Kasai, Henry Yoshihiko

Biography

Yoshihiko ("Henry") Kasai was born September 25, 1890 at Kawaguchi-mura, Minamitsuru-gun, Tamanashi-ken, Japan to Kisaku Kasai (father ) and Mura Kasai (mother).

In May 1904, Mr. Kasai left Japan in order to attend school in the United States. He arrived in San Francisco on June 8, 1904 aboard the "Kaptic-Maru." He began his elementary school education in Mountain View, California, but joined his father and uncle in September 1906 in Idaho, where they were engaged in farming sugar beets. He attended Idaho Falls High School and graduated in 1913.

In 1915, Mr. Kasai became a life insurance agent for the New York Life Insurance Company covering the states of Idaho and Utah and worked on providing insurance for the local Japanese communities. By 1916 Mr. Kasai was a successful agent living in Utah and was becoming integrally involved in the Salt Lake City community.

In 1937 Mr. Kasai married his wife, Alice, with whom he had six children. Mrs. Kasai was born in Seattle, Washington, but re-entered the United States in 1922 as a Kibei (Japanese Americans born in the U.S. who returned to America after being educated in Japan) from Saga Ken Miyake-Gun, Minobara-Mura.

During World War II, Mr. Kasai was interned for two years, first in Missoula, Montana, then in Fort Sill, Oklahoma, next in Camp Livingston, Louisiana, and, finally, in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

By 1945 he had returned to Salt Lake City, Utah and had resumed his leadership role in community activities, particularly as an emissary between the American and Japanese cultures. In 1954, Mr. Kasai became an American citizen.

From the guide to the Kasai Family Papers, 1904-1972, (University of California, Los Angeles. Library. Department of Special Collections.)