Dr. Takashi Hoshizaki at an April 2024 event at JANM’s Tateuchi Democracy Forum.
Dr. Takashi Hoshizaki, who resisted the military draft while incarcerated at Heart Mountain before becoming an expert in circadian rhythms for the space program, will receive Japan’s Order of the Rising Sun, Silver Rays in a conferment ceremony from 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 23.
The ceremony is open to the public and will be held at the Tateuchi Democracy Center at the Japanese American National Museum, 100 N. Central Ave. in Little Tokyo.
This prestigious commendation recognizes Hoshizaki’s significant contributions to improving the status of the Japanese American community and promoting mutual understanding between Japan and the U.S. The decoration will be presented by the Consulate-General of Japan in Los Angeles. RSVP to tracey@heartmountain.org to register.
Hoshizaki is the fifth former Heart Mountain incarceree to receive the award, joining former congressman and Cabinet secretary Norman Mineta (1931-2022), pharmaceutical scientist William Higuchi (1931-2024), educator Jeanette Misaka (1931-), and Judge Raymond Uno (1930-2024).
At 101, Hoshizaki is the oldest surviving member of the 85 men who resisted the military draft while imprisoned at Heart Mountain. He was convicted and spent two years in federal prison. President Harry Truman pardoned him and all Japanese American draft resisters on Dec. 24, 1947. He has been a member of the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation Board of Directors for more than a decade.
The Consulate General of Japan in Denver said, “As a board member of the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation, Dr. Takashi Hoshizaki … has long been actively engaged in preserving the history of the Heart Mountain Japanese American incarceration camp, which he also personally experienced.”
“As an American boy who turned 18 behind barbed wire, Takashi’s decision to resist was grounded in his conviction to do what’s right,” said Shirley Ann Higuchi, chair of the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation. “His courage to resist was a patriotic act evidenced by his service in the Korean War following his pardon by President Truman.”
The Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation, a Smithsonian Affiliate, preserves the site where some 14,000 Japanese Americans were unjustly incarcerated in Wyoming from 1942 through 1945. Their stories are told within the foundation’s museum, Heart Mountain Interpretive Center, and its affiliated Mineta-Simpson Institute located between Cody and Powell. For more information, call the center at (307) 754-8000 or email info@heartmountain.org