JANBA Tournament History
1974
After a joint meeting of JACL officers and the National Advisory
Board on Bowling, it is decided to break away from JACL control. It was then, under Mas Satow's leadership that
the Japanese American National Bowling Association was formed. Ozzie Shimada served as President Pro Tem for the
first year.
1975
First National Tournament under JANBA was hosted by the San Jose
Nisei Bowling Association at Futurama Bowl, chaired by Ozzie Shimada and Sayo Togami. Fred Takagi, Seattle, was
elected President of JANBA. Serving under Fred were Vice President Ozzie Shimada, Vice President Mary Yuba, and
Treasurer Gish Endo.
1976
Las Vegas! Hosted by Hawaii NBA. Our largest turnout for a National
Nisei Bowling Tournament. Peter Yamaguchi chaired the tournament held at the Showboat Lanes. We lost our beloved
leader Mas Satow, a leader of Nisei bowling since 1947 when the first National Nisei Tournament was held in Salt
Lake City.
1977
Third JANBA held at L & L Castle Lanes in San Francisco and co-chaired
by Kayo Hayakawa and Tats Nagase. Mas Satow Memorial Trophy was awarded to Men's and Women's all events champions.
Many outstanding series were shot in both men's and women's events.
1978
Rocky Mountain High. Jean Sunada and Rich Nakamura co-chaired our
4th JANBA in Denver at Celebrity Sports Center. Another outstanding turnout. Women's and Men's Singles Elimination
was a great success.
1979
Kenmore Lanes in Bothell, Washington was the site for the 5th JANBA.
Hosted by the Seattle NBA and co-chaired by Lois Yut and Jack Shiota. The largest turnout for a Nisei National
in the Northwest with five new records set.
1980
Hilo, Hawaii, beautiful site of the 6th JANBA, the Nisei tournament
held outside the mainland. Chaired by Wilbert Lau and Jerry Tango. Lessie Yamamoto was honored as the oldest woman
partcipant. "Pop" Okumura also honored as the oldest male participant. Both were from Salt Lake City.
1981
Timber Lanes, home of our 7th JANBA in Portland, Oregon. Co-hosted
by the Oregon Nisei VFW and the Portland NBA, it was chaired by Yuji Hiromura. The honored guest was Hiroshi "Hershey"
Miyamura, a holder of the Congressional Medal of Honor. Steve Shimada of Santa Clara shot the first official "300"
game in JANBA history in the Sweepers Event. He also set a new record in the Sweepers, 1441. Dick Ogawa of Hayward
set new records in Singles, 740 and All Events, 2115.
1982
Our 8th Annual JANBA was held at Holiday Bowl in Los Angeles. It
was hosted by the Southern Cal JANBA and chaired by J.J. Kanegae. Four new records were set. Carol Yasuda Team
of Pearl City, 2876, Women's Team Event; Judy Kikuta of Los Angeles, 1823, All Events; T & J Appliances of
Downey, 3172, Men's Team Event; Lynn Furuike and Bill Yee of San Jose, 1390, Mixed Doubles.
1983
Salt Lake City hosted our 9th Annual JANBA, co-chaired by Jeff Okumura
and Mark Tsuyuki at Rancho Lanes. June Utsurogi set a new record in Women's All Events with 1858. Our first tournament
to use a computer for tabulating scores, program written by Roger Nakayu of Salt Lake City.
|