Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.

Kenneth Saruwatari,
WWII vet, judge, dies

---

By Mary Adamski
Star-Bulletin

Kenneth Saruwatari's Army buddies remember him for the service they shared in World War II.

But a wider circle of people will recognize him from more recent times, as an ever-present University of Hawaii baseball fan.

"The wind is so strong, he had a 442nd cloth tailor-made to fit the railing as a windbreaker," said Katsugo Miho, who shared military experience and the love of baseball with his friend. He said Saruwatari and his wife, Vivian, regularly sat behind the umpire. "All of the regulars would recognize his voice; he spoke just loud enough that they knew it was his comments. He was such a staunch supporter of baseball, he would go to HPU games at 10 a.m., then get to the university in the afternoon."

Saruwatari, 78, died Sept. 9 at his home. A former Honolulu District Court judge, he was retired from private law practice.

"Every one of the baseball players would be invited to his home for supper," Miho said. "I'm sure he had the only collection of UH baseball cards with autographs from all the players.

"He served his community well," added Miho, a former state representative and retired attorney. "He was one of our veterans who helped to build the community."

Saruwatari was one of Hawaii's Japanese Americans who served in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and the 100th Infantry Battalion during World War II.

But his service to the country predated the Army, said fellow veteran Ted Tsukiyama, attorney and historian of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. "I first met him in the Varsity Victory Volunteers. That group is not that well-known. Historians say it was one of the factors that influenced the Army to open military service to nisei volunteers."

Tsukiyama said he and Saruwatari were UH students and in the ROTC. After the Japanese attack on Dec. 7, 1941, the ROTC became part of the Hawaii Territorial Guard. But "on Jan. 19, the military declared all nisei should be discharged," Tsukiyama said.

So the young men, 160 university students, formed the Varsity Victory Volunteers, a labor brigade that worked at Schofield Barracks until, nearly a year later, the 442nd Combat Team was formed.

"Ken was a truck driver, a very jovial and light-hearted person. He kept the morale and spirits up," Tsukiyama said.

Saruwatari went through training with the 442nd and was transferred to the 100th battalion.

After the war, Saruwatari earned a bachelor degree at the University of Hawaii and a law degree at Rutgers University. His law career included eight years as a city attorney and six years with the state attorney general's office. He was named U.S. commissioner for misdemeanor and traffic cases. After 10 years as a part-time District Court judge, he was appointed to a six-year term as a full-time judge, which ended in 1986.

He is survived by his wife, Vivian; sons Kenn and Jonn; brother Thomas; sisters Mikiko Kishida and Evelyn Fujishige; and two granddaughters. Private services were held.