Uemura, Masaichi

Born in Kekaha, Kauai Island, Masaichi Uemura was a teacher along with his wife, Shizue Uemura, at the Hilo Hongwanji Mission Educational Home. The school had a student body of more than 1,000 pupils in the primary through high school grades, and a faculty of more than 20 priests and teachers. 

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

When Masaichi Uemura died in 1992, he was hailed by the Hilo community for his lifelong dedication to the promotion of Japanese martial arts, having "played major roles in just about every budo organization in Hilo." A past kendo champion, he supported the development of judo, kendo, karate, and aikido.