Junji Yukawa

Junji was born on October 20, 1927 at Port Blakely on Bainbridge Island, WA to Eizo and Shizue Yukawa. He was the second son preceded in death by older brother Sumio and survived by younger sister Toshiko(Sunohara). He went to Pleasant Beach grade school, McDonald School, and Bainbridge High School. Because of World War II, Junji and his family were the first evacuees to be interned along with all the Japanese Americans from Bainbridge Island. They were first put on a ferry to Seattle, and then put on a train for California to a place called Manzanar where he attended school for one year. He and his family were then relocated to another internment camp at Minidoka in Hunt, Idaho where he completed High School.

After the war in 1944, Junji went to Chicago for one year of college to start work on a Bachelor of Science degree. From March until December of 1946 he was located at Fort Sam Houston, Texas for Basic Training in the Army and also training as a lab technician. He was put in the hospital there for skin problems and was released from the military because of a skin condition. He received G.I. Bill payments in order to go to the University of Washington to finish his Bachelor of Science degree in Math. While attending UW he worked at a frozen foods company as well as for Fruehauf Trailer Company for 4 years. He then got a job at Boeing and was there for 15 years.

In 1963, he married Kathleen Yamabe in Summerland, B.C.,Canada. They made their home in Seattle, Washington. Their first child, Robert was born in July 1964. Their second son, Steven was born in July 1969. Their third son, Peter was born in January 1974.

Junji was laid off from Boeing because the government would not give financial support for Boeing’s Supersonic jet project in 1971. Junji then worked for the Seattle City Water Engineering Department for 1½ years. He went back to work for Boeing for 20 more years until his retirement in 1991. Immediately upon his retirement, he worked for Nikkei Concerns for 10 years as a bus driver for Kokorokai and Horizon programs. He volunteered as a substitute driver from 2001 until 2006.

To stay fit and healthy, Junji played volleyball with the Japanese Baptist Church teams until 2003. He continued to play recreational volleyball for exercise every Monday and Wednesday evenings. He was called “Mr. Fix-It” as he had the knack to fix most anything he put his mind to. It seems like he was always using his hands to help anyone that needed something fixed or else he was using his mind in figuring out how to fix it. He loved to visit Habitat for Humanity and Second Use almost weekly, looking for a good buy on building supplies and appliances or a free item that he could make into something useful for the home.

Having three boys kept him very busy with all of their various activities. One of the fun things he did with all three of them was helping out with Boy Scout Troop 53. He participated in many of the camping, fishing, and canoeing outings as well as helping on the weekends with their recycling projects, which helped in funding two trips to Japan with the scouts. Not only was this a great time to share with his sons, but he also formed many lifelong friendships with the leaders of the troop.

Junji enjoyed long road trips around the country with Kathy by his side, once driving from Seattle down south to San Antonio, New Orleans, and heading north to Baltimore to see their son, Peter who was working there. They attended the opening of the National Japanese American Memorial in Washington, D.C. in 1999. He drove to southern California on a yearly basis to visit Bob, Soo and Mia with Kathy. One of Junji’s Bucket List items was to see all ten Internment Camps that the Japanese Americans were put in during World War II. Over the course of six years and several thousands of miles, he was able to check that item off his list. Other dreams of his were to visit all 50 states which he completed in 2013, and one last trip to Japan to visit his mother’s hometown of Kobiki, Wakayama Prefecture in 2016.

After having 3 sons, he has been blessed with many grandchildren – Mia, Phoebe, and Christian born to Bob and Soo(Lim); twins Ainsley and Catie born to Steve and Liane(Murakami); and Luke and Kenzie born to Peter and Corrie(Takahashi).

He is also survived by two nieces: Stephanie(Yukawa) and Lloyd Riphenburg with sons Jackson and Wilson; Lucy(Sunohara) and Stephen Richter and children Hana and Micah Bloedel.

Junji was a very even keeled person who seldom lost his temper and always loved to kid around with people or make some humorous comment. Junji passed away on November 2, 2020 at home with Kathy by his side.

The family plans a private grave side gathering.

Donations may be made in memory of Junji to:

BIJAC , P.O. Box 10449, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110

NVC Memorial Hall 1212 S King Street, Seattle, WA 98144

Nikkei Manor 700 6th Ave S. Seattle, WA 98104

Japanese Baptist Church 160 Broadway Seattle, WA 98122