James Noriyuki Jonokuchi

James N. Jonokuchi passed away peacefully on June 1st, 2024, after a brief illness, with Aiko (nee Minami), his loving wife of 69 years, at his side. James lived a full and long life and will be greatly missed by all who knew him. Besides Aiko, he is survived by his two children, Carl Jonokuchi, MD (Pamela Davis, MD) and Kathleen Jonokuchi, DVM (Allan Levine); four grandchildren, Jeffrey Jonokuchi (Crystal Chang), Danny Jonokuchi (Kristina Radke), Jenna Levine (Patrick McCulloch) and Sean Levine; and two great grandchildren. He also leaves behind many other relatives throughout the United States and Japan.

James’ life story is one of resilience and perseverance. He was born in Whittier, California, on May 28, 1930. At age three, he and his family moved to Hiroshima, Japan, where he remained until he was 17. As such, James was in Hiroshima when the first atomic bomb was dropped there and he had to endure the indescribable horrors that the first A-bomb blast in the history of humankind wrought on that city’s unfortunate residents.

After the war, James returned to California and settled in the Los Angeles area, where he continued his engineering studies and also met Aiko, the woman who would one day be his wife. Upon being drafted into the US Army, James was deployed to Japan just as the Korean War ceasefire agreement was being implemented. He remained in Japan while fulfilling his military obligation.

After his service, James returned to Los Angeles, married Aiko and started a family. He also finished his higher education studies and graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in electrical engineering. He subsequently was employed at RCA, The Rand Corporation and the Hughes Aircraft Company, where he spent the majority of his working life. He retired early from Hughes and became the assistant to the Vice President of Teledyne, Inc. In that role, he provided advice and counsel on personnel matters and logistics, and conducted various contract negotiations, where his Japanese language skills were particularly valuable.

During his engineering career, James was respected for his leadership, reliability, and organizational skills. When he finally retired, he enjoyed spending free time with his grandchildren, traveling with his wife and friends to Europe and Japan, doing trout fishing in the Eastern Sierras, playing golf, raising orchids and taking on DIY projects around the house. A further testament to James’ energetic and eclectic mindset was the great pleasure he took in watching golf tournaments, football and baseball games, and a variety of classic movies and Japanese shows on TV. Since he built his first television set in the 1950's, he loved all types of consumer electronics. He was also an audiophile who enjoyed a wide variety of music, including ‘classical’, Japanese traditional and pop, and American jazz and pop.

James was blessed to have many lifelong friends and to have enjoyed years of family gatherings around all holidays and special celebrations. With his children and grandchildren, he emphasized the importance of obtaining a college education and of always having a plan. Fortunately, he was able to see his children and grandchildren heed that sage advice and successfully launch their respective careers.

Per the family’s wishes, there will be no public service for James. In lieu of flowers or koden (japanese funerary offering), please enjoy your time with family and friends every day. If you would like to make a donation in his memory, please consider Oya Koko Foundation, Friends of Nikkei Senior Gardens, a non-profit organization. Visit https://www.oyakoko.org/. Another choice to honor James’ love of the Eastern Sierras is to donate to the Mono Lake Committee,https://www.monolake.org/