Reiko T. Sakata

(b. 1939) a businesswoman whose family volunterily moved to Salt Lake City in Utah during the war.

Backstory of Parents Parent’s Marriage Adoption Story Reiko's Name Moving to Torrance Voluntarily Moving to Salt Lake City, Utah Parents in Utah Topaz Visit as a Child Coming back to Los Angeles after the war Finding out about adoption Kent State Shooting, Ohio

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Reiko T. Sakata was adopted from an orphanage in Los Angeles in 1939 at 5 months old by Issei parents. To avoid incarceration, the family moved with other Japanese to Salt Lake City, Utah until 1948. Returning to Los Angeles, her parents ran a laundromat in East Los Angeles, where she grew up. Years later, she and her parents moved to Torrance. Reiko graduated from Torrance High School, then went to the University of California, Berkeley. After Reiko got married, she and her spouse moved to Kent State, Ohio and witnessed the “Kent State shooting.” She received her Ph.D. at the University of North Carolina in Business Development, and served as a faculty member there in Organization Development and Business. She returned to Southern California to help her parents before they passed away. Prior to her retirement, Dr. Sakata was an entrepreneur and businesswoman in a variety of industries and fields for 32 years. She currently lives in Monrovia, California. (May 2023)

family Fukui Japan parents arranged marriages picture brides adoption orphanages adoptions name changes nurseries Torrance Brown Floral Company Salt Lake City Utah volunteer evacuations community concentration camp Manzanar Topaz dry cleaners East Los Angeles identity Kent State University Ohaio shooting students