In this day and age when the term “old friend” is used, it can be interpreted in two ways.

One is that reference would be that the person referred to as “old friend” is someone known for many, many years.

The other is that with the Nisei generation aging, “old” refers to the person’s age.

This past Saturday, I attended a me­morial service for an “old friend.” Both from the standpoint of having known him for many years and the other that he was a year older than me.

I am referring to Johnny Toya who passed away last month and whom I met during our incarceration at Heart Mountain Relocation Center. That would make it 67 years ago.

And he departed at the age of 85.

At the service there were many old friends from both categories of years known and of age.

There were a couple of people who I haven’t seen since camp days who came up to me and called me by the name, while I was having a difficult time putting face together with a name.

Which made me think about something I mention from time to time.

That is, do men change more as the years pass or do the women?

Fellow Rafu columnist Wimp Hiroto, who was at the service and with whom I sat at the same table, had an interesting theory on the matter, when I posed the question about who changes more.

His theory was that both genders change equally as the years pass. However, he added, we think it’s the women because if we haven’t seen a female friend for many years, we still have a mental picture of a young lady in their late teens or early twenties.

When we retain that image, Wimp said, it’s only natural that we think women “change more.”

After thinking about it, I think Wimp is right.

After I run into a lady I haven’t seen since camp days, I do have the mental photo of a comely young lady.

Which proves that Wimp is not only a more talented writer than me but much more observant.

Oh, by the way, I know I refer to Wimp as Wimp. Most people refer to him as Wimpy. But back in the old days, everyone knew him simply as Wimp and I guess it’s by habit that I still use that name when mention­ing him.

No don’t ask me what he calls me. Something about the back end of a horse.

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I know how I often comment “this past weekend was hectic.”

Well, this past weekend was hectic.

In addition to the foregoing service I attended, it was Memorial Day weekend, which meant that the former residents of the plantation colony McGerrow Camp on the Island of Maui, held their annual get together.

I’m a “kotonk” but my wife grew up in McGerrow Camp so I tag along.

As the years pass, (this was their 33rd reunion since they moved to the Mainland) the group is getting smaller in size.

However, they all have a great time chatting abut the “good old days” as they were growing up on Maui.

One thing is that the vast majority of the population was made up of Japanese Americans.

Caucasians, or “haoles” as the Islanders call them, were only a minute part of Maui’s population.

Of course, that’s changed over the past few decades. Now the Jas often comment “too many haoles.”

One of the events held in conjunction with the reunion is a golf putting contest.

I’ve been sort of running the contest since I haven’t much else to do.

The putting contest is not on a real putting green but on the backyard lawn of the host’s home.

All I do is get a spade and dig a hole in the lawn. The grass is long and the lawn is pretty bumpy so someone who is a golfer doesn’t have that much advantange over one who never plays the game.

In the several years I’ve been involved in the contest, no one has ever put the ball in the cup. So it’s pretty much a “closest to the hole” contest.
All that changed this year.

For the first time, someone did sink a putt.

That someone was popular entertainer Poncie Ponce.

The distance to the hole is about 20 feet so it’s almost like a “hole in one” to sink the putt.

Poncie did it.

What made me laugh, as it did Poncie, was that when he sunk the putt, someone hollered out, “wow, a Filipino Tiger Woods.”

I took a photo of Poncie as he watched his putt go in the hole but I don’t know if it can be printed because it wasn’t the greatest photo.

Maybe I’d better take lessons from the Rafu’s photo editor Mario.

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In reference to my mentioning Grace Pastry, a reader wrote: You wrote about Grace Pastry. It was in Los Angeles on Jefferson Blvd., wasn’t it? So, it was named for his wife. When I was getting married in 1960, I ordered our wedding cake from Grace Pastry. Back then, it was supposed to be the best. Later on, there was another Grace Pastry on Redondo Beach Blvd. (in Gardena) near Lomeli’s Italian Restaurant but not for very long. Years later King’s Hawaiian came. Their cakes were great—especially their Paradise cake. People come from afar to buy their pastry. The Local Place on Western is a popular place to get a reason­able meal and it’s always crowded at lunchtime. Besides, you can have a slice of King’s cake while there.

