David and Yachiyo Nakatani Memorial Collection Endowment for Japanese Studies
At a Glance
- Man-Hing Chen Memorial 陳餘敏卿纪念基金
- She-Wo Cheng Memorial Fund 成舍我紀念基金
- Nubo Huang of Zhongkun Group Cultural Endowment Fund 中坤集團黃怒波文化交流基金
- Edna and Yu-Shan Han Collection and Endowment Fund 韓玉珊教授紀念基金
- May C. Chong Endowment 張美青文化基金
- Yong Chen Chu Endowed Fund in Support of Chinese Language and Culture 朱永琛中國文化基金
- Alice Lee-Tsiang Chung Memorial Collection Endowment 鐘蒋莉青纪念基金
- Sammy Yukuan Lee Family Endowment for Chinese Archaeology and Culture 李汝寬家族中国考古文化基金
- Bing Liu of Evergreen Books Endowed Collection in Chinese Culture 劉冰中國文化圖書基金
- Amy Ching-Fen Tsiang Legacy Endowment 蔣吳慶芬基金
- Stephen O. Lesser Endowment 史迪文基金
- Southern California Foundation for the Preservation of Chinese Literature and History INC. Endowment
- Lifu Wang Chinese Cultural Endowment
- David and Yachiyo Nakatani Memorial Collection Endowment for Japanese Studies
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Alumna June Kim, who received a degree in Chemistry in 1965, endowed this fund—the first in Japanese studies at the East Asian Library—in memory of her parents. David and Yachiyo Nakatani were native Californians who met, married, and raised five children in their home state. During World War II, the family was incarcerated at the Tule Lake War Relocation Center, where June and her sister were born.
Though neither David nor Yachiyo were able to attend college, they believed strongly in education and emphasized its importance to their children, making many sacrifices to send all their children to college. David operated a laundry business in Old Sacramento, while Yachiyo worked as a house cleaner. Later, they moved south to a farm in Costa Mesa. In retirement, they were able to pursue their interests and hobbies—traveling together and with friends and playing gateball, including attending international tournaments. David was an avid deep-sea fisher and loved trips to Las Vegas. Yachiyo enjoyed flower arranging and bunka (Japanese needlework). After David's death in 1997, Yachiyo traveled with her daughters.
Throughout their lives, Japanese language and culture remained important to them both. Yachiyo had spent much of her childhood living with her grandmother in Japan, and the family spoke Japanese at home. David and Yachiyo were both very active members of their Buddhist church. The David and Yachiyo Nakatani Memorial Collection Endowment for Japanese Studies supports the acquisition, processing, and preservation of resources for the East Asian Library, as well as reference and instruction services, outreach activities, and Library exhibits and programming related to Japanese Studies.
Subject Area(s):
East Asian Library
See all items purchased through this Endowment.