Tsutomu Takenaga with horse

Library has digital image only, courtesy of Diane Takenaga.

Additional information on Tsutomu Takenaga available in "Tsutomu Takenaga: his highlights, 1915-on" from the Peninsula Center Local History Collection.

Tsutomu Takenaga was born to Genemon Takenaga and Oso Wakamatsu. He had an older brother, Hideo and several step brothers and sisters through his father's remarriages after Oso passed away. The Takenagas lived in Gardena on 190th street and Normandie and later in Torrance near 218th street before moving to the Peninsula in August 1925. They leased a farm on an ocean bluff south of what is now the Lunada Bay area (Ranch 29?). Tsutomu married Kimiko Saito in 1941 and had three children: Sumire Violet, Yayoi Diana, and Arline. In 1941 Tsutomu farmed Ranch 25 with Kay Ishibashi, taking over from his cousin-in-law, Nakaemon Hasegawa. Shortly after the start of the war, Tsutomu and his family moved to Strathmore, CA. When the U and I Sugar Company was recruiting workers for their operation in Utah, Tsutomu accepted their offer and moved with his wife to Corinne, UT. He farmed sugar beets and also worked in various orchards. He was eventually sent to Poston, Arizona in February 1943, being released in May 1944. Tsutomu worked as an auto mechanic in Brigham City during the latter part of the war. In 1946 Tsutomu returned to California and joined his brother and father farming in Pico Rivera. In 1952, Tsutomu opened an automobile repair shop which he operated until his retirement in 1990. He died on Dec. 12, 2004 in Orange County, CA. The Takenagas do not appear in the 40 Families Photograph.