All qualified students are encouraged to apply for the South Bay Japanese American Citizen League (SB JACL) Scholarships.
Scholarships are open to all students of Japanese American ancestry residing in the South Bay JACL Chapter area who are members of JACL. Applicants must be planning to attend or currently attending a college or university and have attended one of the following schools:
Bishop Montgomery High School
Palos Verdes Peninsula High School
California Academy of Math and Science
Redondo Union High School
Gardena High School
Rolling Hills Preparatory School
Mira Costa High School
San Pedro High School
Narbonne High School
South Torrance High School
North Torrance High School
Torrance High School
Palos Verdes High School
West Torrance High School
Students are required to fill out only one application. The Scholarship Committee will select the recipients for each scholarship based upon the requirements posted on each scholarship.
Scholarship opportunities include:
Kiichi Egashira Memorial Scholarships, open to students planning to attend or attending a college or university pursuing a bachelor’s or graduate degree in physical and biological sciences, engineering and/or mathematics.
Janice Kobata Zoeger Memorial Scholarship, open to students planning to attend a college or university in pursuit of a bachelor’s degree or a graduate degree in any field of study relating to biological sciences, foreign and/or ancient language or business.
Ernest K. Tsujimoto Memorial Scholarship, for a student planning to attend or be enrolled in a college or university in pursuit of an undergraduate/graduate degree majoring in the STEM fields: science, technology, engineering or math.
Gardena Valley JACL Scholarship, open to high school seniors who are planning to attend a college or university pursuing a bachelor’s degree in any field of study.
David and Lily Nakatani Scholarship, open to high school seniors planning to attend a college or university in pursuit of a bachelor’s degree majoring in the STEM fields.
All application materials must be submitted no later than April 1, 2026. For more information, go to: www.sbjacl.org/sb-jacl-scholarship-2-1
2025 Scholarship Recipients
The chapter’s 45th scholarship awards program was held via Zoom on May 22. A total of $10,000 in scholarships was awarded to eight outstanding high school seniors:
Ryan Yanai Herbers, West Torrance High School
Kayla Sakurai, Torrance High School
Jeffrey Takahashi, West Torrance High School
Coco Funakoshi, Redondo Union High School
Brandon Takahashi, Bishop Montgomery High School
Makayla Moromisato, North Torrance High School
Gavin Yanai Herbers, West Torrance High School
Lily Heinonen, West Torrance High School