I often think what a waste that I discard Japanese section of The Rafu-about two-thirds of the paper. Probably ought to save it for seniors at church or elsewhere. Still, I find the articles in the English section interesting enough to renew my subscription. My mother would save the English section and bring it over for me to read. She had one complaint (back then) that the obituaries only appeared in the English section, is that still so?

Thanks to Anonymous for the letter. Since I’m not too great in reading Japanese, I don’t know if the obitu­aries are in the Japanese language. Will check it out with the ladies in the front office of the Rafu the next time I go in for my mail.

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Iku Kiriyama, who told me about “Forever stamps” responded to my query about the postage stamp.

She wrote: The Forever stamps are a regular feature. As far as I know, they will be around forever. Since the USPS has had problems with the use of land mail with so many people go­ing online, it seems likely the cost of postage will continue to go up more frequently. They come in sheets of 20 with a picture of the Liberty Bell. So, when you go to the Post Office, ask for the Forever stamps, not just “first class.”

Thanks for the info, Iku. I’ll give it a try this week.

===

Oh yeah, another note from the McGerrow Camp reunion. One of the attendees, who heard I was a newspaper columnist, asked me if I had written a book about my years as a Japanese American journalist.

My reply was, “I thought about it.”

I do have a manuscript about my living and working in Japan but never thought about getting it published mainly because I wrote it at a time when I had nothing better to do with my time and wrote it for my own pleasure.

I doubt if anyone would be interested in reading it. Especially if they had to buy copies of such a book.

===

Which leads me to a story I saw recently in The Japan Times.

We all know that the Japanese language is written top to bottom, not side to side like English.

So, I guess it’s not difficult to understand that Koji Suzuki, a well-known Japanese author, recently published a mystery novel written on toilet paper.

You read that right. On toilet paper.

The title of his novel is “Ring.”

The story takes place about 90 centimeter of a roll of toilet paper and doesn’t take too long to read because it just has to be unrolled as the reader follows his story.

I don’t know what his toilet paper costs, but heck, after a person completes reading it, it can be used for you-know-what. If it isn’t, I’m not sure what it would look like, sitting on a person’s shelf at home.

Ah, what will the Japanese think of next?

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Those of us who lived on the West Coast when World War II started experienced the evacuation and during the ensuing years much attention has been focused on preserving the history of our experience living in the ten camps located throughout the U.S.
However, there has been very little about Japanese Americans liv­ing in Hawaii, who were forced into their own camp.

A total of 1,200 JAs were placed in what was called “Honoluliuli Intern­ment Camp” on the island of Oahu.

Harry Urata was one of those placed in the Island camp.

He was part of a pilgrimage put together by the Japanese Culture Center of Hawaii and the JACL.

The Honoluliuli Camp opened on March 1, 1943. It was one of five Hawaii internment camps.

The officials who created the pilgrimage said very little was known or reported about the internment camp until about a decade ago. Now, with the story being revealed, Monsato Hawaii, who owns the land, pledged to keep the site preserved.

Urata, now 89, was born in Hawaii, but moved to Japan as a youth and returned in 1937 but was unable to speak English.

Perhaps this was one of the reasons he was arrested in 1942 and sent to the camp.
Masamizu Kitajima, now 75, spent time as a youth in an internment camp. On Dec. 8, 1941, authorities detained his father, a Japanese priest.

He said his father was bitter and wanted to go back to Japan.

There are other stories about Islanders who were interned. Perhaps it’s time we get more information on this issue. I sure haven’t seen too much. At least not as much as we hear about the Mainland JAs.

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A short e-mail from New York about camp. This one from Jina Accardo from Scarsdale, New York.

She wrote: I hope I’m writing to the right person. My aunt in New York City subscribes to The Rafu Shimpoand she said your column mentioned a Heart Mountain reunion in Las Vegas in September, but she has been unable to find any further details. She is interested in going and has never done so to the best of my knowledge. Her name is Michiko and her last name at Heart Mountain was Iseri. I tried in vain to get more info for her online so I was wondering if you could direct me to the right person. Does the name Bacon Sakatani ring a bell? She mentioned him.

