Tomio Akiyama

Tomio Akiyama was born in Pahoa, on the big island of Hawaii on May 10, 1934 to Mitsuji and Omasu Akiyama. Tomio was the middle child in the family. He had 3 brothers and 3 sisters. Ritsuko, Yukio, Yoshio, Betty, Ellen, and Albert. He spent his youth attending school in Pahoa, a small town with a population of 1100 people, and working in the Sugar Cane fields surrounding the small town.

Tomio joined the army when he was 18 years old. After basic training, he studied to become a machinist. He was eventually posted to Camp Zama, a US Army base near Tokyo Japan where he worked as a machinist.

After completing his army service, Tomio moved to Los Angeles and went to National Schools to learn electronics. He started working as an electronics technician for Litton Industries in 1960. He furthered his education in the early 70’s at Trade Tech and worked in the Litton Industries Guidance and Control Division until he retired in 1997.

Tomio met Jane Fujitani, who was also from Hawaii, in Los Angeles. They fell in love and eloped on August 31, 1958. The couple bought their lifelong home in Los Angeles in 1960. It was at this home they welcomed their son Miles in 1961 and daughter Cynthia in 1963.

The family enjoyed taking road trips around the country. They visited places such as Yellowstone, Bryce Canyon, Zion, Grand Canyon, Mammoth, and Yosemite. Tomio even took his family on a road trip around the island of Hawaii in a camper. Tomio took dozens of trips to the Sierras, spending time camping and fishing with his family. Eventually, moving from tent to motorhome and finally graduating to condo camping.

In 1992, his first grandson, Ryan Tomio Akiyama was born. His second grandson, Derek Rikio Owings was born in 1994, with granddaughter Kaitlyn Emi Akiyama following in 1995, and Brandon Mitsuji Owings in 1997. One of his greatest pleasures was watching his grandchildren play sports and attending their school events.

After retiring, Tomio and Jane enjoyed traveling. One notable trip occurred in 2001. They took a two month road trip around North America in a Camper. During this trip they found themselves in Canada near the New York border on 911 and were almost denied entry back into the United States. The couple went on many other trips and visited places around the world including Japan, Thailand, China, Hong Kong, Brazil, New Zealand, Australia, Italy, France, Germany and even Russia. After Jane’s passing, Tomio continued to travel, with trips that included Alaska, Hawaii, Japan, England, and Scotland.

Tomio and Jane were both dedicated members of the Johrei Fellowship and spent much of their time running the self service health food store at the Los Angeles center. Tomio also spent many Fridays maintaining the landscaping at the center until he lost the ability to drive.

After being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and heart disease in 2021, Tomio still kept active going on walks, spending time with his family, and obsessing over going out to eat until his passing in his home on June 27, 2024.