Nao Takasugi was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 politician from California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, a member of the Republican Party

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

, and a survivor of the Japanese American internment camps

Japanese American internment

Japanese-American internment was the relocation and internment by the United States government in 1942 of approximately 110,000 Japanese Americans and Japanese who lived along the Pacific coast of the United States to camps called "War Relocation Camps," in the wake of Imperial Japan's attack on...

.

Early life

Born and raised in Oxnard, California

Oxnard, California

Oxnard is the 113th largest city in the United States, 19th largest city in California and largest city in Ventura County, California, by way of population. It is located at the western edge of the fertile Oxnard Plain, and is an important agricultural center, with its distinction as the...

, worked in the family's grocery store, the Asahi Market, before he enrolled at UCLA

University of California, Los Angeles

The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...

. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...

 he was pulled out of the university at the age of 19 and placed in an internment camp

Japanese American internment

Japanese-American internment was the relocation and internment by the United States government in 1942 of approximately 110,000 Japanese Americans and Japanese who lived along the Pacific coast of the United States to camps called "War Relocation Camps," in the wake of Imperial Japan's attack on...

 in Gila River

Gila River War Relocation Center

The Gila River War Relocation Center was an internment camp built by the War Relocation Authority for internment of Japanese Americans during the Second World War. It was located about southeast of Phoenix, Arizona....

, Arizona. After President

President of the United States

The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

 Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...

 ordered all Japanese American

Japanese American

are American people of Japanese heritage. Japanese Americans have historically been among the three largest Asian American communities, but in recent decades have become the sixth largest group at roughly 1,204,205, including those of mixed-race or mixed-ethnicity...

s placed in internment camps. In 1943, Takasugi was one of 4,000 students released from the internment camps to continue college on the East Coast

East Coast of the United States

The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...

. He earned his bachelor's degree

Bachelor's degree

A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...

 from Temple University

Temple University

Temple University is a comprehensive public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Originally founded in 1884 by Dr. Russell Conwell, Temple University is among the nation's largest providers of professional education and prepares the largest body of professional...

 and his MBA

Master of Business Administration

The Master of Business Administration is a :master's degree in business administration, which attracts people from a wide range of academic disciplines. The MBA designation originated in the United States, emerging from the late 19th century as the country industrialized and companies sought out...

 from the Wharton School of Business

Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania

The Wharton School is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Wharton was the world’s first collegiate business school and the first business school in the United States...

 at the University of Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...

 in 1946.

After graduating from the Ivy League

Ivy League

The Ivy League is an athletic conference comprising eight private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The conference name is also commonly used to refer to those eight schools as a group...

 school in 1946, he returned to Oxnard to work in his family's Asahi Market. The Takasugi family had opened the store in 1907 and had left it in the custody of employee Ignacio Carmona when they were forced to enter the internment camp. Upon the Takasugis' return from the internment camp, Carmona returned control of the store to the Takasugis.

In 1952, Takasugi married his wife, Judy, with whom he had five children, Scott, Russell, Ron, Tricia

Tricia Takasugi

Tricia Ann Takasugi is a Japanese-American general assignment reporter for KTTV Fox 11 in Los Angeles.- Biography :...

 and Lea.

Public service

After the City of Oxnard turned down his efforts to get a new sign for his family's market, Takasugi felt the city needed someone with a head for business to cut through the bureaucracy and decided to run for the City Council

City council

A city council or town council is the legislative body that governs a city, town, municipality or local government area.-Australia & NZ:Because of the differences in legislation between the States, the exact definition of a City Council varies...

 and won a four-year term in his first election in 1976. He was reelected to the council in 1980 and then was elected Mayor of Oxnard in 1982. Takasugi won re-election as Mayor four more times before winning election to the Assembly.

