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This phrase, from the book written by Mel Robbins, has further changed my life as I realize my father, Sago Miyamoto, practiced this principle and has become a new hero in my life.

 

I grew up with a father who was a “born again christian” and attended the Baptist Church. He went to church, sang in the choir, and went to mid-week bible study all his life. 

 

The summer of 1947, our Uncle Ted died in an accident in Caldwell, Idaho, where we lived. I remember going with Dad to the court house for paper work and making all the arrangements for a Buddhist funeral. Dad was active in the Japanese community that way.

 

My mother became a Christian later in her life because she was raised Buddhist. My mother and several others in my family question my non-compliance to their fundamental religious practices. But now, as I recall, my father never once questioned or made any suggestions as to how I should lead my life. 

 

As I mentioned in my last blog, my father also ignored it when he was called a “Jap” and became friends in many instances. In the late 1970s or maybe 1980s, when the Seattle Mariners were doing poorly, Dad was also faithful in attending games.

 

I too work to “LET THEM” and have succeeded. I work to not comment about political views. I work to deal with differences of oppinions in our Japanese Community activities. But it’s a work in progress and needs lots of love!!

I was born in 1939 and raised in the Ontario, Oregon, inland locality of Eastern Oregon. My family moved there to start over, after hardships and discriminatory activities in the Seattle, WA, community in 1937. Opportunities for row-crop farming was created with the Owyhee Dam providing irrigation in 1930. 

 

When I was hired to start the University of Washington Library Archive “Japanese Collection” in 1970 my job was to gather stories of the Japanese Experience in the Pacific Northwest. I interviewed my family, my Grandpa K Tsukamaki and several of his friends. 

 

In 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, signing Executive Order 9066, excluded anyone with 1/16th Japanese Heritage from living within 400 miles inland from the Pacific Coast. Ontario grew from a little over 100 of us to over 1000 in population of Japanese. It was the largest per capita city with Japanese, maybe in the whole USA at one time, outside the 10 Incarceration locations. Elmo Smith was the reason, saying, "If the Japs, both alien and nationals, are a menace to the Pacific Coast safety unless they are moved inland, it appears downright cowardly to take any other stand than to put out the call, 'Send them along; we'll cooperate to the fullest possible extent in taking care of them.'"

 

All the other surrounding small towns on both sides of the Snake River, dividing Idaho and Oregon, had newspaper articles and “No Jap” signs. Smith, according to my relatives, encouraged compassion and understanding. 

 

Gathering stories from early immigrants from Japan that chose to stay in America and raising families, I find entrepreneurial endeavors. They also seemed to get to know the Mayors and County Sheriffs. My dad was one of the first second generation, Nisei, before WWII in Ontario’s Malheur county and spoke English fluently. As I was growing up, he always talked anyone of the neighbors, who called him, “Jap”, into having coffee and becoming friends.

 

With the need for Japanese food ingredients, my Tsukamaki family started the ONTARIO FISH MARKET in 1945 and praised Elmo Smith.

The concept was originated by James P Carse, a professor of religion at New York University. Finite Games have a beginning and end and winners and losers. Infinite Games are played to continue playing like a career.

 

I’ve played the Infinite Parenting Game for most of my life. But since my husband passed almost nine years ago, my choices have taken an interesting dimension. Also the covid epidemic as well as my being in my 80s have influenced my choices.  

 

My daughter brought her two girls back to where she grew up. Therefore, I have downsized to my office/bedroom with a view; while she has remodeled and taken over our house, built by my husband, 50 years ago. Covid isolated us and I chose to spend hours learning with YouTube podcasts. I like conversations and discussions, not just lectures. I work to listen to varied choices but realize the algorithms work to present me with most of those choices? 

 

I’m not sure this is a good Infinite game title, but I am learning how to better play the “GAME OF BEING HUMAN and LEARNING - My real self”!  Like Simon Sinek, I choose to be OPTIMISTIC. Like Arthur Brooks, who grew up on Seattle’s Queen Anne Hill, I work with Heritage Research for finding true meaning and HAPPIERNESS. Jefferson Fisher teaches me to “let a deep breath be my first response” to a controversy. Lewis Howes is the one I resonated with first and who got me started with podcast listening. I liked the serious guests and technical discussions with Lex Fridman who was a research scientist at MIT and likes robotics. Tom Bilyeu, who grew up in Tacoma, leads his life with his First Principles from his “real self”.

