On 13 July 2022, our guest speaker was Jill Tokuda, a yonsei (fourth generation) Uchinanchu. Jill is pure uchinanchu and so has connections with quite a number of sonjinkai. She identifies strongly with the Oroku cho club. She described how she was aware of her Okinawan roots early on and also how she caught the political bug as early as the age of four!

In 1980 when she was four years old, Jill followed the presidential race closely. Her favorite was Republican candidate Ronald Reagan because he had the same first name as Ronald McDonald! Later when she was in middle school, Jill took the bus all the way from Kailua to Kapiolani Park to hear Patsy Mink give a fiery, impassioned speech. If she wins the race, Jill Tokuda will be following in the footsteps of Patsy Mink all the way to Washington D.C.

Jill has served in the Hawaii State Senate and is now running for the 2nd Congressional District which spans a wide area from the Big Island to Kauai–basically everywhere outside of urban Honolulu.

WUB Hawaii is proud to see the younger generation of Uchinanchu remembering their Okinawan roots and stepping forward to make a positive contribution to society.

Robert K. Arakaki