Takasugi won election to the California State Assembly

California State Assembly

The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature. There are 80 members in the Assembly, representing an approximately equal number of constituents, with each district having a population of at least 420,000...

 in 1992, then becoming the only Asian American

Asian American

Asian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau definition of Asians as "Asian” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan,...

 in the legislature at that time. A moderate, he succeeded conservative icon Tom McClintock

Tom McClintock

Thomas Miller McClintock II is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2009. He is a member of the Republican Party. He is a former Assemblyman and state Senator...

 in the Ventura County

Ventura County, California

Ventura County is a county in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. It is located on California's Pacific coast. It is often referred to as the Gold Coast, and has a reputation of being one of the safest populated places and one of the most affluent places in the country...

 based 37th district (formerly the 36th). He won easy reelection in 1994 and 1996 but term limit

Term limit

A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms a person may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method to curb the potential for monopoly, where a leader effectively becomes "president for...

s prevented him from running again in 1998.

In the year 2000 Takasugi ran for a seat on the board of the Oxnard Harbor District and won. He remained in the position until retiring in 2008.

Later life

In his final year in the Assembly at the age of 76, Takasugi suffered a heart attack while jogging outside his Sacramento

Sacramento, California

Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...

 apartment near the California State Capitol

California State Capitol

The California State Capitol is home to the government of California. The building houses the bicameral state legislature and the office of the governor....

.

The Takasugi Family was featured in the book "The Greatest Generation" by Tom Brokaw

Tom Brokaw

Thomas John "Tom" Brokaw is an American television journalist and author best known as the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News from 1982 to 2004. He is the author of The Greatest Generation and other books and the recipient of numerous awards and honors...

. During his interview with Browkay Nao Takasugi said "I find that I am compelled to remember the best– not the worst–of that time. To focus not on the grave deprivation of rights which beset us all, but rather on the countless shining moments of virtue that emerged from the shadows of that dark hour"

At the age of 87, Takasugi died of complications from a stroke

Stroke

A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...

 on November 19, 2009, at 8:20 P.M. at St. John's Regional Medical Center

St. John's Regional Medical Center (California)

St. John's Regional Medical Center is a hospital located in Oxnard, California, USA and is operated by Catholic Healthcare West, along with its sister hospital, St. John's Pleasant Valley Hospital in Camarillo, California . The hospital was founded in 1912. St. John’s Regional Medical Center and St...

 in Oxnard. His is survived by wife of 57 years, Judy, his sisters Chiyeko Sakamoto, Hisaye Takasugi and Shika Akiyoshi, his five children, Scott, Russell, Ron, Tricia and Lea, as well as his grandchildren, Ryan, Lara, Jessica, Raquel, Mckennah, Taylor, and Dane.

Electoral history

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0.5em ; font-size:95%"
|+ Member, California State Assembly

California State Assembly

The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature. There are 80 members in the Assembly, representing an approximately equal number of constituents, with each district having a population of at least 420,000...

: 1992–1998

!|Year
!|Office
!|Winner
!|Votes
!|Pct
!|Second Place
!|Votes
!|Pct
!|Third Place
!|Votes
!|Pct
|-
|1992
|California State Assembly
District 37
Republican Nomination
| |Nao Takasugi
| align="right" |11,590
| |31.0%
| |Alan Gugenheim
| align="right" |8,570
| |22.9%
| |Madge Schaefer
| align="right" |7,034
| |18.8%
|-
|1992
|California State Assembly
District 37
| |Nao Takasugi
| align="right" |66,364
| |50.8%
| |Roz McGrath
| align="right" |56,692
| |43.4%
| |David Harner
| align="right" |7,504
| |5.7%
|-
|1994
|California State Assembly
District 37
Republican Nomination
| |Nao Takasugi
| align="right" |25,381
| |100.0%
|-
|1994
|California State Assembly
District 37
| |Nao Takasugi
| align="right" |66,035
| |64.5%
| |Dorothy Maron
| align="right" |31,738
| |31.0%
| |David Harner
| align="right" |4,660
| |4.5%
|-
|1996
|California State Assembly
District 37
Republican Nomination
| |Nao Takasugi
| align="right" |27,941
| |76.9%
| |Matt Noah
| align="right" |8,377
| |23.1%
|-
|1996
|California State Assembly
District 37
| |Nao Takasugi
| align="right" |73,167
| |59.7%
| |Jess Herrera
| align="right" |49,341
| |40.3%