From the rural setting of Cienega Valley in San Benito County to the urban enclave of Fresno, Toshi Sakai has experienced many life-changing moments during her 100 years.
Her parents, Tsutomu and Sadae Awaya, immigrated to California from Japan. Their first child remained in Japan with relatives. Toshi was their second child; she was born on March 8, 1923, their first child born in the U.S. Three more siblings followed.
Her parents tended lettuce fields owned by the Smith family. The Smiths’ daughter, Georgia, became one of Toshi’s closest friends. Toshi’s mother, Sadae, maintained the outdoor bathhouse and fed the other farmworkers.
Toshi remembers that she had lots of freedom growing up on the farm. She drove tractors and trucks as early as 11 years old. The times when the family visited friends and her father had consumed a few drinks, she would be the “designated driver” for the trip home.
She was attending Salinas Junior College in 1942 when her family was sent to Poston, Arizona. Camp was different, but okay, she says. She recalls working as the medical director’s secretary and being good at playing soccer.
Toshi and her sister, Aki, were allowed to leave Poston in 1945 to find work to support their family. Aki went to Philadelphia; Toshi headed for San Francisco. She worked as a medical transcriber for a doctor and did housework in exchange for room and board.
Upon release from camp, the rest of her family left for Gilroy Hot Springs. Her father was ill and went to a TB ward in San Jose. After he passed, the family moved to San Francisco.
In the early ’50s, she met Robert Sakai, who lived in Fresno. His family had been sent to the Gila River camp, but he was allowed to leave early for college in Minnesota. Soon after, he was drafted into the Army. When the war ended, he returned to Fresno and managed Payless Market.
After a short courtship, Robert and Toshi married in June 1953. They set up home in Fresno and raised two daughters, Carrie and Leslie. They loved traveling and made frequent road trips to Yosemite and Pismo Beach before Robert passed in 2013.
In her spare time, Toshi took art classes at a community college. She was a gifted natural artist, creating large pottery pieces, watercolors, and still life drawings. Her Greenhaven Terrace apartment is filled with lots of art and family photos.
Toshi got a surprise dinner to celebrate birthday #100. Her church minister from Fresno and numerous longtime friends attended. How has she lived so long? She credits it to her family, good nutrition, staying physically active, and her love of creating art.
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