Sociology Department

January 2008

Aloha, everyone!

Happy New Year!  We hope you will all enjoy good health and happiness in 2008. 

We are pleased to announce that Jane H. Yamashiro was selected as the 2007 recipient of the Gary K. Sakihara Memorial Scholarship in the UHM Department of Sociology.  Jane, originally from Berkeley, California, is a Ph.D. Candidate who has been at UH-Mānoa since 2000 and is well-regarded by student colleagues as a leader in the graduate program especially when it comes to sharing her knowledge and skills.

Jane used the Gary K. Sakihara Memorial Scholarship to partially offset travel expenses to present her paper, ”Racialized National Identity Construction in the Ancestral Homeland: Japanese American Migrants in Japan,” in the Asia and Asian American Section’s session on “Emerging Trends in Asian American Identities.” at the American Sociological Association Annual Meeting in New York City this past August.

Her research on Japanese American identity formation in Japan, which has uncovered new identity formations, seeks to show how racial socialization in the U.S. continues to influence the racial and ethnic identities of Americans even when they go abroad.  Her dissertation is entitled, “Japanese American Migrants in Global Tokyo: Transnational Racial and Ethnic Identity Formation.”  She anticipates a May 2008 graduation.

Jane has been the Sociology representative to the Graduate Student Organization, both a member and a chair of the Graduate Student Sociological Association, and a member of both the Asia and the race and ethnicity groups.  While Jane has enjoyed helping her fellow graduate students, she also credits them with helping her through the program. She notes that the collegiality and supportive environment at UH has made her graduate school experience a pleasant and memorable one. The continued support of colleagues in the department has made Jane’s dissertation research in a foreign country and a foreign language much easier to conduct.

Jane gratefully acknowledged how the scholarship had assisted her.

“Thanks again so much for everything. My presentation went well and I was able to attend many sessions and receptions, learning a lot and networking with other scholars.  It was a great experience and I really appreciate the financial (and moral) support.”

Taking in the full ASA experience, Jane joined other graduate students and Department Chair, Dr. Bill Wood, at the UHM table during Departmental Alumni Night (DAN).  They greeted and reminisced with UHM alumni and previous visiting faculty.

Of course there were many other opportunities for Jane to catch up on news with colleagues and friends, share impressions of other paper sessions, as well as share advice on how to go through job interviews.  It was very much in keeping with Gary’s style of sharing knowledge, opinions, and just “hangin’ out.”

Other recipients of the Gary K. Sakihara Memorial Scholarship from the past two years continue their good work and involvement.  Ryoko Yamamoto (third from left), 2006 awardee, is completing her Ph.D. dissertation this year and is currently employed at the UHM Social Science Research Institute. Jin Young Choi (far right), awardee in 2005, now an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Sam Houston University in Huntsville, TX, also attended ASA.  Jin Young is teaching Introduction to Ethnic Studies and Sociological Research Methods.

We also have good news to share about last year’s recipient of the Gary Sakihara award.  Ryoko Yamamoto was awarded the doctoral paper award for international criminology from the American Society of Criminology.  She traveled to Atlanta last November to accept it.  Ryoko also had two of her works published: the first publication is “Legality and the Power of the State in Unauthorized Migration” which appears in the first issue of the new Blackwell-Synergy Sociology Compass and the second is “Migrant-support NGOs and the Challenge to the Discourse on Foreign Criminality in Japan” in the weekly online webzine publication, Japan Focus.  Click here to read the abstract http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1751-9020.2007.00027.x

If you click on the "full text HTML" or "full text PDF" on the right side, you should be able to read the entire article for her first publication.  Ryoko notes:

“And I want to add that these two publications would not have come out without the collegial support of another Sakihara Award recipient, Jane Yamashiro.  These are products of our writing exchanges and peer critiques. Grad school is like a marathon which takes lots of strength and endurance. I think it is important for us to be a co-runner, trainer, and cheerleader to each other to survive it. Jane has been a wonderful all-of-the-above to me.  I really appreciate the spirit of Sakihara Scholarship for that reason; it is more than the financial support it provides. Thank you for all your hard work to keep it going.”

Gary’s spirit remains with us, and it is wonderful to know that students in a department where he spent many of the best years of his life -- learning and making lifelong friends -- are benefiting from your contributions in Gary’s memory and continuing his ways.  With your kokua, we can continue to support students like Ryoko and Jane and the previous recipients.

We are about to begin the search for the 2008 Gary K. Sakihara Memorial Scholarship recipient in the UHM Department of Sociology in a few weeks.  The scholarship fund needs your help in order to grow and provide additional scholarships.  We graciously ask for your continued support with a tax-deductible contribution in his name to the University of Hawai‘i Foundation, 2444 Dole St. Bachman Hall #101 Honolulu, HI  96822.  Please write “Gary Sakihara Memorial Scholarship – Expendable Account” on the bottom of your check.  The “expendable” designation is important since the expendable and the endowed portions need to be maintained separately.  Or, if you wish, you can even donate online by going to the UHF website:  www.uhf.hawaii.edu .      Click on the "Make a Gift" link, and simply type in "Gary Sakihara Memorial Endowed Scholarship."  This makes giving simple and convenient, and you can do this via your credit card.

Should you have any questions about your contribution, please contact Dr. D. William Wood (UHM-Sociology at 808-956-7693) or Malia Peters (UH Foundation Office at 808-956-6311), respectively.

Sincerely,

Friends of Gary [Joyce Chinen, Nancy Marker, David Takeuchi and Amy Yamashita]