Harry Nobuto Ota was born to Chiyokichi and Misaki Ota on April 15, 1933 in El Centro, California. He was the fifth of eight children. He lived on the farm with his parents, paternal grandmother, two brothers, and four sisters. At the tender age of four, he and his family boarded a ship to move back to their grandmother’s hometown in Hiroshima.

In Itsukaichi city, Ishiuchi village, with the fortunes they made in America, his parents bought land to live and farm. Their home was often the gathering place for friends and family to drink sake or listen to the only radio in their village. One of Harry’s dearest childhood memories was when he covered his face with his father’s kimono when he took naps to keep the flies from bothering him. He remembered how comforting it was to smell his father’s scent.

Here, Harry lived a typical farmer’s childhood: going to school and doing his chores. Even though he was not very studious, he was the star track runner in the area; nobody could beat him. He learned that some of the students even paid other students to run in their place when they heard he was competing in their round! Harry relished in the excitement and the cheering crowd!

On August 6, 1945, America dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Although they lived several miles away from the epicenter, the ceiling fell and the windows of his classroom shattered, piercing Harry’s face. He said everything went black at first. Frightened, he and his classmates evacuated up the mountain. Later, it started to rain and he noticed his white shirt was being stained with black droplets. Some months later, he developed purple dots on his arms; the town doctor suspected radiation poisoning. Eventually they disappeared, but the glass remained in his face for the rest of his life.

Post war Japan was filled with uncertainty, hunger, and suffering. Though Harry had a strong work ethic, there were still very few options to earn money. However, he had something of great value: his American citizenship. In August 1952 at the age of 19, he and his elder brother, Kazumi embarked on a two-week oceanic journey back to the United States to create and establish a better life for his family. They arrived at Fresno, where Uncle Jimmy Sasaki hired them to tend the grapes on his farm. Once the work dried up in February, Uncle Jimmy suggested they go to Los Angeles where they could get stable jobs.

Living in a boarding house in LA, Harry worked as a gardener’s assistant. Because of his hard work, he was steadily employed and eventually brought over his sisters, brother and parents to Los Angeles. Before long, Harry, Kazumi and their eldest brother, Hiroshi, worked together as a team of gardeners, nicknamed by their customers, “The Three Musketeers." He fondly recalled how happy he was to be with his brothers, eating lunch together, and enjoying each other’s company.

In 1963, Harry met the love of his life, Hiroko. On November 6th of that same year Harry married Hiroko in Hiroshima and brought her back to Los Angeles. In 1964, they went to their first Soka Gakkai meeting. It was there that they joined the SGI World Peace movement and started practicing Nichiren Buddhism. They dedicated their lives to supporting others in their practice, taking on leadership roles as district leaders for many years. Harry supported several events and activities such as going to Hawaiʻi to build the floating island in Waikiki in the summer of 1975. For almost sixty years, he tended the gardens and landscapes of SGI community centers. Harry enjoyed volunteering behind the scenes. He continued his daily practice of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo until his last day.

Harry and Hiroko welcomed their children: Helen in 1965, Alice in 1968, and George in 1971. He worked six days a week, starting before sunrise until the sun went down to support his growing family. By the end of the work day, he felt anxious because he knew Hiroko would scold him for working too long.

Although Harry was busy with work and SGI activities, every summer he loved to take road trips with his young family. They went to many National Parks like the Grand Canyon’s North Rim, Bryce Canyon in Utah, Wyoming’s Yellowstone Park, and Mesa Verde in Colorado. Staying at roadside motels and eating at local restaurants made the trips very unique and memorable. To save money, he also made sure they packed a rice cooker, coffeemaker, and a hot plate to make many meals. The smell of fried Spam, bologna, and rice cooking, with the sound of percolating coffee often woke up the children in their motel beds. They also went camping and took day trips to be out in nature and appreciate the outdoors.

Just like his parents, getting together with family gave Harry so much joy. He looked forward to spending time with his parents, brothers, sisters, and many, many nieces and nephews. Sitting around the table with potluck feasts, lively conversations, and remembering happy memories together always put a big smile on Harry’s face.

He continued to work as a gardener full time until he decided to “semi-retire” at eighty years old, which meant dropping the Saturday route. Harry truly loved to be a gardener and declared it to be the best job ever. He fully retired at ninety but still cut his and his son, George’s lawns up until last year. Harry’s hands were never idle: always puttering around the house, watering his many plants, wiping down his cars, or sweeping the garage.

Harry passed away on June 25, 2026 with his family at his bedside. During his last weeks, he was telling his family, “thank you” and “I love you.” He would always remark how lucky he was to have such a wonderful wife and family. Until the end of his life, he said that he lived a happy life and had no regrets.

Harry was predeceased by brothers Akira, Kazumi and Hiroshi Ota; sisters Chiyeko Naito, Michiye Nakagawa, and Yuriko Suda. He is survived by his loving family; wife Hiroko Ota; daughters Helen (Michael Palma) Ota and Alice (Raymond) Nakagawa; and son George (Ling) Ota; grandsons Justin Nakagawa, Casey Nakagawa, Bryce Nakagawa, and Nathaniel Ota; granddaughters Hailee Nakagawa and Cassidy Ota; sisters Harumi Sasaki and Natsuye Shimono; also many nieces, nephews, and other relatives.

A celebration of life was held on Saturday, July 11, 2026 at Fukui Mortuary