Kaneko Oshima Bishop was born on March 7, 1930 in Nagoya Japan to Mr. and Mrs. Yoshimi Oshima, and passed away of natural causes at her family home in San Diego, California on January 8, 2022, aged 91 years.

Her father was an official in the Japanese government, and the family had a comfortable life until WWII, when they eventually moved to the country to escape bombing raids, which Mrs. Bishop witnessed firsthand.

She worked in as an administrator and translator at the U.S. Air Force base in Nagoya where she met her husband Harry in 1955, while he was stationed there during the Korean War. They were married in 1956.

In 1958, they moved to the United States and settled in Topeka, Kansas. After his retirement from the Air Force, they moved to Southern California, where Harry had a job at Aerojet Corporation.

In 1970, Mrs. Bishop began studies in Japanese Tea Ceremony, and eventually earned her professorship certificate. She taught this art at her home for over 20 years.

In the 1980s, Mrs. Bishop led efforts to finance and build the Japanese Friendship Garden in San Diego, which has become a cultural landmark. A few years later, she became president of the San Diego/ Yokohama Sister City Society, which she chaired for many years.

As a result of these civic efforts, in 2013 she was awarded the prestigious Order of the Rising Sun with Gold and Silver Rays, presented to her by Emperor Akihito in a ceremony at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. She is survived by her husband Harry, her daughter Lisa and son Gregory, both of Los Angeles, and her sister Ayako Kito, of Nagoya.

A private service will be held in February at the Fukui Mortuary in Los Angeles, with later internment at the Los Angeles National Cemetery.

2022年1月8日、自宅で死去いたしました。

故人は表千家 吉田生風庵に師事、米国での日本文化布教の功績により平成25年4月29日に旭日双光章を授与。

ここに生前のご厚誼を謝し謹んでご通知申し上げます。