 

Yesterday, Rupert Spira gave me a whole new perspective about “I AM” definitions, starting with, what he does that he just plain loves doing because of truth and beauty! He says: “I love writing, speaking, gathering together with people. I do it, I do it, It’s just my nature.”  

 

Restorative justice rules are: “The Victim Has To Go First”. The Japanese in America stories of discriminative laws and the WWII incarceration, is our story to tell. And we are a community that also has Japanese Heritage values to share. Therefore, I am committing to creating a plan for SUSTAINING our Japanese Cultural and Community Center and it’s activities for the next 100 years in this Pacific Northwest community of the USA. 

 

I love thinking, writing, editing, sharing and having discussions. We currently published  OMOIDE VI (memories) stories and will soon publish OMOIDE VII. Our stories are 500 words or less, targeting school children, but adults are just as enthusiastic. Books are available at Hosekibako (jewelbox) @ jcccw.org.

The title MINDFULNESS comes from listening to Simon Sinek as he asks Dr Ellen Langer to describe her first step in “Mindfulness”. She answers, “To garner a healthy respect for ‘uncertainty’, to know that I don’t know. Further, to notice 3 new things about yourself.”.  

 

Following more of the podcast, I’m thinking, “I’ve been aware for over 80 years, and I want to keep it positive, so what’s 3 new things about myself?” For starters, I am fairly persistent. I talked myself out of being lazy a little while ago. I went downstairs and did my 20 minutes on the treadmill. It did go through my mind that, ”It wouldn’t be bad to miss one or two times??” I haven’t missed for over a year. I get cold feet easily so instead of turning on the portable heater or my foot warmer, I can also go for a walk or do another session on the treadmill or rebounder?? For sure I take a hot bath every night.

 

Secondly, I’ve been wondering more about describing my purpose in life and what I’ve been naturally drawn to doing? 

 

One thing I thought about the other night, because it is September and the leaves are starting to fall, was when I was in First Grade. I was kind of a leader at recess and talked a couple girls and boys too into forming the gathered leaves into the outline of a house with divided rooms and play family. Our 30 acre farm was also in Idaho, in a place near the Oregon border called Sand Hollow. Patsy and Jerry Stewart, as well as Dickie Randall, were my neighbors and we always played house in the sand draws that were on our properties. That’s probably why I had such a good marriage with Sam. I liked playing house!!

 

Third, this is hard!!  It’s going better than I thought it would, but I’m pretty good with connecting with people. And I think part of the reason is that I’m naturally curious about the psychology of why we do what we do and to figure out what it is that we’re good at with learning as humans. We all like to talk about what we like and figure things out.

 

Therefore, I’m deliberately applying my purpose in life to developing SUSTAINABILITY FUNDING for the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Washington with connections. We have a Story To Tell and Japanese heritage arts and culture to share!!

 This title comes from listening to Oprah. I love conversations, connections and in depth discussions about where we can go in life.

 

Fifty years ago, I was mentored by Hana Masuda. We made a pact to serve in our Japanese in America community the rest of our lives. The last time I saw Hana, she no longer knew me and was living at the Keiro Nursing Home in Seattle. Hana greeted me with her big smile and still made me feel very special. She no longer had memory capability, but every cell in her body had been taught to respond lovingly!

 

Hana Masuda was not a “leadership name”.  It was her husband, Min, that had the name as a forceful community leader. Minoru “Min” Masuda (1915-1980) was a Seattle-born World War II veteran, University of WA professor of Psychiatry and prominent advocate for Japanese American redress. 

 

After Hana passed, I renewed my pact with Penny Fukui; and we see each other frequently as we continue to participate in JA community events and organizational activities. 

Over 50 years ago, I helped incorporate a non-profit Suzuki Method music school and was the first President. The next president was assertive Mary. I kept getting phone calls of complaints about a host of her leadership issues. Finally, after a couple months, I got brave and decided to call her directly because I didn’t want to participate in the gossip train. It was scary and very un-Japanese of me I thought, but I made up my mind and called her.

 

Mary and I became friends (not that she was right about it all) as a result and this incident has been key to my response to similar situations since then. Another situation was in 1989. I was 50 years old at that time. I was asked to join the Seattle Japanese Language School board by the President. The President and I were interested in broadening the scope of the program to a Japanese Cultural Center.

