Sagiri Arima

Born and raised in Southern California, to parents who devoted their lives to raising their children after being incarcerated under Executive Order 9066. Her uncle who worked for the IRS as a CPA and stationed on the Universal lot said he received financial advice from her father, who had received his degree in Public Administration and saw Los Angeles change over the years working in the planning commissioner's office. Her father was drafted by the U.S. Army during the Korean War and released by honorable discharge. Both parents avid sports fans; die-hard Dodgers and Lakers fan. Growing up in a predominantly Japanese-American community filled with birthday and holiday celebrations, during elementary school while active in girl scouts and earning badges, the Buddhist church offered Japanese school in the afternoons, and she participated in its annual Bon Odori. She participated in retreats and enjoyed song and fellowship at Baptist church during her teens. She received the community Rotary Club Service Award at her 9th grade graduation and was active in and held offices in clubs and organizations such as the honor's club Athenians during high school. In her senior year, she was interviewed by the English section of the Rafu Shimpo as the "Ephebian Society welcomes ninety-one Japanese Americans into its ranks", and also received individually typed and personally signed congratulatory letters of achievement from Glenn M. Anderson, Congress of the United States, as well as Ralph C. Dills, State Senator, which she doubts is done any longer. A recipient of University and California State Scholarships, as a freshman at USC - a melting pot for ambitious students with diverse interests and talents from all backgrounds - her eyes opened to the world. She is a proud mother having raised two very sweet, happy little children. As young adults, one graduated as a bio psych major while the other licensed to practice law, their father a barrister - God rest his soul.