Donald Ikumo Oishi

Donald Ikumo Oishi - (1894-1972). Section F, block 8, lot 8, grave 4.

Donald Ikumo Oishi was born in Japan. After his recruitment by Boca Raton's Yamato Colony founder Jo Sakai, he immigrated to Florida in 1915. He worked as the stationmaster of the colony's small depot in addition to running the general store there.

He was a prominent member of the Yamato Colony community until the early 1930s. He moved to the Jacksonville area and entered an arranged marriage with Yoshi Takami in 1938. The Takami family grocery store on Pablo Avenue where he worked closed in 1950 and was first replaced by Benny's Snack Bar and later Jacksonville Beach City Hall.

Kamosu "Jo" Sakai founded the Yamato Colony during a time when immigration from Japan to the United States was on the rise due to unrest caused by the Russo-Japanese War of 1904 and 1905. Between 1900 and 1908, over 64,000 Japanese immigrants settled in the United States.

The Yamato Colony was established with aid from Henry Flagler's Florida East Coast Railway company. Using a subsidiary of his corporation, the Model Land Company, Flagler assisted settlers financially to encourage development on land along his railroad lines.

In 1941, shortly after Oishi's departure, the United States confiscated much of the land on which the Yamato Colony was situated and the site was repurposed as Boca Raton Army Air Field, forcing remaining colonists and other residents to relocate.*

During World War II, Japanese-Americans were required to register as enemy aliens according to the Alien Registration Program. By 1952, the Immigration and Nationality Act finally allowed Japanese-born Americans to register as citizens. Donald Oishi, who had lived in the United States for over 30 years, became a legal citizen in 1953.

* Boca Raton Army Air Field was returned to civilian use in 1958. A majority of the base was repurposed as Boca Raton Airport in 1960, while the remaining land is now part of the Florida Atlantic University campus. Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens memorializes the colony on land donated by original colonist George Morikami.

"Bridging the Cultures of Japan and Florida." Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens. Accessed 2 Aug. 2023, https://morikami.org/yamato-colony/

Kawai, Ryusuke. Yamato Colony: The Pioneers Who Brought Japan to Florida. 2020.

Woodhouse, Johnny. "Oishi Celebrates her Japanese-American heritage at Neptune Beach Public Library." Beaches Leader. 14 June 2015.

Leni, Bessette and Louise Stanton Warren. "From Our Past: 1900s settlement drew Japanese to Florida." River City News. 10 July 2004.

Pozzetta, George E., and Harry A. Kersey Jr. "Yamato Colony: A Japanese Presence in South Florida." Tequesta. 1976.

Oishi, Elsie. "The Rising Sun in the Sunshine State: The Exhibit Story." Beaches Branch Library. 9 June 2015.

Boca Raton Airport, 17 May 2023, bocaairport.com. Accessed 8 Aug. 2023.