Shizu (Lillian) SAKURAI Seiya Sakurai's wonderful, and loving mother passed away peacefully, sleeping in bed at Seattle home, while he looked on her, on March 21, 2009, ending her subtle and illustrious life of 101 years. Shizu was born December 24, 1907 to Yoshihisa Ando, who was a decorated Russo Japanese War Artillery Captain and his new wife, Kinu (maiden name Matsui), who was the personal secretary to Lady Arisugawa, wife of the cousin of Emperor Meiji, at the cold Asahikawa, Hokkaido, Japan. She attended a girls' school in Tokyo and moved to Los Angeles, following her family, at the age of 14 with her sister, Fumiko. She graduated from Hollywood High School with Honor, and Graduated from UCLA with a Bachelor of Arts in French. She was the 3rd President of Chi Alpha Delta, an Oriental Woman's Sorority which is now very large at UCLA. While she was back in Japan with her Father in 1936, she got married in 1937 to Hiroshi Sakurai, and gave birth to her son Seiya in 1938. During her husband's service to French Indo China, and during the WWII Tokyo bombing, which destroyed their home, she protected her son and father with Hiroshi's elder sister, Chiyoko Tamura's family. Because of her fluent English, she was well known, and could have become one of the "Tokyo Rose" in 1942, but she declined in order to tend to her son. After the war, in 1946, she served as an Interpreter for the 1st American Occupation Forces in Japan. She was the first Japanese Interpreter in Hokkaido who didn't need a dictionary. She came back to Tokyo and worked at Kubota Steel and other companys' export divisions. With Hiroshi's help, she established a jewelry business at the American Air Bases in Misawa and Tokyo. Shizu sent Seiya to a US collage, and when Seiya accepted a job offer to work for Boeing in 1962, she and Hiroshi relocated to Seattle. In 1968, she established "Lillian's Pearl Shop", a small jewelry store at the side of the Coliseum Theater (now Banana Republic) at 4th & Pike in Seattle. She owned and operated the Pearl Shop until her retirement in 1996. During this time, she propelled many downtown office ladies to their independence by teaching them "jewelry stringing" during their lunch times. Socially, Hiroshi and Shizu enjoyed Seattle's French Club activities. They especially enjoyed the yearly French ndependence Day dance parties. She also had many circle of friends who regularly invited each other for dinners. After retirement, she pursued Japanese Calligraphy and teaching jewelry stringing at Nikkei Concerns. She enjoyed Calligraphy up to her 100 years birthday celebration. She was bed ridden after a fall requiring hip joint replacement, but never had any serious illness up to her death. She was attended by her loving son at her home for the last several years. Shizu had a full life, married her only love, had a successful small business, and guided many women to independence without fuss. She was a diligent and quiet doer. She was an inspiration to many people, especially to women. I have never seen her angry. My father stated, long ago, that he could not have lived without her. ~ Her son, Seiya Sakurai According to her wish, there is no funeral service. Donation in her memory may be sent to Nikkei Concerns either by contacting Mary Ann Goto at206-726-6462, by email atmgoto@nikkeiconcerns.org or by mail to 1601 E. Yesler Way, Seattle, 98122