Aoki, Zenu

A native of Fukuoka Prefecture, Zenu Aoki came to the United States in about 1915 as a missionary of the Honpa Hongwanji sect of Japanese Buddhism. He served in various mission posts in California and Seattle, Washington, as well as for five years in Vancouver, British Columbia. 

In August 1941, he arrived in Hilo, Hawaii Island, with his wife and three sons to take on the post of head of the Hilo Hongwanji Mission. He was arrested in summer 1944, and when a hearing board found no evidence of subversive activities, he was released after some two months of confinement. 

During this same time, his son Yoshiyuki Aoki was inducted into the U.S. Army; he would serve with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. 

Other members of the Hilo Hongwanji Mission also were arrested and confined. They included the reverends Muneaki Walter Fujio, Kenryu Hasegawa, Doro Kanda, Jukaku Shirasu, and Kogyo Tsunoda and teacher Masaichi Uemura.