodbury College in 1940 but left after the Pearl Harbor attack.
Nov. 15 — Okaeri, a gathering for LGBTQ individuals and their supporters in the Nikkei community, is held at the Japanese American National Museum. Similar events were held this year at San Fernando Valley Japanese American Community Center and Gardena Valley Japanese Cultural Institute.
Nov. 17 — Parent company Typhoon Restaurant Inc. and Brian Vidor, owner of the now-closed restaurant The Hump in Santa Monica, plead guilty to federal charges stemming from serving meat from an endangered whale species to undercover investigators in 2009 and 2010.
Nov. 20 — Hiroshi Shimizu, Takata Corp.’s senior vice president of quality, apologizes for its defective air bags, which have been blamed for five deaths worldwide, in testimony before a Senate committee.
Nov. 20 — Leukemia patient Morrow Willis, a 28-year-old Nikkei from Texas and former USC student, announces a suitable bone marrow donor has been found through the national registry.
Nov. 21 — Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky compares President Obama’s unilateral action on immigration to President Franklin Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066. Rep. Mike Honda and other critics say the two issues are very different.
Nov. 25 — The L.A. County Metropolitan Transportation Authority says Kinkisharyo International of Osaka will go ahead with plans to build light-rail cars in the county, a month after threatening to pull out when talks with organized labor groups stalled.
Nov. 25 — The Little Tokyo Community Council unveils the final version of the new design for the Budokan project, which totals 89,000 square feet.
Nov. 26 — An Asian Pacific American contingent from Little Tokyo participates in a protest in downtown Los Angeles following a grand jury’s decision not to prosecute a police officer for the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. APA groups across the country support “Black Lives Matter” rallies.
Nov. 28 — The Yomiuri Shimbun apologizes in print for using the term “sex slaves” in its English-language edition to describe Asian women forced into Japanese military-run brothels during World War II.
December
Dec. 1 — L.A. County CEO Bill Fujioka retires after 40 years in public service. He was formally recognized by the Board of Supervisors on Nov. 18.
Dec. 2 — The L.A. County Board of Supervisors appoints Executive Officer Sachi Hamai to serve as acting chief executive officer until a permanent replacement for former CEO Bill Fujioka is found.
Dec. 2 — Former Dana Point Mayor Lisa Bartlett, the first Japanese American elected to the Orange County Board of Supervisors, is sworn in to represent the 5th District.
Dec. 2 — Ronin Shimizu, 12, a middle-school student in Folsom, Sacramento County, takes his own life, apparently as a result of being bullied for being the only male member of a cheerleading squad.
Dec. 4 — Sen. Brian Schatz, the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii and the Honolulu JACL present Interior Secretary Sally Jewell with petitions requesting the inclusion of the Honouliuli Internment Camp site in the national park system.
Dec. 5 — Kitaro receives his 16th Grammy nomination in the New Age category for “Symphony Live in Istanbul.”
Dec. 7 — The 100th birthday of Fred Hoshiyama, a leader for decades in the YMCA and the Japanese American community, is held at the Japanese American National Museum, which he helped establish.
Dec. 8 — Family and friends of Christine Schneider and her son Dylan, formerly of Hermosa Beach, launch a campaign to find a kidney donor for Christine and raise funds for Dylan’s education following the loss of husband and father Doug Schneider due to a dirt bike accident on Nov. 8.
Dec. 10 — Professor Shuji Nakamura of UC Santa Barbara receives the Nobel Prize for Physics from Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf in Stockholm for the invention of energy-efficient blue LEDs.
Dec. 11 — The U.S. Senate confirms via voice vote the nomination of Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr. as commander of the U.S. Pacific Command. He will be in charge of all U.S. military forces operating in the Pacific region.
Dec. 13 — The Nikkei Widowed Association, which is disbanding, holds its 35th and final Christmas luncheon at the Quiet Cannon in Montebello.
Dec. 16 — Dr. Vivek Hallegere Murthy is confirmed by the Senate as the next U.S. surgeon general, becoming the first Asian American to serve in that post.
Dec. 17 — A suspected drunk driver plows into a group of pedestrians leaving a Christmas concert at St. James Catholic School and Paris in Redondo Beach, killing three and injuring 11. Among the fatalities is Saeko Matsumura, 87, of Torrance.
Dec. 17 — In San Rafael, Marin County, friends and relatives observe the sixth anniversary of the murder of Ashley Yamauchi, 33, outside a local bar. The case remains unsolved.
Dec. 17 — Sony Pictures Entertainment announces the cancellation of the Decd. 25 release of “The Interview,” a comedy about an assassination attempt on North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, due to threats from hackers. The company later reverses its decision and makes the film available online and in limited theatrical release.