Donations may be made in his memory to the San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin, Yu-Ai-Kai Senior Center, or the Japanese American Museum of San Jose.
Hi Shig..You were a pleasure to be around. When I married Diana Tokushige you accepted me into the fold. I enjoyed being around at the festival's. Your big smile always made my day. You were a blessing to all who knew you. The Quinn family will make a donation to Yu-Ai-Kai for you. RIP friend.
Dear Mary and Family,
Please accept our deepest condolences upon the passing of Shig. I have always admired Shig for his quick wit, big smile, and boundless energy at the Obon, Chidori Band events, and the Reno Bus Wine Trips. I was impressed with his talent at the tables in Reno where he would make friends with everybody at the table. We will miss him dearly. Our prayers and thoughts are with you all.
Love, Gene and Louise
Please accept our deepest condolences upon the passing of Shig. I have always admired Shig for his quick wit, big smile, and boundless energy at the Obon, Chidori Band events, and the Reno Bus Wine Trips. I was impressed with his talent at the tables in Reno where he would make friends with everybody at the table. We will miss him dearly. Our prayers and thoughts are with you all.
Love, Gene and Louise
Tokiwa Family, my thoughts, prayers and love are with you. Shig was a dear friend to my parents Charles and Jean Nakamura. Shig has known me since I was a baby. I can remember my parents going over to Shig & Mary's house to play cards. I would play with David while my parents played cards. When I would get sleepy, I would fall asleep on their couch. My youngest son Jesse got to roll newspapers with Shig. Shig would tell my son stories of when I was small. I will miss seeing Shig at Obon. The last few years, Shig and Mary would go to Panera Bread (down the street from their house) to enjoy coffee and dessert. We would always have them sit with us. I will miss those days.
Regina Hernandez (Nakamura) and family
Regina Hernandez (Nakamura) and family
Leave a Tribute
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Hi Shig..You were a pleasure to be around. When I married Diana Tokushige you accepted me into the fold. I enjoyed being around at the festival's. Your big smile always made my day. You were a blessing to all who knew you. The Quinn family will make a donation to Yu-Ai-Kai for you. RIP friend.
Dear Mary and Family,
Please accept our deepest condolences upon the passing of Shig. I have always admired Shig for his quick wit, big smile, and boundless energy at the Obon, Chidori Band events, and the Reno Bus Wine Trips. I was impressed with his talent at the tables in Reno where he would make friends with everybody at the table. We will miss him dearly. Our prayers and thoughts are with you all.
Love, Gene and Louise
Please accept our deepest condolences upon the passing of Shig. I have always admired Shig for his quick wit, big smile, and boundless energy at the Obon, Chidori Band events, and the Reno Bus Wine Trips. I was impressed with his talent at the tables in Reno where he would make friends with everybody at the table. We will miss him dearly. Our prayers and thoughts are with you all.
Love, Gene and Louise
Tokiwa Family, my thoughts, prayers and love are with you. Shig was a dear friend to my parents Charles and Jean Nakamura. Shig has known me since I was a baby. I can remember my parents going over to Shig & Mary's house to play cards. I would play with David while my parents played cards. When I would get sleepy, I would fall asleep on their couch. My youngest son Jesse got to roll newspapers with Shig. Shig would tell my son stories of when I was small. I will miss seeing Shig at Obon. The last few years, Shig and Mary would go to Panera Bread (down the street from their house) to enjoy coffee and dessert. We would always have them sit with us. I will miss those days.
Regina Hernandez (Nakamura) and family
Regina Hernandez (Nakamura) and family
Gallery
Is that a tree growing out of his head?!?!

2nd grade @ Lincoln School

Buena Vista 1940-41

Yoshiro, Fuji and Shig






Recent stories
To Dad on his 80th Birthday (3/31/2009) - from Michele Tokiwa
I wanted to let you know, I thank God for the day you were born. You have been a great blessing in my life. If you were never born, you would have never married mom and had such a wonderful son.
I believe Dave was destined to be my husband. You raised him to be an amazing person in all aspects of life. I hit the jackpot when he chose me to become his bride. He has given me the most glorious life possible. He has taught me about TRUE love.
ALL BECAUSE YOU WERE BORN...Dave has given me the most precious gift of all in your granddaughter, Terra-Lynn. She is beautiful in every way possible and the light of my life.
ALL BECAUSE YOU WERE BORN...After losing my Dad at the age of sixteen, I thought I lost that father-daughter relationship forever. But God is faithful and he brought you into my life to fill that huge gap. Thank you for always being there! You have supported and helped me in ways you do not realize. You are always there when I call for help. Please know it has never gone unnoticed. Thank you and I know my Dad would thank you also!
ALL BECAUSE YOU WERE BORN...I have learned a lot from both you and mom about life, family and patience (OK, I am still working on the patience part). You have a quiet strong spirit that has given me strength many times. It is true!
ALL BECAUSE YOU WERE BORN...I wanted to let you know that you have made a huge impact in my life and I owe you too much to every repay.
I love you!
Your second daughter, Michele
Shigeru, Shig, Dad, Pops, Papa (from Troy Franey)
When I think of Dad, I think of the impact he had on other people’s lives, how he connected with people, friends, acquaintances and yes even strangers. I can’t tell you how many times we would be in a restaurant and he would always make friends with the server. Usually starting out with a joke or a very interesting, personal question. But what was interesting was how they responded to Dad. Not shrugging him off but rather creating this very cool dialogue which only got better throughout our dinners.
I was taught that life is about experiences and connecting with other people. One of my favorite movies is called Its A Wonderful Life. Although the movie is about a man, George, who after having some doubt about his life and who finds his way back with the help of an angel, the end of the movie is what reminds me of Dad. After George’s uncle loses the deposit money for their bank and the Feds are at George’s house waiting for him, he sees his family standing there, happy and healthy. He doesn’t care about going to jail, just that his family is all right.
At that moment, droves of townspeople entered his house and begin dropping all of their hard earned money on the table. For years, George had helped anyone who needed help, sometimes giving them a loan for a business or home which they were not qualified for or just doing them a favor in time of need. The townspeople realized how George had impacted their lives and by doing so, made George realize that same fact.
At the very end, George’s younger brother walks in the house, raises a glass with all of the other townspeople and says, “To my big brother George, the richest man in town.” Of course, it had nothing to do with money, but rather the friends he had in this life because of who he was and the impact he had on their lives.
To me, Shigeru, Shig, Dad, Pops, Papa was just like George… the richest man in town!
I was taught that life is about experiences and connecting with other people. One of my favorite movies is called Its A Wonderful Life. Although the movie is about a man, George, who after having some doubt about his life and who finds his way back with the help of an angel, the end of the movie is what reminds me of Dad. After George’s uncle loses the deposit money for their bank and the Feds are at George’s house waiting for him, he sees his family standing there, happy and healthy. He doesn’t care about going to jail, just that his family is all right.
At that moment, droves of townspeople entered his house and begin dropping all of their hard earned money on the table. For years, George had helped anyone who needed help, sometimes giving them a loan for a business or home which they were not qualified for or just doing them a favor in time of need. The townspeople realized how George had impacted their lives and by doing so, made George realize that same fact.
At the very end, George’s younger brother walks in the house, raises a glass with all of the other townspeople and says, “To my big brother George, the richest man in town.” Of course, it had nothing to do with money, but rather the friends he had in this life because of who he was and the impact he had on their lives.
To me, Shigeru, Shig, Dad, Pops, Papa was just like George… the richest man in town!