Minoru Tonai

February 6, 1929 – September 3, 2023

February 6, 1929 – September 3, 2023

Minoru "Min" Tonai of Woodland Hills, California passed away

September 3, 2023, at the age of 94 after a brief bout of pneumonia.

Min was a great story-teller, community leader and mentor. He used

his gift to promote many causes dear to his heart including keeping alive

the history of the Japanese American incarceration during WWII,

promoting Japanese arts and culture, striving to strengthen relations

between the U.S. and Japan, providing the financial acumen for

technological advances, cheering on the UCLA Bruins and devoting

himself to his much beloved family. His talents for management, finance

and fund-raising, combined with his commitment to remembering and

honoring the past and looking to the future, were instrumental in

establishing many memorials and programs, including the memorial

honoring the lost Japanese American fishing village at Terminal Island,

Japanese American War Memorial Court at the Japanese American

Cultural and Community Center, UCLA Chair in Asian American

Studies, and Japanese American Korean War Veteran Memorial,

Imjingak, South Korea. His efforts to never forget or repeat the unjust

incarceration of people of Japanese ancestry during WWII were

instrumental in the adoption of Amache into the U.S. National Park

System in 2022. The son of a school teacher, Min also embraced

education. He spoke annually to college students at Manzanar's "Katari"

program, was an advisor to the Nanka Wakayama Kenjinkai scholarship

committee and regularly visited children in the Cerritos ABC Unified

School District. He regaled them with stories about his past; instilling in

them a curiosity to learn more. A children's book about his life during

WWII will be published in 2025. In his extended family "Uncle Min"

was the keeper of traditions such as mochitsuki and family history. There

was never anyone not deserving of one of his personal histories. His hope

was always to motivate others to share theirs.

Min, the son of Japanese immigrants Gengoro and Toyone Otsubo

Tonai, was born February 6, 1929, in San Pedro, California. He had an

older brother, Ichiro, two older sisters, Mizuyo "Mary" and Rumi, and

younger brother, Yutaka. His happy childhood was spent in the fishing

village of Terminal Island and then San Pedro, where he attended

elementary and junior high school. Their family was uprooted after Pearl

Harbor when his father, owner of a successful chain of L.A. area produce

stores, was unjustly arrested and imprisoned. At the time, Min's oldest

brother and sister were attending school in Japan and spent the remainder

of the war separated from their family. The rest of the family was

subsequently incarcerated at the Santa Anita Temporary Detainment

Center and from there the Amache concentration camp in Colorado. It

was three years before his father was able to rejoin his family at Amache.

After their release and return to L.A., Min graduated from Dorsey

High School and enrolled at UCLA. He began dating Mary Mitsuko

Endo at a Valentine's Day dance and was immediately smitten. After a

long courtship, serving in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, working

a stint at Grand Central Market and graduating from UCLA in 1955 with

a B.S. in business administration, Mary and Min were married on

September 8, 1956. They purchased their first home in Canoga Park in

1959 and moved to Woodland Hills in 1968. Min and Mary were often

found at many family gatherings, UCLA football and basketball games

or various social and civic engagements. They had three children, Susan

Reiko, John Ryo and Teresa Ayako, and were happily married for 60

years until her passing in 2017.

Min's financial career in the technology sector began in the computer

divisions of the big aerospace firms TRW & Bunker Ramo, but his

affinity was for the excitement and promise of startup ventures. His

fondest professional memories were of the team at Symbolics, Inc.,

where he was the founding CFO.

Due to the fractious history between Japan and Korea and as a U.S.

Army combat medic during the Korean War, he was frustrated that the

South Korean people were unaware that Japanese Americans had fought

for their country. As a leader of the Japanese American Korean War

Veterans in Los Angeles, his organization honored and supported

Japanese Americans involved in the Korean conflict and worked to

strengthen relations with the South Korean people. Never forgetting his

Army buddies, he was a key participant in their 224th Regimental

Combat Team reunions. For his contributions to Korean War veterans,

Min was honored by the Department of Defense and selected to ride on

their 124th Tournament of Roses Parade float.

For over 60 years, Min served on committees and in key positions in

many organizations, among them: UCLA Foundation Board of Trustees

and Business Advisory Council, Omotesenke Domonkai, Terminal

Islanders, Japanese American Cultural and Community Center, Nanka

Wakayama Kenjinkai scholarship committee, Esumi Sojinkai, Japanese

American National Museum, Amache Historical Society, Nikkei Bruins,

Asia America Symphony Association and East West Players.

His contributions culminated in many honors including 1998 UCLA

Asian American Studies Lifetime Achievement Award, 59th Anniversary

Nisei Week Festival Grand Marshal, 2005 Japanese American Cultural

and Community Center's Chairman Award, 2008 Nikkei Pioneer Award,

plus many governmental commendations. In 2015 he was decorated by

the Japanese government with the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette

for his contributions promoting the status of the Japanese American

community in the United States and friendly relations and mutual

understanding between Japan and the United States.

He leaves behind his three children, Susan Tonai Drews, John Tonai

and Teresa Tonai; sisters-in-law, Yae Nagai, Elinor Sakado and Carole

Endo; brother-in-law, George Endo; and many nieces, nephews and their

families. He is now with his beloved wife, Mary; parents, Gengoro and

Toyone Tonai; brothers, Ichiro and Yutaka Tonai; sisters, Mary Otsubo

and Rumi Uragami; and many other family and friends. His zest for life

and enthusiasm will be greatly missed.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, October 14, 2 p.m. at

the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center, Aratani Theater,

Little Tokyo, Los Angeles. All attending are asked to wear masks

indoors. In lieu of flowers, donations in Min's memory may be made to

the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center or Amache

Alliance.  A memory page may be found at: www.forevermissed.com/minoru-tonai/

Links for donations:

https://jaccc.org/

https://www.amachealliance.org/

For directions:

https://jaccc.org/plan-your-visit/