Dr. Itsuki Charles Igawa, Ph.D. passed away in Roseville, Calif. on December 4, 2023, after complications during a visit to the Kaiser Permanente emergency room. He was 83 years old. Dr. Igawa had recently moved to Northern California after more than 50 years living in the Los Angeles County area so that he and his wife Yuko could be closer to his son.
Born into a family of Shinto priests, Dr. Igawa moved from Innoshima, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan to the United States as an ambitious 19-year-old. He dived into his studies and earned his B.A. in political science at CSULA in 1965, his M.A. in 1967, and earned his A.B.D. in political science in 1971 at the University of Oregon. As an academic, Dr. Igawa had taught at several different universities in the 1970s, including CSULA (Political Science), UCI (Comparative Culture), and CSULB (Political Science / Department of Asian and Asian American Studies). His pursuit for his Ph.D. took a side turn as he turned to the private sector, forming a management consultant firm in the early ’80s, concentrating on TQC and Japanese management and industrial processes. Using his experiences, he was able to finish a dissertation in 1996, earning his Ph.D. in comparative culture from UCI. Dr. Igawa also served many years seemingly, tirelessly helping many Southern California Japanese American community groups, including serving leadership roles at the Harbor District Japanese Community Center, Southern California Hiroshima Kenjinkai, the California Association of Japanese Language Schools, and others. Later, he was instrumental in the formation of the California Sea Urchin Commission. In addition, Dr. Igawa was an occasional contributor to the Rafu Shimpo as an essayist and columnist, writing in both Japanese and English.
He is survived by his wife, Yuko Margaret Kizu; his son, Narihiro; his granddaughters, Candace and Natalie; his daughter-in-law, Tomoko; his two remaining sisters in Hyogo, Japan, Chihaya and Tsukaho Higashinaka; and various nephews and nieces. Services were held in Sacramento (Buddhist Church of Sacramento on Sunday, December 17, at noon). In Los Angeles (JACCC in Little Tokyo on Wednesday, December 27, from 4 p.m. – 7 p.m.) friends, families, and associates are welcome to share their memories. If you are interested in attending, please contact Narihiro Igawa at (916) 749-8131.