Takashi Hoshizaki, a member of the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation board and a former World War II draft resister, received the Japanese Foreign Minister’s Commendation during a ceremony Saturday at the Japanese American National Museum.
Kenko Sone, the Japanese consul general in Los Angeles, presented the award. The ceremony took place two days after Hoshizaki turned 99 years old. He is the oldest member of the Heart Mountain board and is one of the few surviving draft resisters from the camps that held more than 125,000 Japanese Americans during World War II.
Hoshizaki was recognized for his contributions to U.S.-Japanese relations, his leadership in creating the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation and for his career in the space program. An eminent botanist, his research into circadian rhythms took him to Antarctica and a career at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
“I have known Takashi Hoshizaki since my mother died in 2005, and over the years I’ve worked closely with him in building our museum and now the Mineta-Simpson Institute,” said Shirley Ann Higuchi, chair of the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation board. “He’s taught me a lot about the need for civility, patience and integrity. These attributes are now part of our core values at Heart Mountain.”
The Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation, a Smithsonian Affiliate, preserves the site where some 14,000 Japanese Americans were unjustly incarcerated in Wyoming from 1942 through 1945. Their stories are told within the foundation’s museum, Heart Mountain Interpretive Center, located between Cody and Powell.
