Speaker: Masaru Oshiro, Living Treasure

Masaru Oshiro was named a Living Treasure by the Honpa Hongwanji in 2011 for his lifetime of service. 

 

He’s a social worker by training and by heart.  He has come through life with no chip on his shoulder, no bitterness.  He runs by a very steady moral compass.

 

His immigrant parents lost the family farm when it was confiscated after the attack on Pearl Harbor.  Masaru, a teen, tended livestock in the leeward hills of Oahu and went to Waipahu High School. He graduated in 1946 and immediately joined the US Army to serve in the Army of Occupation in Japan.

 

He came back, went to UH for a bachelor’s and then a master’s in social work, married Kiyoko and began a lifetime of service to his family and community.

 

Oshiro spoke to RCHB about life changing moments when he had to decide to do the right thing for his conscience at the peril of his career path.  Once, because he disagreed with Gov. Ariyoshi, on whose administration team he served, over the death penalty.  The other, when he was appointed warden of the prison, only to discover that while he had the on paper qualifications for the job, he was not equipped for it. 

 

Oshiro, who is 86, continues to serve community, family and friends.  He is a weekly volleyball player. 

 

For more about him, download the information from the Living Treasure event.