 

When I attended my first meeting there was a lot of discussion about how the young people like me were not financially prudent and big spenders. Since returning from the Japanese in America incarceration in the 1950s, they had reestablished a Saturday Japanese Language School. They were proud of the fact that they had 20 years of being in the black financially. 

 

Toward the end of the meeting the “then president” and I were asked to step outside while they voted as to whether I could join. The result was that I was “Black Balled” and the President was demoted.  Because of my previous incident with Mary, I found out who a couple of the board members were that were against us and called them to have coffee. I hadn’t even known them, so I knew it was not personal. I don’t think we became close friends but we have been cordial since.

 

It took several more years of discussions, but the building was turned into the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Washington (JCCCW) in 2003 and the Japanese Language program is thriving and expanding. It is now time to appreciate the 25 years of success and fund raise for sustainability for the next 100 years.

 

There is a personality test called OCEAN. The OCEAN personality theory, also known as the Big Five or Five-Factor Model, was developed through the contributions of several researchers including Lewis Goldberg, along with Paul Costa and Robert McCrae who popularized the widely used version of the framework. 

 

Being high "A"-Agreeable keeps me with more friendly connections. But it has also been determined that high achievers are somewhat lower on the Agreeable scale. Likely, it’s necessary to be direct when there are problems and disagreements in a business? I find myself in organizational situations today, 2026. I hope, like my idol Dolly Parton, that I keep the benefits of my relationships by knowing when to keep my mouth shut.

 

I STILL WANT TO ACCOMPLISH A FEW MORE THINGS IN MY LIFE.  I’m sitting here debating. It’s not easy!!!

Logging in, this title and top picture showed up on my computer screen this morning. I try to be consistent in following my daily inspirations and value the fact that the two girls are my granddaughters and we live in a three-generation household. 

 

The first picture was taken when I received the 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Washington State Historical Society at the Washington State History Museum in Tacoma in May of 2024. The December of 2023 issue of the Columbia Magazine had a 10 page article about my family being forced out of the Dairy Business with discrimination in the Seattle area with the Washington Alien Land Law of 1921 and migrating to Eastern Oregon, where I was born, to start over with row crop farming.

 

My morning has been filled with activities related to the spirit of our Japanese Heritage and how to pass on the best parts to our future generations!! Our Bernedoodle dog, SUKI, is announcing deliveries and guests.

 

My email box is filled with enthusiastic thoughts and BUSHIDO SPIRIT! I just sent a text to the granddaughter on the right, asking for a lunch date. She has graduated from our high school and is getting ready for her next steps in life. She has demonstrated leadership and I want to share how I am benefiting from stories about my heritage and how we can be examples for our community!

 

The granddaughter on the left has demonstrated visual and theater art acumen through junior high and  her freshman and sophomore years. She also has demonstrated financial stewardship skills. ! Love it. The 1980 US census was analyzed by the Washington State Department of Education as to ethnic characteristics. The Japanese heritage grouping showed that we are the highest per capital income and white collar job individuals. That’s after our whole Japanese in America population were discriminated and had everything taken away and were incarcerated; before, during and after World War II. 

 

My daughter conducts her “gotomedia.com" business of over 25 years from our kitchen and living room. I can slightly hear some of her business calls - especially if I go to the kitchen to refill my coffee cup. The AI factor is decimating a lot of her customers and potential business but she is energetic and proactive about maximizing her resources, using her ADHD skills!  she has put a lot of energy in to SEATTLE SAMURAI; a book about her father’s cartoon strips. It has gotten an Eisner award nomination and the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award. 

 

I’m a facilitator of the writing group OMOIDE, publishing OmoideVI, and on the board of the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Washington - jcccw.org. We are launching a Fund Raising and Activities Pursuit campaign to provide TOGETHERNESS and sustainability in the Pacific Northwest and greater US community for the next 100 years.

I enjoy my room with a deck and great view, while I let my daughter remodel and take over our 53year - since building house. The granddaughters fill the rest of the house with their boy friends and high school activities like overnights and other parties!

 

Moving forward with the theme: TOGETHER; I’m in good health and I have at least 10 years of my human life available to work with our Pacific Northwest Community in BEING INVOLVED WITH THINGS THAT MAKE LIFE BETTER!!!