By JUDD MATSUNAGA, ESQ.
A hundred years ago, reaching 100 years old would be considered a miracle. Not anymore.
According to the Pew Research Center’s January 2024 analysis of Census Bureau projections, the U.S. centenarian population is projected to more than quadruple over the next 30 years, i.e., from approximately 101,000 in 2024 to approximately 422,000 by 2054 — meaning that the population of centenarians is growing rapidly, reaching about 0.1% of the population by 2054.
This Rafu Shimpo article is to point out a “miracle of miracles.” Right here in the Los Angeles Japanese American community, a Nisei couple has just celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary.
Marriages that last 75 years are so statistically rare that the U.S. Census Bureau does not even maintain a specific percentage for them. However, based on related data and estimates from demographers, the number is a microscopic fraction of a percent — well under 0.01% of all marriages. (Source: www.chicagotribune.com).
Given that life expectancies have historically been shorter than 75 years and the fact that not all marriages withstand the test of time, reaching a 75th anniversary is indeed rare. The couples who celebrate this milestone are exceptional examples of partnerships where both individuals have spent the majority of their lives together.
Achieving a 75-year marriage is an extraordinary event that is not commonly witnessed. This milestone, often referred to as the Diamond Anniversary, symbolizes a long-lasting union that has endured the complexities and triumphs of a shared life.
In Japan, wedding anniversary traditions follow the same general pattern as in the U.K. and U.S., where each year of marriage has a symbolic name and often a traditional gift. Seventy-five years of marriage is called the “Diamond and Gold Wedding Anniversary.” The Japanese name combines two prestigious symbols: Diamond — representing enduring love and strength; and Gold — representing wealth, stability, and preciousness.
So who has accomplished this miracle of miracles? Ronald and Helen Matsunaga, my parents. Ron’s father, Junta Matsunaga, immigrated to the U.S. from Kumamoto, Japan. His picture bride, Sueno, followed. Ron was born as Shigeto Matsunaga, “Shig” for short, and later changed his name to Ronald Shigeto Matsunaga. Shig was the youngest of four boys, and their family worked a grape farm in Del Rey, Calif., before the war.
Tragically, Shig’s father died when Shig was a young boy, and his mother took the four boys back to Kumamoto. However, when rumors of war started to circulate, Grandma sent the boys back to Los Angeles on a steamship without her. Can you imagine a 10-year-old boarding a massive immigrant ship in third-class or steerage quarters without your mom? I’d imagine it was terrifying.
Helen came from royal samurai ancestry. Her father, Jiro Morita, immigrated from Shizuoka, Japan, to Southern California while still a teenager. After graduating high school, he attended college at what is now called CalTech. Because Jiro later enrolled in the U.S. Army during World War I, he was allowed to own property, which most immigrants were not allowed to do. The family owned a grocery store in Pasadena, and his family, wife, and four kids lived behind the store.
Dad was 15 and Mom was 14 when their families were sent to the internment camps during the hysteria of WWII. Dad’s family initially went to Heart Mountain in Wyoming and Mom’s family went to Gila River in Arizona. Eventually, Dad moved to Gila, where they met. Personally, I have no negative feelings about internment; that’s where my parents met. I might not be here had it not been for the camps.
I was told by my late mother-in-law, who was at the same camp, that young girls would fight over the good-looking guys and put “dibs” on them. She said that all the girls knew the “Matsunaga brothers.” Although they both secretly had crushes on each other, neither of them let the other know. Helen says Shig had too many girls after him. Ron says Helen had too many boyfriends.
In early 1944, Helen’s family relocated to Omaha, Nebraska, and then to Lincoln, Nebraska, where she finished high school in 1945. Shig’s family moved in 1944 to Chicago, where he finished high school in 1945. Interestingly, Dad and older brother Tom were drafted into the U.S. Army on VJ Day. Their picture of being inducted into the Army made the front page of The Chicago Tribune.
While in the Army, Shig ran into Fran Uyematsu, husband of Helen’s older sister Elsie. Ron asked Fran for Helen’s address. Helen had since moved back to their home in Pasadena and was attending Pasadena City College. Since the war was now over, Shig was honorably discharged from the Army in 1946 and joined his mother, who had since moved back to Los Angeles.
