Thomas Taro Higa

Who is Thomas Taro Higa?

Thomas Taro Higa was born on September 22, 1916 in Honolulu, Hawaii to immigrant parents Kana and Kamezo Higa. He was the third child of twelve children. He was raised by his grandparents in Okinawa and spent his early teen years in Osaka, Japan and returned to Hawaii to work as a farmer. Many people of the Okinawa Prefecture would immigrate to Hawaii in hopes of creating a lifestyle as "immigrant laborers." Their goal was to work hard and return with honor back to Okinawa. Higa's parents did not have time to rear their children so they sent the children that were born in Hawaii back to Okinawa entrusted by close relatives. Higa was sent with his older brother and older sister to their ancestral home in Shimabukuro, Kitanakagusuku, Nakagami-gun, Okinawa-Ken and was raised by his grandparents until he was 9 years old.