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| John S. Kadotani |
John Shizutaka Kadotani (Poston
31-3-D) was born in Santa Cruz, California on February 10, 1910 to Japanese immigrants, Kotaro George and Hanako (Tanimura) Kadotani. His father was a gardener who immigrated from
Hiroshima-ken Japan to the U.S. in 1892. John had one older brother, Tommy Yoshito Kadotani, who was born in 1903 in Japan and immigrated to the U.S. with his mother; and
a younger sister, Marie Mieko Kadotani, born in Santa Cruz. in 1912.
John Shizutaka Kadotani had received seven years of education in Japan, including 1 year of high school. He married Mabel Mitsuko Nishita, who was born in San Juan Bautista, and moved to Santa Cruz in 1939. Mabel gave birth to their son, Clifford Masataka on May 27, 1941 in Santa Cruz.
John's brother, Tommy Yoshito Kadotani, was a florist and gardener
in Santa Cruz. Tommy was one of the two Japanese Americans arrested two days after the signing of Executive
Order 9066 in February of 1942. Tommy was taken to San Francisco for
questioning by the FBI and charged with
raising monies that "eventually found their way to the Japanese Imperial Army."
[Those charges that were never substantiated.] Tommy
was incarcerated at the Department of Justice internment camp at Santa Fe, New Mexico. He volunteered and transfered to the Kooskia Internment
Camp, where he earned wages for helping to construct the Lewis-Clark Highway between
Lewiston, Idaho, and Missoula, Montana. Tommy had once said, it was "… a paradise in mountains!," "It reminds me so much of Yosemite National Park.". After the end of World War II in 1956, Tommy became
a naturalized citizen of the U.S.
After Tommy was detained by the authorities, John, Mabel, Clifford, and John's sister, Marie Kadotani
were forcibly evacuated from their home in San Juan Bautista and taken to
the Salinas Assembly Center. Later, they
were transported and incarcerated at the Poston, Arizona concentration camp 1, located on the Colorado River Indian Tribe Reservation in western Arizona. While in Poston, John's sister Marie Kadotani was "matched" with Japanese immigrant, George Tamotsu
Fujimura, formerly from Perkins. George had been evacuated and detained at the Salinas Assembly Center prior to entering Poston on July 22, 1942. Marie and George Fujimura were married in April, 1944 at Poston, and lived at Poston camp 2, block 229-13-D.
Seeking higher employment wages, John
went outside of Poston to help harvest crops at Cozad, Nebraska, on April 4, 1944. That summer, Mabel gave birth to their second son, Henry
Toshio Kadotani at Poston. On October 6, 1945, Mabel, Clifford and Henry departed from Poston, Arizona and returned to Santa Cruz.
The next summer after returning to Santa Cruz, Paul Hayato Kadotani was born, and two years later, Judith
Kadotani was born. John Shizutaka Kadotani was employed as a gardener
until his retirement in 1976. He raised vegetables, fruits and flowers, and was
an avid supporter of the local high school and Bay Area professional sports teams. John
was a member of the Watsonville Buddhist Temple and Bocho Doshi Kai
organization.
John Shizutaka Kadotani, native resident of Santa Cruz, died on March 7,
2008 at the age of 98. He was preceded
in death by his father, Kotaro George (1958), mother; Hanako (Tanimura)
Kadotani; son, Clifford Masataka Kadotani (1960); brother Tommy Yoshito
Kadotani (1985); and sister, Marie Fujimura (1994).
He is survived by his wife of 68 years, Mabel Mitsuko Kadotani; sons, Henry
(Judy) Kadotani, of Stockton, and Paul Kadotani, of San Jose; and daughter, Judy (Junichi) Kato, of Sunnyvale, CA.
Sources: Santa Cruz Sentinel, March 21, 2008
http://www.santacruzpl.org/history/articles/258/
