WARTIME Experience & Decoration 2026 | Former Heart Mountain Draft Resister Dr. Takashi Hoshizaki, 101-Year-Old, Receives Japan’s Order of the Rising Sun, Siver Rays at Los Angeles Ceremony | October 23, 2026
LITTLE TOKYO, LOS ANGELES – Dr. Takashi Hoshizaki, who resisted the military draft while incarcerated at Heart Mountain before becoming an expert in circadian rhythms for the space program, received the Japanese Order of the Rising Sun, Silver Rays in the conferment ceremony on Friday, October 23, 2026 at the Tateuchi Democracy Center of the Japanese American National Museum.
This prestigious commendation recognizes Dr. Hoshizaki’s significant contributions to improving the status of the Japanese American community and promoting mutual understanding between Japan and the United States. The decoration was presented by the Los Angeles’ Consul General Kosei Murota.
Hoshizaki is the fifth former Heart Mountain incarceree to receive the award, joining former congressman and Cabinet secretary Norman Mineta, pharmaceutical scientist William Higuchi, educator Jeanette Misaka and Judge Raymond Uno.
At 101, Hoshizaki is the oldest surviving member of the 85 men who resisted the military draft while imprisoned at Heart Mountain. He was convicted and spent two years in federal prison. President Harry Truman pardoned him and all Japanese American draft resisters on December 24, 1947. He has been a member of the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation board of directors for more than a decade.
Dr. Hoshizaki’s receipt of a Japanese decoration was formally announced in November 2025 through the Consulate-General of Japan in Denver, coinciding with the Government of Japan’s release of the 2025 Autumn Conferment of Decorations on Foreign Nationals. As a resident within the consular jurisdiction of Denver, Dr. Hoshizaki’s decoration normally would have been presented at a ceremony organized by the Consulate-General in Denver and attended by invited guests only.
In Dr. Hoshizaki’s case, however, the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation opened the conferment ceremony to the public. The event was held on October 23, 2026 at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, allowing community members and supporters to witness the presentation honoring Dr. Hoshizaki’s longstanding contributions.
The Consulate of Japan in Denver said, “As a board member of the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation, Dr. Takashi Hoshizaki…has long been actively engaged in preserving the history of the Heart Mountain Japanese American incarceration camp, which he also personally experienced.”
“As an American boy who turned 18 behind barbed wire, Takashi’s decision to resist was grounded in his conviction to do what’s right,” said Shirley Ann Higuchi, the chair of the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation. “His courage to resist was a patriotic act evidenced by his service in the Korean War following his pardon by President Truman.”
Source: Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation & Heart Mountain Interpretive Center
https://heartmountain.org/blog/2026/10/17/dr-takashi-hoshizaki-to-receive-the-japanese-order-of-the-rising-sun/
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