Ronald started working as a dental technician while living in Downtown L.A. with his mother. He dated Helen using the Red Car to get back and forth from Downtown to Pasadena, where Helen was living with her family. After Helen graduated from PCC in 1947, they both enrolled at USC — Helen as a junior and Ron as a freshman. After his sophomore year at USC, Ron was accepted into USC Dental School after his sophomore year in college, even though he had never earned a bachelor’s degree!
The very first year of their 75 years of marriage started when Ron was between his sophomore and junior years in dental school. In the beginning, money was very tight. Ron worked as a dental technician on some weekends, and Helen supported them by working as a secretary.
They lived in a bungalow behind Ron’s mother’s house on Ardmore Avenue in what is now known as L.A.’s Koreatown.
Ron finished dental school in 1953, and a year later, in 1954, he was back in school at the UCLA Medical School. They eventually moved to their own apartment on 4th Avenue, not far from Ron’s mother. In 1959, Ron and Helen bought their first house in the Crenshaw District, i.e., Crenshaw Square, where they raised four children, Marsha, Judd, Mark, and Laura.
In the late 1960s, Ron and Helen bought a lot on top of a hill in Bel-Air. The previous house was completely burned down in the 1961 Bel-Air fire. Uncle Hide, an architect, built the house. As children, my siblings and I would climb out of the pool looking over the city, from Dodger Stadium to the east to Catalina Island in the west. More recently, Elon Musk bought two homes at the end of the cul-de-sac and built a mansion just four doors away.
Ron and Helen celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in Hawaii with the Miyamoto family. Ron, Helen, Ham, and Aki were close ever since their USC days. Helen and Aki were founding members of Sigma Phi Omega in 1949 at the University of Southern California. It was originally founded by a group of 17 Japanese women in response to growing anti-Asian-American sentiment that followed as a result of World War II and Pearl Harbor.
As kids, the Matsunaga and Miyamoto kids grew up like family. We would go to Tinker Town together, Disneyland together, and on family vacations together. Naturally, the Miyamoto family was there at the luau at the Sheraton Hotel. There must have been 200-300 people. The host got to the part where he asked the audience, “Is anyone celebrating their honeymoon?” I think two couples stood up, and the crowd gave them nice, congratulatory applause.
Next, the host asked, “Who’s celebrating an anniversary?” A couple of dozen couples raised their hands. “Anyone celebrating five years of marriage? Ten years? How about 25 years?” Each time, fewer and fewer hands stayed up. “Forty years? Forty-five years?” Eventually, “Fifty years?” My parents were the only couple left standing. The host invited them up to the stage. He greeted them and asked if they could dance while he sang the Hawaiian Wedding Song. I was impressed with my dad; he didn’t embarrass himself.
After the song was done, he asked them what the secret to a long and happy marriage was. He started with Ron and gave him the mic. Dad, without hesitation, said in a typical Japanese male tone, “As long as she does what I tell her to do, everything is fine.” The audience in unison gave Dad a big “boo.”
So the host turned to Mom and said, “Helen, what’s your secret to a long and happy marriage?” Mom took the mic and said, “You have to have a good sense of humor.” The crowd roared with applause. They (in my opinion) were the highlight of the whole luau. Good times!
In conclusion, celebrating a 75-year wedding anniversary is a monumental event, a statistical rarity, often met with admiration and awe. It’s a testament to shared experiences, resilience, and a profound understanding between partners, making it one of the most celebrated and revered anniversaries in the world of marriage. Those who reach this anniversary have shared the majority of their lives together.
If you’d like to wish Ron and Helen congratulations, blessings, greetings, or shared memories, please email judd@elderlawcalifornia,com.
Judd Matsunaga, Esq., is the founding partner of the Elder Law Services of California, specializing in estate/Medi-Cal planning, probate, personal injury and real estate law. With offices in Torrance, Encino, Pasadena and Fountain Valley, he can be reached at (310) 318-2995. Opinions expressed in this column are not necessarily those of The Rafu Shimpo.