I forwarded your e-mail to Bacon who puts the Heart Mountain event together and if I know him, he will contact Jina.

Her aunt’s name does sort of ring a bell with me.

Hope she can make it. Would like to meet her.

===

When the media writes about the NFL draft, the attention is mainly fo­cused on the “glamour” positions like quarterbacks and running backs.

Very little attention is paid to punters and place kickers.

Which is one reason, I suppose, Louie Sakata, one of the forces in the University of Utah’s undefeated (in 2008) season, was not drafted.

In spite of his great college career, he was not among the three punters and two place kickers selected in the draft.

How could that be?

His 308 points and 57 career field goals set an all-time record in the Mountain West Conference. He was the only consensus All-American in Utah football history.
In addition, he was named as the special teams’ player of the year three times.
So, in spite of all the glowing accomplishment, he’s just another college player looking for a career in the NFL.

At the present time, he’s working out with the San Diego Chargers and hoping he can at least make the practice squad.

Isn’t that sad.

Some may wonder “why the San Diego Chargers?”

Louis was born and raised in San Jose so I guess if he does find a spot with an NFL team, it might as well be in California.

Good luck.

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While Michelle Wie gets all the publicity, almost nothing was mentioned about Mika Miyasato, a rookie from Japan, who finished third in last week’s LPGA tournament.
Wie was in the same tourney and she finished near the bottom.

Nevertheless, she is always mentioned no matter where she finishes in a tourney.
Gad, I don’t want to read the sports pages if she ever wins a tournament.

In the meanwhile, I’ll be rooting for Mika.

Yeah, I know. Some will accuse me of being racially biased because Mika is Japanese.

Yes, and I love natto, too.

===

From time to time, The Rafu runs stories about JA fishermen who land the “big one.”

So, I was waiting to read about Ryan Yokoyama, who with three other friends snared a 386-pound thresher shark fishing off the coast near San Diego.

You read that right. A 386-pound shark.

It took them nearly three hours to get their catch into their boat.

Yokoyama, 36, is from Simi Valley.

Just a thought, but what do fishermen do with the sharks they catch? Es­pecially one that weighs 386 pounds.

Do they make sashimi out of shark meat?

===

All we hear about these days are the economy woes the country is undergoing.

A lot of the focus is on such areas as travel, which is said to be really sagging.

Well, I wonder if this is accurate.

Hawaii is supposed to be one of the areas hardest hit by declining passenger travel.

Well, a friend, who said he has to attend a memorial service in Honolulu, told me he couldn’t get a seat on an Island flight.

And, when he finally managed to find a seat, he was told there are no available seats on the flight back to Los Angeles.

He wanted to stay just three days but now has to stay six days before he could get back to LAX.

So, what’s going on here?

Glad I don’t have to schedule a flight to the Islands and face a situation like that.

It’s a good thing I can drive to Vegas. They tell me many of the Vegas flights are fully booked.

By the way, in response to some of my friends telling me, “Hey, you don’t write from Vegas these days. What’s going on?”

Try, empty wallet.

===

Okay, as usual, let’s laugh (I hope).

One day a florist went to a barbershop for a haircut. After the cut, he asked for the bill and barber replied, “I cannot accept any money from you. I’m doing community service this week.” The florist was pleased and left the shop.

When the barber went to open his shop the next day, there was a thank you card and a dozen roses at his door.

Later a police officer came in for a haircut and when he tried to pay, the barber again replied, “I cannot accept any money from you, I’m doing com­munity service this week.”
The next morning when the barber opened his shop, he found a thank you note and a dozen donuts from the officer.

Then a congressman came in for a haircut and the same scenario fol­lowed.
The congressman was happy and left the shop.

The next morning, when the barber opened up, there were a dozen congressmen lined up waiting for a free haircut.

And that illustrates the fundamental difference between the citizens of our country and the politicians who run it.

Hope you all grabbed the punchline.

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George Yoshinaga writes from Gardena and can be reached via e-mail at horsesmouth2000@hotmail.com. Opinions expressed in this column are not necessarily those of The Rafu Shimpo.