This watch was purchased in November, 2018 from eBay seller David Walter in Brattleboro, VT.

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Most of the research was completed using Ancestry.com, Newspapers.com, and Google Chrome.  The genealogy provided by the Meyer Masuda Family Tree in Ancestry.com was the most important; many of the key photos of Chikara and his family were from this source.

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Through Ancestry.com, I was able to contact grand-niece Kimi Marr in August 2019. She in turn told her Aunt Karen Chang of the discovery; I was thrilled to receive this email from Karen:  

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Fri 8/16/2019 8:56 AM

Dear Bob,

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My niece Kimi Marr called me last night, and told me that you came upon my father, Chikara Masuda's military watch.  That's AMAZING!!!  We didn't know he had a military watch.  She also forwarded the pictures of the watch, and newspaper articles.  You probably know more about his military background than I do.  

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Chikara Masuda was born on Nov 24, 1918 in Palo Alto, California. He was the 15th of 19 children.  His family grew strawberries and other crops.  Eight of the children grew to adulthood.  After the war, his family moved to Morgan Hill to grow strawberries for Driscoll.  My parents were married on July 17, 1949, and had 5 children--- two daughters and 3 sons.  My maternal grandmother had two daughters, and no sons to carry on the family name, so on Aug 17, 1949, he legally changed his last name from Masuda to Yamasaki.  I think this was not unusual in Japanese families back then.  

 

My parents raised strawberries for Driscoll while we lived in Gilroy, CA.  In 1966, our family moved to San Jose, CA, and he became a gardener.  He had a stroke on Jan 1, 1986, and was forced to retire from gardening.  My father passed away from a heart attack on July 8, 1993, when he was 74 years old. 

I've attached some pictures of my father and his family.

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I want you to know how much our family appreciates all the hours and hours  of research you've done, to trace the watch back to our family.  My father was the first of the eight Masuda siblings to pass away.  Last year, his younger brother Tom passed away, and was the last of the Masuda siblings.  

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Sincerely,

Karen Chang

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