Leadership is about making others better as a result of your presence and making sure that impact lasts in your absence. - Sheryl Sandberg A visionary is a leader of excellence who sees what others do not see, who achieves for now and plans for the future, who positively impacts different generations and raises up other visionaries. - Onyi Anyado

1. With all of the changes that have taken place in the past 100 years, it would be
benefcial for us to determine what good things, if any, we have lost or are on the
verge of losing and what good things we have gained
Antonio Ramil, Esq., Author, Kalai`aina-County of Maui
Photo courtesy Stephanie and Lee Ohigashi
Senator John F Kennedy and Mayor Eddie Tam, Tokyo Tei ,Wailuku, Maui, 1960
TOSHIO “TOSHI” ANSAI – EDDIE TAM
Interior; Daniel K. Ainoa; Dee Duponte, Chairman of the Democratic County Committee on Maui; Secretary
Chapman; Miss "Aloha Maui"; William J. Dougherty, Director of Information For The Department Of The Interior;
Oren E. Long, Governor Of Hawaii; Senator Toshio Ansai; And Eddie Tam, Chairman And Executive Officer Of
The County Of Maui After Arriving On The Island Of Maui

2. GET UP AND GO
By Toshio Ansai
KEYNOTE SPEECH AT 1960 CONVENTION
[Extract]
Puka Puka Parades, Vol. 13 No. 10 - October 27, 1960 [Pages 15 to 19] -
https://evols.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10524/18358/PPP-1960Oct-v13n10.pdf>
Thinking people wondered whether something had been lacking in the upbringing of the
American Boy ̶ His schooling, his training, his family life, his conditioning in our land of
society. Had we failed to impress the new generation with an appreciation of some basic human
values such as loyalty, moral integrity and honesty?
Most of you must be aware that a noticeable amount of moral corrosion has taken place in our
society, nationally and locally.
We find this symptom reflected in our youth, even if some of us might be too blind or too
stubborn to see it among the adults.
The rising rate of juvenile delinquency attests to our failure to keep the family stable, in our fast
changing times.
Unless we can strengthen the family as the foundation of our society, we will continue to see
further troubles among our young people. Here in Hawaii, we can see the problem of juvenile
delinquency spreading to the Japanese-American families as well as to other families.
As you know, the Issei were rather strict disciplinarians and kept us marching along the
traditional straight and narrow path. They constantly reminded us of our obligations to our family
and friends and of our responsibility to lead a morally correct life so that we would not bring
disgrace upon those we love. The old language schools taught us ethics and moral values that
meant much to us in times of stress and strain. With the suspension of the language schools
during the war, void has been left that has not been adequately filled by any other influence in the
post-war years.
Even as we seek a more secure, more comfortable life for ourselves and our children, we can
easily do harm to our children without realizing it.
Take the matter of providing an education for our sons and daughters. In the cultural tradition of
our parents, education was a high ideal to be sought even at great sacrifices. As immigrants, our
parents placed great hopes in the power and prestige of education to open up new opportunities
for their American-born offspring. With such devoted encouragement, it was not surprising that
the Nisei in turn became imbued with the value of education as the open sesame to success,
whether in the professions, business, politics, or other pursuits. The fact that the Nisei, in one
generation, bridged the gap from an alien-immigrant background to a modern American
citizenship speaks well for their ability to learn the lessons of an American education. It speaks
volumes also for the ideal of equality in educational opportunity that was practiced in their
community.

