Tom Kurihara, Saint Paul – Nagasaki Sister City member, passes

Long-time SPNSCC board member, Thomas Minoru Kurihara,

passed away on May 24, 2024, after a brief illness. He lived in

Arlington, Virginia, but maintained active ties to St. Paul and visited

often.

Tom was born in San Francisco, California, the son of Masuo

Kurihara and Grace Tanbara on September 17, 1935.

During World War II, Tom’s father had returned to Japan in

November of 1941. Because Tom had the chicken pox and could

not go with him, he and his mother were still in California when

President Roosevelt signed Executive Order #9066 on February 19,

1942. Tom and his mother were sent to the Heart Mountain

Internment Camp in Wyoming, where he first saw snow. In

November 1942, they were able to join Mrs. Kurihara’s parents at

Camp Poston in Arizona.

After the war ended and the camps were closed, his family moved to Minnesota in August of 1945.

His maternal uncle and aunt, Earl and Ruth Tanbara, the first resettled Japanese Americans who

came to Minnesota during the war, welcomed Tom’s family and many more displaced Japanese

Americans to St. Paul after World War II.

Tom graduated from Monroe High School in St. Paulin 1953. He received a NROTC scholarship to

attend Stanford University, graduating in 1957. After graduation, he joined the US Navy and served

until 1969, attaining the rank of Lieutenant Commander. After his stint in the Navy, he worked for

the United States government and in private industry before he became an international consultant

to a variety of major companies.

Tom often returned to St. Paul where he supported both the Twin Cities Japanese American

Citizens League (TCJACL) and the Saint Paul – Nagasaki Sister City Committee. In 2008, he donated

a bench at the Global Harmony Labyrinth in Como Park, “in memory of Ruth Tanbara, Charter

Member of the Saint Paul Nagasaki Sister City Committee, A Life of Public Service and

Volunteerism, October 1907 [to] January 2008.” Tom was generous to the TCJACL, ensuring

scholarships in both Ruth and Earl Tanbara’s names. In 2010, Tom established the Earl K. and Ruth

N. Tanbara Fund for Japanese American History in Minnesota at the Minnesota Historical Society.

He traveled from his home in Virginia to help at SPNSCC activities like the Festival of Nations and

the Obon (Japanese Lantern Lighting) Festival at Como Park as recently as August 2023.

Tom traveled to Heart Mountain and Poston, teaching people about his experiences at ‘camp.’ He

was a world traveler who learned from each of his expeditions. We will always remember Tom for

his generosity and good humor and helpfulness. SPNSCC presented Tom with the Chip Fricke

award for his countless contributions toward fostering ties between the people of Japan and the

United States in May 2024.

Tom is survived by a son and a daughter, who both live in Virginia, and three grandchildren. At Tom’s

request, no services are being held.