Spark Matsunaga

Born Masayuki Matsunaga on October 8, 1916, the Territory of Hawaii island of Kauai, Spark Matsunaga was Japanese-American.[1] His parents had emigrated to the United States from Japan.[2] When he was eight, he was nicknamed Sparky after Spark Plug, a character in the comic strip Barney Google and Snuffy Smith.[3] He received a bachelor's degree with honors in education from the University of Hawaiʻi in 1941.[2]

Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Matsunaga — despite being a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army — was placed in a detention camp in Wisconsin. He and other incarcerated Japanese-Americans obtained permission from President Franklin D. Roosevelt to form the 100th Infantry Battalion. Matsunaga was twice wounded in battle in Italy during World War II.[1] He served with the renowned 442nd Regimental Combat Team and was released from the Army as a Captain.[4] Matsunaga graduated from Harvard Law School in 1951.[2]

Matsunaga served as a prosecutor and was a member of the Hawaii territorial House of Representatives.[1]

After Daniel Inouye was elected to the Senate, Matsunaga succeeded him as the state's sole member of the House of Representatives. After Hawaii was split into districts for the 1970 elections, Matsunaga was elected for Hawaii's 1st congressional district, comprising Honolulu's inner ring, and held that seat until 1976. That year, with Hiram Fong retiring, Matsunaga defeated Hawaii's other House representative, Patsy Mink, for the Democratic Party nomination for Senator. Matsunaga then defeated former Republican governor William Quinn in the general election and went on to serve in the United States Senate from 1977 until his death in 1990.[4]

In 1984, following many years of effort from Matsunaga, Congress passed a bill creating the U.S. Institute for Peace.[1][2]

For 22 years, Matsunaga presented legislation in Congress for the creation of the position of United States Poet Laureate. In 1985, a bill was finally passed authorizing the position of Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress.[5]

Matsunaga was instrumental in the passage of a redress bill for people of Japanese descent who were detained in the United States during World War II. The $1.25 billion bill provided $20,000 to each detainee and also apologized to the detainees.[1][2]

Matsunaga was known for his sense of humor. One famous incident involved Matsunaga and then-Secretary of State Alexander Haig at a White House reception for Japanese Prime Minister Zenko Suzuki in 1981. Haig reportedly mistook Matsunaga for a member of the Japanese delegation and asked if he spoke English. Matsunaga replied, "Yes, Mr. Secretary, I do — and I had the honor of voting for your confirmation the other day."[6]

Matsunaga was married to the former Helene Hatsumi Tokunaga and had three daughters and two sons.[1]

Matsunaga had prostate cancer at the end of his life; by January 1990, he announced that the cancer had spread to his bones. He later went to Toronto General Hospital for treatment, and died there on April 15, 1990, at the age of 73.[2] His flag-draped casket lay in state in the rotunda of the State Capitol in Honolulu.

In 1997, Matsunaga's widow donated his papers to the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. There were approximately 1200 boxes of material including documents, photographs, videos, and memorabilia from his 28 years in Congress. Also in the papers are professional and personal materials from his pre-Congressional life; especially noteworthy are documents, letters, photographs, and memorabilia from his Army service in the 100th Infantry Battalion.[7]

A bronze statue honoring him is in the Spark M. Matsunaga International Children's Garden For Peace at the Storybook Theatre of Hawaii in his hometown of Hanapepe, Kauai.[8] Matsunaga's portrait currently appears on US Series I Bonds in the $10,000 denomination.[4] There is also an elementary school in Germantown, Maryland[4] and a hospital in Honolulu named after him.[9]

• List of Asian Americans and Pacific Islands Americans in the United States Congress
• List of United States Congress members who died in office (1950–99)

• United States Congress. "Spark Matsunaga (id: M000250)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• "Densho interview: Spark M. Matsunaga". April 18, 1987. Retrieved June 14, 2021.
• Spark M. Matsunaga biography United States Institute of Peace.
• Spark M. Matsunaga's published biography Sparky: Warrior, Peacemaker, Poet, Patriot by Richard Halloran. ISBN 0-9720932-1-4.
• Spark Matsunaga at Find a Grave
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Biography on U.S. Congress House website