3. Having persevered so well in educating themselves, the Nisei parents are seeing to it that their
Sansei children are given the best education they can afford. But, is this opportunity being passed
on in such a way that the children do not fully appreciate the wonderful heritage they have
received from ancestors who toiled so hard to see them t through school? Are our young people
proving themselves worthy of the best education their parents have sacrificed for?
After the war, I recall how often we had bull-sessions on what we might do to help make our
communities a better place for ourselves and our children. As veterans, we could and did much
together, in the earlier years. Now, we are more and more “on our own”. Each must carve out his
own share of the total responsibility and do his best to carry out his tasks.
There are several areas of influence for us veterans - areas in which we can contribute useful
advice and leadership.
1. We can set good examples of personal conduct. The most difficult role for a leader is to
conduct himself at all times in a manner that is upright, honest, courageous, and responsible. A
leader who shirks his duties and “passes the buck” will soon lose his following. As parents, we
have the duty to live up to our children is expectations . We must set high examples in all that we
do … Much of what we call juvenile delinquency today can be traced to the delinquency of
adults. When parents flaunt the law, they are not hood-winking anyone but themselves. They
should not expect their children to do as they say, but as they do, because it is not words, but
deeds, that shape the minds of the impressionable youngsters.
Set high standards for ourselves. One of the curses of modern American civilization is the zeal
for mediocrity and conformityAmericans have fallen into the habit of building up the so-called
“average man” so that his standards become the national standards. We are made to believe that
if we have higher standards, something is wrong with us, that we are somehow abnormal. We are
discouraged from taking up unpopular issues even though we are convinced in our own minds
that we are right. We are advised to go along with a popular issue because it is what the masses
want and not because it is the correct position to uphold. We are admonished against “sticking
our necks out” on unpopular issues because of the risk of being called an “egghead” or a
“screwball”. In my opinion, it is more important that I be true to myself than that my views agree
with the majority.
3 . Free ourselves of the prejudices we accuse others of harboring against us . Quite often, when
we fail to live up to expectations, we take the easy way out by blaming someone else or
something else for our own shortcomings. So it is with racial prejudice. It becomes a handy
excuse in “explaining” why we did not get a job promotion and someone else did, or why we
were not elected to a certain post and someone else was. Even if there happened to be an element
of truth in our charge of racial discrimination, that circumstance should encourage, rather than
discourage, us from trying all the harder to succeed. Success thus attained will be all the more
deserved and that should be reward enough for turning someone else's prejudice to our own
advantage.
Too often I hear griping in our midst that we are deprived of equal opportunities because of racial
prejudice against us. It so happens that I hear complaints by others of alleged discrimination
against the non-nisei, with particular reference to politics.

4. It seems wiser to rise above such pettiness and to practice the ideals of equal and fair treatment
that we pleaded for ourselves during the difficult days of World War II. It would be an ironic
twist of injustice if we ourselves perpetuated the kind of prejudice we fought to overcome.
AN INTERVIEW WITH TOSHIO ANSAI (1908 - 1992)
University of Hawaii at Mānoa
<https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/29905/hawaiipoliticalhistory_25.pdf>
Toshio Ansai was born January 5, 1908 in Wailuku, Maui. He was educated at Wailuku
Elementary School and St. Anthony Boys' School. He worked various jobs for Wailuku Sugar
Company from 1925 to 1971, including clerk, bookkeeper and manager at Waihe'e Dairy and
Farm. From 1954 to 1971, he was the industrial relations and personnel director. During the war,
Ansai served in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. Ansai entered politics in 1934, when he
was elected as a Republican to the Maui County Board of Supervisors. He served until 1942, and
again from 1960 to 1962. He was a territorial senator from 1948 to 1956, and a state senator from
1962 to 1970. In 1975, he returned to county politics as a member of the Maui County Council,
and served until 1982. In 1984 Mayor Hannibal Tavares appointed Ansai to the Maui County
Planning Commission. He served until 1990 .
Toshio Ansai fell ill and passed away before completing his interviews. [Extract]
“In the old days, they never had any house-to-house campaigning. I think I consider we started
it, the group that was back of me, supporting me, and mapping out my campaign and our
participation in it. In the old days, it was more run on a partisan basis. Once you got to the
party convention and the delegates are introduced, the party would carry (on). The active ones
in the party will do (most of) the campaigning for you. They divide the area into blocks or into
smaller groups, and then they're the ones that pick somebody out from among the group to try
to sell the candidate.
Well, in my case, I was not selected by the [Republican] party. In fact, the party discouraged
me from participating, for being so young. So we had to do it all ourselves. By “ourselves,” I
don't mean my wife and I alone. I had a (large) group of people who believed that young
people should participate in politics. And I did. We worked hard. But the results were very
successful. (As a candidate) in politics, I found that in those days, there was not much
distinction (between political parties). Government (was not run) on a partisan basis.
Today, it's either you're a Democrat or Republican. If the Democrats are in power (or have the
majority), everything's got to be run by them. You can have the minority party voice their
opinion, voice their objection, whatever it may be, sometimes it's taken (seriously), sometimes
it's not. In those days, regardless of whether you're a Republican or Democrat, if your idea is
good, if your program is good, everyone, regardless of party affiliation, backed you up and
they (supported) the program. We worked very harmoniously together. There was no
distinction (between) Democrat or Republican, but today, whether it's on local basis or even in
Congress, almost everything is done on a partisan basis.”
_______________________________
MAYOR TAM and SENATOR ANSAI YOUR LEGACY LIVES ON