OBITUARY: Hisao Matsumoto, 1929-2018

Janet Goodwin Discussion

Posted on behalf of Frank Joseph Shulman

 

Hisao "Mat" Matsumoto, a US citizen who survived the Hiroshima atomic bombing, a US Air Force veteran, and an employee of the US Library of Congress, died February on 13, 2018.

According to his obituary in the Washington Post, Matsumoto was born in the United States but when he was a child, he moved to Japan with his parents.  During World War II, he was conscripted to work in a factory and it was there that he experienced the bombing.  After the war, he moved back to the US, and later enlisted in the Air Force, serving in the Far East Headquarters in Tokyo during the Korean War.  He returned to earn his bachelor's degree at UC Berkeley and an MA in international studies at American University.

Subsequently he was employed by the Library of Congress, where he worked for 36 years.  He served as Field Director of the National Program for Acquisitions and Cataloging in Tokyo, head of the Library of Congress Japanese Section and later, acting head of the Asian Division. 

In 1995 he was awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon by the Emperor of Japan.

For further details see:

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/washingtonpost/obituary.aspx?n=hisao-matsumoto-mat&pid=1885989778