Kip Yoshino Tokuda (October 8, 1946 – July 13, 2013) was an American

social worker Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social wo ...

and politician.

Background

Tokuda was born in 1946 in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

. His parents George and Tamako (born Inouye) owned the Tokuda Pharmacy, which was located on Jackson Street at the time. He was raised in Seattle's Central District and on

Beacon Hill Beacon Hill may refer to: Places Canada * Beacon Hill, Ottawa, Ontario, a neighbourhood * Beacon Hill Park, a park in Victoria, British Columbia * Beacon Hill, Saskatchewan * Beacon Hill, Montreal, a neighbourhood in Beaconsfield, Quebec United ...

neighborhoods. He initially attended Garfield High School, but transferred and graduated from Cleveland High School. Tokuda received both his bachelor's and master's degree from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seat ...

(1969, B.A. in sociology, master's degree in social work in 1973). He was director of children's and human services programs. He served in the

Washington House of Representatives The Washington House of Representatives is the lower house of the Washington State Legislature, and along with the Washington State Senate makes up the legislature of the U.S. state of Washington. It is composed of 98 Representatives from 49 ...

1995-2003 as a Democrat. Tokuda was chairman of the House Children and Family Services Committee of the state House. He was also a member of the Appropriations Committee and the Juvenile Justice and Family Law Committee in the chamber. Tokuda founded the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Washington. On April 29, 2012, Tokuda was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette by Emperor

Akihito is a member of the Imperial House of Japan who reigned as the 125th emperor of Japan from 7 January 1989 until his abdication on 30 April 2019. He presided over the Heisei era, ''Heisei'' being an expression of achieving peace worldwide. B ...

for promoting positive relations between Japan and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

Death

Tokuda died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which m ...

on July 13, 2013 at age 66 while fishing on

Whidbey Island Whidbey Island (historical spellings Whidby, Whitbey, or Whitby) is the largest of the islands composing Island County, Washington, in the United States, and the largest island in Washington State. (The other large island is Camano Island, ...

.Former State Lawmaker Kip Tokuda Dies

References

1946 births 2013 deaths Democratic Party members of the Washington House of Representatives Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun, 4th class American politicians of Japanese descent Asian-American people in Washington (state) politics University of Washington College of Arts and Sciences alumni American social workers University of Washington School of Social Work alumni {{Washington-politician-stub

Background

Death

See also

References