Yumoto, John M.

John Masayuki Yumoto was born January 30, 1916, in Fresno, California to Yohei and Koshio Yumoto. In 1919, Yumoto and his family moved to Okayama, Japan, where he was introduced to sword study by his grandfather. He lived in Japan until 1935 when he returned to the US alone. Yumoto completed both grammar and high school in Burlingame, California, and began working as a photographer for Shin Sekai Asahi Newspaper in San Francisco, California. In 1942, after the US entered World War II, Yumoto and his new bride, Vickie, moved to Boulder, Colorado, where he had been drafted to teach Japanese at the US Japanese Language School at the University of Colorado. In 1945, he transferred to Oklahoma A & M at Stillwater, where he became head instructor of the US Navy Japanese Language School program. In 1946, the family moved to Monterey, California, where Yumoto worked as an Instructor at the Military Intelligence Language School for six years. They then moved to San Mateo, California in 1952 where Yumoto worked for the Defense Department as an efficiency expert until he retired in 1976. John M. Yumoto was also a founding member of the Japanese Sword Club; authored The Samurai Sword: A Handbook (Tuttle), was a leader in teaching Japanese sword preservation, and led many sword tour groups to Japan. After retirement in 1976, Yumoto served as a volunteer translator and interpreter for the Police department and municipal Court. Shortly after accepting a position as Senior Advisor to the Japanese Sword Society of the US, John passed away on October 1, 1988, following heart surgery.