Statement from Congressman Mike Honda Honoring the Life of Former California Assemblyman Nao Takasugi

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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