Mitsu (Sakai) Eya's Obituary
Even in the darkest knight, she’ll never forget how the fires illuminated the sky; making it possible to see the pilot’s face as clear as day. She watched as he bombed streets she played in, and fired upon people running for cover. For two years, Mitsu spent most of her time in an underground shelter, as World War II took place above. It was the most frightful time in her life. A life that couldn’t have been further from what she was used to. Mitsu and her eight brothers and sisters were raised in Tokyo, Japan by a wealthy and well-respected family. Her parents, Yoshi and Kanichi Sakai, sent young Mitsu to Yamawaki Gakuen, one of the most prestigious girl schools in Tokyo. Her father had a very successful business in manufacturing various types of gears for civilian and military use, a business that Mitsu soon followed.After the war, Japan was in devastation. Mitsu being a young remarkable woman was driven to find work as a contract clerk for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Shimomaruko. During an era when women were shunned and weren’t respected in the workfoce, Mitsu worked hard on a job and at home. She would take her father’s old suits and alter them, cut it to her size, and restyle them into skirts and work jackets. It was in one of these reconstructed men suits that she met her husband Keiso Eya who was with the U.S. Army. At 92, Keiso still vividly remembers how pretty MItsu was, the rouge on her cheeks, her hair perfectly pulled back, with her intricately hand sewn suit.Mitsu married Keiso in 1953 in Tokyo where they raised their son Bryan and daughter Leslie. Nothing made Mitsu more proud than her family. Both their children graduated from UC Davis. Bryan went on to earn his Master’s Degree in Entemology followed by a PhD in Chemistry, and Leslie earned her MBA. In 1975, Mitsu and her husband moved to the Bay Area to be closer to her growing family. Her daughter Leslie married David, and welcomed Mitsu’s first grandchildren Monica and Shawna. A few years later, her son Bryan welcomed her granddaughter Rachel.MItsu loved her granddaughters with all her heart and played a huge role in raising them. Her powerful role is the reason why her granddaughter Monica and her husband Richard named their first daughter Charlotte Mitsu after her.MItsu passed away in Los Gatos with her husband at her side. Service will be held on Friday, August 22nd at 11am at Sneider Sullivan & O’Connell’s funeral home in San Mateo, interment at Skylawn Memorial Park.
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