George Aratani

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George Aratani (May 22, 1917 in Gardena, California – February 19, 2013 in Santa Monica, California) was a Japanese American entrepreneur, philanthropist and the founder of Mikasa china and owner of the Kenwood Electronics corporation.^[1]

During World War II, Aratani was interned at the Gila River War Relocation Center in Arizona. Since Aratani was bilingual, he was allowed to leave the internment camp to serve in the Military Intelligence Service, where he taught Japanese to American soldiers.^[1] Aratani's biography, "An American Son: The Story of George Aratani," details the losses his family endured during the 1940s.^[2]

Under his guidance and through his contributions, Aratani helped with the restoration of numerous historical buildings in Los Angeles' Little Tokyo and was key to the creation of its Japanese American Cultural and Community Center.^[2] In 2004, at UCLA, he along with his wife Sakaye endowed the United States' first academic chair to study the World War II internment of people of Japanese descent and their efforts to gain redress.^[1]

References

↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Trounson, Rebecca (February 21, 2013), "George Aratani dies at 95; L.A. philanthropist who funded Japanese American causes", The Los Angeles Times
↑ 2.0 2.1 Fukuzaki, Rob (2013-03-02). "Funeral held for George Aratani, Japanese-American businessman and philanthropist".

External links

Aratani Endowment at UCLA -

Persondata
Name	Aratani, George
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	May 22, 1917
Place of birth
Date of death	February 19, 2013
Place of death

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