Akio Kigoshi

Akio Kigoshi was born in Kobe, Japan in 1927. Between the ages of six and 14, Akio's father was transferred to New York, and then Los Angeles as an employee of a Japanese steamship company. The Kigoshi family moved back to Japan just three months before the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. Akio was a lifelong employee of Mitsui & Company with overseas stints in El Salvador and England. After retiring from Mitsui at 57, he joined Hitachi Chemical Ltd. to work on a project with the University of California, Irvine. Akio retired for good in 1992 and decided to stay in Irvine where he currently lives with his wife and son.

Updated February 2008

Stories from This Author

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Memories

Feb. 29, 2008 • Akio Kigoshi

My name is Akio Kigoshi. I was born in Kobe, Japan, on October 19, 1927, as the first son of Susumu and Toku Kigoshi. I turned out to be their only child. After I entered kindergarten in Kobe, my father was transferred, in 1933, to the New York Branch of the Japanese Steamship Company he belonged to, and my parents and I lived there until 1937, at which time we moved to Los Angeles. After finishing 5th and 6th grade …