[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 192 (Thursday, December 17, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E3034]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    HONORING THE LIFE OF FORMER CALIFORNIA ASSEMBLYMAN NAO TAKASUGI

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. MICHAEL M. HONDA

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, December 16, 2009

  Mr. HONDA. Madam Speaker, today I honor the life and achievements of 
my dear friend, former California State Assemblymember Nao Takasugi. 
Nao dedicated his life to public service with humility, integrity, and 
commitment to the American ideals of equality and justice.
  Nao was a 19-year-old student at the University of California, Los 
Angeles, when he and his family were incarcerated in an internment camp 
for Japanese Americans during World War II.
  His family was forced to sell most of their possessions, but was able 
to keep the family store, the Asahi Market in downtown Oxnard, which 
they had owned since 1907.
  The Takasugi family was able to save the store during their 
imprisonment by entrusting the family business to a Mexican American 
employee, Ignacio Carmona. When the Takasugi family returned to Oxnard 
in 1945, Mr. Carmona returned the business back to the Takasugis, after 
faithfully carrying on the business for three years.
  In 1943, Nao was among approximately 4,000 Japanese American college 
students who were released from the internment camps and allowed to 
attend college on the East Coast. Nao earned his business 
administration degree at Temple University in Philadelphia and a 
master's in business administration from the Wharton School at the 
University of Pennsylvania in 1946. When he returned to Oxnard, he ran 
his family's Asahi Market.
  His family's imprisonment inspired him to commit his life to 
strengthening our democracy in public service, and did not cause deep 
embitterment. As Oxnard City Councilman, Mayor, and then California 
State Assemblyman, he ably represented all of his diverse constituents, 
crossing racial and ethnic divides, and building bridges across party 
lines.
  At the age of 87, Nao died of complications from a stroke on November 
19, 2009. He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Judy, and their five 
children, Scott, Russell, Ron, Tricia and Lea.
  I was truly saddened by the loss of my dear friend Nao Takasugi. He 
was a gentle soul, and never let his kind demeanor get in the way of 
his strong beliefs about justice and civil rights. When he spoke, 
people listened as he was always true to his convictions and sense of 
honor. I will miss him dearly and will always reflect on his life as a 
metric of how I should conduct my own.

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