George Tetsuo Aratani was a Japanese American entrepreneur, philanthropist and the founder of Mikasa china and owner of the Kenwood Electronics corporation.
13 Facts About George Aratani
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The family later moved to the San Fernando Valley, and again to Guadalupe, where George Aratani attended school while his father established several highly successful farming, manufacturing and international trade companies.
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George Aratani's father remarried Yoshiko's niece, Masuko, and returned to the United States to manage his businesses.
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George Aratani remained in Tokyo and continued his studies at Keio's law school, but he came back to Guadalupe when his father contracted tuberculosis in 1940.
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The move only postponed what would soon prove to be inevitable; after learning he and his stepmother would be "evacuated" with 120,000 other Japanese Americans, George Aratani was forced to leave the Guadalupe Produce Company in the hands of trustees from a separate business.
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Under the directive of Executive Order 9066, George Aratani was removed to the Tulare Assembly Center before being transferred to the War Relocation Authority camp at Gila River, Arizona.
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Since George Aratani was bilingual, he was allowed to leave the camp in 1944 to serve at the Military Intelligence Service Language School, where he taught Japanese to American soldiers, including many Nisei.
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George Aratani established an international trading company in 1946, working with former Guadalupe Produce Company employees and using the name of one of his father's prewar businesses, All Star Trading.
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George Aratani continued to expand, creating a medical equipment exporting business in 1951 and establishing Kenwood Electronics in 1961, again employing friends from Guadalupe or the Military Intelligence Service.
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Much of George Aratani's philanthropy focused on the Japanese American community.
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George Aratani helped found the Keiro Nursing Home in 1961, putting his home up for collateral on the initial loan.
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Under his guidance and through his contributions, George Aratani helped with the restoration of numerous historical buildings in Los Angeles' Little Tokyo and was key to the creation of its Japanese American Cultural and Community Center.
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George Aratani spent his later years in the couple's Hollywood Hills home.